runners had trained hard and were mentally prepared for the challenge but the pair adopted completely different approaches to race strategies.Radcliffe set the pace, as she had in all her previous marathons, daring the other runners to keep up with her

runners had trained hard and were mentally prepared for the challenge but the pair adopted completely different approaches to race strategies.Radcliffe set the pace, as she had in all her previous marathons, daring the other runners to keep up with her

Racing well is as much a product of mental strength as physical readiness, whether you're out to nail a PB or just finish. Too often, though, runners practise mental tricks such as visualisation just a few days before race day - if at all."That's a

, find out what gels and drinks will be available to you on race day and try them out.Racing overseasOther considerations will come into play if you are travelling abroad to race, such as how food and hydration strategies change with the climate, what

, but at the the end my Garmin said 26.7 miles and 3:00:18. Reviewing the data, the GPS seemed to lose its accuracy a bit in the Docklands. What is most annoying  though is that I was not too tired after the race. I'm not too stiff today and know I could have run

Preparing your mind for a long-distance race is just as important as preparing your body, says Chrissie Wellington. If that's what the three-time Ironman World Champion and world record holder thinks, then that's good enough for the rest of us. So

Here's how to race on the right foot – from the people who learnt the hard wayStart SmallThe best way to approach racing is to start small. Whether you’re planning to do your race as a one-off, or as the first step in a long running career, you

and on race day as it does from completing the right training.By race day, your training is in the bank, but fuelling is one area where you can make improvements or create problems that could cost you valuable minutes or hours, or even lead to the dreaded DNF

'.But despite all the hours of putting left after right, if you're not prepared to provide your body with the fuel it needs along the way to the finish line, you won't get there half as quickly as you'd planned. A race nutrition strategy is as important to your

training plan, diet and race-day strategy. "Every race is a puzzle," says coach Jeff Horowitz, author of My First 100 Marathons (£15.99, Skyhorse Publishing). "Look for clues to solve it." Did you rest enough during your taper? Did you go out too fast? Did