"What sets Alistair apart is that he's an athlete who only needs to be told something once," confided the Brownlees' coach Jack Maitland last week, as he put several journalists through swim, cycle and run sessions alongside triathlon's most famous

. The Virgin London Marathon sensibly allows you to defer your entry for a year if you have good reason. If you’ve had an injury severe enough to cut back your running in the last week, take them up on this offer. Similarly, don’t run if you’re taking

.Dirty Den, 3:27This year I trained hard for the London Marathon, missing just three weeks with a bad ankle injury. I'm 57, and I run with Clowne Road Runners and Worksop Harriers.At 20 miles I was feeling great, enjoying the support and atmosphere

); there was disappointment at not going sub-5, although a course best was achieved. And I learnt yet again that even with the best preparation(I even managed appropriate long runs, ate well the week before and tapered) the marathon is an evil unpredictable beastie which

This section is adapted from No Need For Speed - A Beginner's Guide To The Joy Of Running, by John Bingham. Buy this book!Many adult-onset athletes believe that living an active lifestyle would be easier if they could trade the body they have

the second-fastest marathon runner ever when he paced Paul Tergat to a world record of 2:04:55 in Berlin last year and finished just a second behind. Sadly, Abera pulled up before London's six-mile mark with an achilles injury, but there were still 18 runners

, with Paula Radcliffe away for the second year running, a female winner that few could have predicted in the Chinese athlete Chunxiu Zhou.Men’s race There were two very familiar faces at the front of the men’s race, though. The 2005 Flora London Marathon

to spread out then we see the runners from the Red start merging with us on the left, a lot of good natured booing goes on as we run alongside each other. Turning a corner after the six-mile point and I can see the masts of the Cutty Sark above the rooftops

and JJ, with whom I had trained over the winter months, to the very end, it was one big party, doing 'high fives' with the younger spectators, and stopping frequently to see friends and family at various stage posts.Running with forum pal Rach, who

Racer discovered: “My wife, who has had to put up with the long runs, bad moods and injuries, was crying with emotion when she first saw me at Cutty Sark.”Mile 7People run the Flora London Marathon for all sorts of reasons, so while you have breath, have