A SHINING EXAMPLE
I recently became a proud dad of three, and the house is busy. Unsurprisingly, the appeal of a run has never been stronger. However, the charge of literally running away from all my responsibilities is not one I wish to have levelled against me. The balancing act of managing family, work and running is one I’m sure many of your readers have struggled with. I’ve found running to be a huge benefit in terms of mood, energy levels and general wellbeing, which all help with family life (or so I keep saying). I have recently invested in a delightfully reflective jacket and donned the head torch, so once the kids are in bed, I can run around, confusing motorists with the shiny object plodding towards them in the pouring rain. Everyone’s a winner.
The subtle art of fitting in running around family commitments is an ongoing challenge for many – RW staffers included. Kudos to you for heading out once the kids are in bed – any run is better than no run.
JOINT HONOURS
I would love to see an article about runners with hip and knee replacements. I had my left hip replaced nine years ago and have run many races, from 5K up to a half marathon, completely pain-free. I had my right hip replaced only 11 months ago and have already completed two 5Ks and three 10Ks. At 72, running is very important for my physical and mental health. It would be lovely to read about other runners’ success stories with artificial joints.
Great idea, Dianne. We’re on it.
AGE-OLD PROBLEM
Can we start a campaign that invites race organisers to recognise older age groups when producing age-related results? Over the past five years, I’ve found that most of the races I’ve run stop the age-related results at 70 years. Well, I’m now 80 and find it very disappointing that I’m just shown as over 70 or vintage. Perhaps races feel it’s not worth it because we aren’t in high numbers. However, our numbers are increasing and we would like the respect that the younger runners get, in being able to see how well, or otherwise, we have competed against others of our age group.
CREDITS WHERE THEY’RE DUE
My partner gets the Runner’s World magazine every month. I run and enjoy reading it in the most part.
However, I’m getting increasingly frustrated with articles referring to research.
Take p11 of the November issue, which is apparently the biggest study of its kind. There’s an asterisk but no list on the back page and no link anywhere. It’s frustrating enough not including a link but to highlight it and then not do so is doubly frustrating. Please could you either list the research papers on the back page or add a URL?
We do actually include credits to all studies referenced – in the margins of the relev
