My Thought for the Day

If you wanted to join a running group, which has built a bit of a reputation (he says modestly), what would you do?

This group doesn’t have a proper website (although that is coming), it has an Instagram account (to which you can send a direct message) and it has a private Facebook page. Which you can ask to join. We actually ask questions of people who would like to join.

It’s a rhetorical question, because I am very aware that the process is neither easy, nor clear. Even to me. And, if you don’t know, I run the group.

It’s not lost on me that London private members clubs, more often than not, require someone to introduce you or refer you for membership.

I have never been a member of a private members’ club but I used to think this was a ridiculous idea.

Now, I am not so sure.

If you wanted to join the Cottage group as a man or woman your best bet is knowing someone in the group. Essentially they vouch for you.

What are they vouching for? I don’t quite know, but there’s this idea I have that the existing member understands the group and thinks the new member will “get” the group and will want to be part of it.

Not that we have any rules, of course. But there is definitely a culture.

Someone messaged the group this week on Facebook and said they had recently moved to Battersea and wanted to “jump in” with some sessions.

They have run sub 30 minutes for 10k (I think at Telford) and they did some trail running.

Although he gave his name, he didn’t tell me which club he ran for, nor did he send me a link to his Power of 10 profile.

As frustrating as Power of 10 is these days, you are still able to glean a certain amount of information from it.

Naturally, I acknowledged the message and asked some questions of my own.

We are long past the point where I just say “yes” to anyone who wants to “jump in”.

Since when I have heard nothing.

There may be reasons for that, and I am not leaping to any conclusions, but if you are reading this and you were interested in being part of the group, then it might be useful to think about making it easy for me to say “yes”. I don’t need the hard sell, but the way you approach us matters.

Or find someone in the group to vouch for you.

Antrim Coastal Half Marathon

This is a curious race, if I think about it. Although I note I am only allowing myself one thought a day.

The Home Countries (Scotland, England and Wales) support it and select teams.

It attracts a relatively small number of elite runners, and it’s held during the track season before the road season really starts to take off. In Europe, at least.

I got very excited about various athletes from the Cottage group being selected for their respective countries. Andy Fyfe was selected to represent Scotland, Chris Thomas was selected to represent Wales and George Grassly was elected to represent England.

This triumvirate seemed to me, at least, to reflect a degree of success on the road running front.

Unfortunately, George got injured (although I am pleased to report he is now back running again) so it was left to Andy and Chris to take on the challenge.

As is so often the case it was a tale of two races.

Andy ran really well. The first non-professional athlete, he finished 12th in a personal best time of 63:17, which is all the more impressive given that from 10km onwards he was on his own.

It also makes me think that the front end of the group is moving forwards which is both encouraging and exciting.

Sadly, it wasn’t happening for Chris who didn’t have a great race (and I am sure he won’t mind me saying so) but he will live to fight another day.

Sometimes you can’t put your finger on what went wrong, but too much over analysis doesn’t really help. You just have to move on.

At the front end, it was a great race between Kenyans Isaia Lasoi (58:26) and Daniel Mateiko (58:30) with cyclist turned runner Jimmy Whelan coming in 8th, with an impressive 61:19. Full results are here and there are some good athletes in there like Ed Cheserek and a 40 year old Galen Rupp.

Jimmy was a pro cyclist and is making the transition over to road running. Seems to be doing very well. He’s about to move to Leeds, so I am told, to be coached by Andrew Henderson and train with Phil Sesemann although I am not sure of the precise arrangements. Given my interest in both sports, I need to do a little more investigation into how he trains and what his plans are. I think he’s down to do the Valencia marathon, but I will come back to that.

Zurich Diamond League

We are living through a purple patch, there’s no two ways about it.

Last night’s event was brilliant with two world records, world record attempts in the pole vault, and two excellent 800m races, for both the men and the women.

I actually thought Georgia (Hunter Bell)would beat Audrey Werro and Femke but she didn’t really get a look in. Audrey won in the third fastest women’s 800m of all time ( 1:53:70) which was a Swiss record and the fastest time in the world this year. Femke broke the Dutch 800m record (1:54:71) and it was Georgia’s second fastest 800m time ever (1:55:03). Incredible stuff.

As is so often the case, there’s almost too much to write about.

Parker Wolfe is good, though, isn’t he?

The genius of these Diamond League events is that they pack so much into them and it’s breathless in its intensity.

Next weekend, it is the Diamond League finals and a week after that it’s the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest.

Odds and Ends

• It’s the Sydney Marathon on Sunday. My one guest contributor (so far!) Jack Millar is racing it. By my calculations, the race starts at 9:30pm UK time.

  

• Great to see Ethan Hayter so nearly take the win in the prologue of the Vuelta. He has had an up and down time in his professional career but he is a class rider. At the risk of being boring, I told my Ethan story in La Canicule.

• It’s the Scottish Athletics Championships this weekend. In Aberdeen.

• Yomif Kejelcha broke the world half marathon record on Buenos Aires on Sunday. 56:51. Astonishing, but then he has broken 2 hours for the marathon.

• The British team for the World Road Running Championships was announced this week. The event is in Copenhagen in three weeks time. Will write more about it before then. Solid selections, I thought.

• It’s UTMB week in Chamonix this week. In fact, I suspect that one of the main races is about to start as I write this. (Yup, the 100k race is live streaming now). The Mayor of Chamonix, a former trail runner himself has apparently expressed reservations about the way in which the town is taken over for a week. I found what I thought was a good report, on Trail Runner.

• The Tour of Britain Men starts on Wednesday 2 September 2026. I don’t have to call it the Lloyds Tour of Britain do I? The women’s Tour of Britain was won by Kim Le Court-Pienaar last Sunday.

• The headline for this piece comes from Virginia Woolf’s book The Waves. I came across it this week and I thought it appropriate. Actually, I came across references to Virginia Woolf twice in the last few days which is possibly why this resonated so much. The full quote is:

  “Meanwhile, let us abolish the ticking of time’s clock with one blow. Come closer”.

  It goes without saying it is about love, but I obviously I prefer the sporting connection, given I now view everything through a performance lens. We all fixate on times and our watches have become our guides. I am not too sure how good it is for us, but sometimes it’s nice to turn off the tech and just run, or ride. I should try it sometime.

No music this week, but there’s still training and racing to be done. The weather has definitely changed in London. Cooler in the mornings (I needed a long sleeve top on my ride to the velodrome this morning) and we have actually had some rain. I don’t think it’s the end of the summer, but the schools go back next week and that’s always a sign.

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend (if you are in the UK) and I will see you next week.

I was listening to a podcast about politics this week1 and a former director of communications at no 10 said we are living in the age of authenticity.

The problem is that politicians are not very good at being authentic.

The worlds of athletics and cycling have similar issues, as we separate into those who “do” social media and those that don’t. I make no judgement either way but it is increasingly hard to ignore.

I remember talking to Charlie Sandison about this at some point last year when he probably had less than 1,000 followers on Instagram and he made the point that he thought it was important for people to be the same online as they are offline. So if you were to meet someone who has a significant following on Instagram or YouTube you should expect them to be recognisably the same person.

For the avoidance of doubt, Charlie is very much the same as he is online and that, I suspect, is one of his strengths.

Added to which, he seems very comfortable with it. Which I am starting to recognise as important.

Hugo Fry, a relatively well know running influencer, jumped in with the group on Saturday.

He had asked if he could, and I guessed he would struggle. And of course he did. The men were doing 15k and he was dropped after 5k. To be fair to him, he put out a reel explaining he had dnf’d and was pretty straightforward about it.

The Cottage distance lads are very good. Perhaps we don’t make as much fuss about it as we should, but historically, we have operated on the principle: “If you know, you know”.

I appreciate that in writing this Substack, I am breaking with that tradition but I can’t be alone in thinking about whether authenticity requires you to work in the proverbial dark, or whether we should be letting in the light.

Snapshots of the European Athletics Championships

There were so many great things about these champs, my initial thought was that I wouldn’t know where to start.

Three things spring to mind though.

The first is Andreas Almgren’s inspirational run in the men’s 10,000m. The sort of performance that every endurance athlete can get behind - and I have had cyclists tell me how much they enjoyed it this week.

The race started very slowly, and then he went to the front and just turned the screw.

Anyone who has ever done a race like this knows it’s magical when it works.

Some people went with him, and then, one by one, they dropped off.

He knew what he was doing. Methodical, and brutal. It was a thing of beauty. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching.

The second thing was the men’s 1500m and I am not sure anyone could have predicted who the medallists would be.

Nillessen is good, so I guess he could have been there or thereabouts, but he was badly tripped with 150m to go and yet he recovered to charge through the field and take the gold.

The silver was won by an even faster finishing Pihlstrom. If you are as fascinated by the sport as I am, I’d suggest rewatching his race.

He’s in the yellow Swedish vest and he sits at the back of the field at least for the first 800m.

Then he tries to come through but gets pushed back and at the bell he is last and slightly off the back.

It’s incredible because this was also the athlete who won the “B” race 800m at the St Mary’s BMC event a week ago in 1:46. Which is fast, but not ridiculously fast. Not as fast as Jake Wightman, certainly.

So I saw him there and had no idea he was that good.

The third thing was Georgia Hunter-Bell’s brilliant and accomplished win in the women’s 1500m.

Georgia chose a different way of winning. Undoubtedly the favourite, she didn’t seem to let that bother her and she controlled the race perfectly. Her ability to handle pressure is exceptional.

I don’t think I have mentioned it before, but Georgia came down to Cottage in the autumn of 2023. Dale King-Clutterbuck brought her down with Revee Walcott-Nolan who had been a regular visitor and they trained together in the women’s group we have.

I knew who she was because she is the same age as my son, and they had both been in various London Schools teams and I can remember Georgia winning the junior girls (u14) 800m at the English Schools in 2008.

In 2023 the sessions used to go up on Facebook and the joke was that it was the only reason any of us went on Facebook. Except Georgia didn’t use Facebook and she never knew what the session was. She would ask me, I would tell her, and she would do it. That was it. There was no drama, no fuss. No question of changing it. Just get on and do it. I always thought that told its own story.

A bit later, after she had reemerged into the limelight in 2024 I remember chatting to her and essentially she told me she just couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have another go at the top level and she literally had nothing to lose. It’s not a bad way to approach the sport.

BMC at Tooting Bec

This was a brilliant event, it has to be said. Put on by Keith Newton, Herne Hill Harriers and the British Milers Club it attracted athletes from all over the world as well as some of the best of the UK scene. Full results are here.

It was slightly breezier than one would have liked it to be, but there’s not much you can do about the wind. Plenty of Cottage representation too, for those who misguidedly believe we are “just” a marathon group.

It’s also an incredibly social event. The back straight was buzzing with chatter as coaches, athletes, friends and supporters all mixed together. It reminded me of a sort of party, one where everywhere you turn, there is someone new you want to talk to.

I always think it’s slightly invidious to mention one athlete in the group who has run well, and not mention everyone. Because everyone ran really well, even if they think they didn’t. And if you hang around athletes enough, you will appreciate they rarely think they have run well, even when they have.

The videos of the men’s A 1500m and women’s A 1500m give a sense of the back straight energy and are both good races - of which, I have to say, there were many.

The Antrim Coast Half Marathon

This is a big race for the Cottage group because Andy Fyfe is representing Scotland and Chris Thomas is representing Wales, as is Emily Lowery, who jumps in and out of the group.

Sadly, George Grassly, who was selected for the England team has had to withdraw through injury but I am pleased to see Sam Eglen will be putting on his very first England vest. Sam used to train with the group when he was doing his accountancy training in London, and whilst people move on, they are still “Cottage” as far as I am concerned.

The race starts at 11am on Sunday, and the livestream will be here. Ideal time to get a solid 100km in on the bike (or a long run, whichever is your preferred medicine) before settling down for that.

Ish

I went to see the film Ish the other day, which is absolutely brilliant for all sorts of reasons. There’s a really good review of it here. I went to the BFI, for what it’s worth. It’s that sort of film.

One thing I wanted to say is that I got a visceral sense that bikes represent a form of freedom. Of the sort I grew up with, and I hope people do today. Boys and girls. It’s something I have never grown out of and something I still do more or less every day.

It is also worth mentioning it takes a bit of skill to ride with someone on your handlebars but these boys (who weren’t technically actors before they got these parts) were pretty accomplished. Which I liked. Authenticity again.

Odds and Ends

• It’s the Diamond League from Lausanne this evening (Friday 21 August 2026). On BBC2 from 7pm. Silesia on Sunday (23 August 2026), and Zurich next Thursday where the women’s 800m looks to be one of the races of the year.

• Podium 5k was held on a cycling track on Sunday. Fresh from the European Athletics Champs, James West was trying to get the qualifying time for the World Road Running Champs, which take place in Copenhagen in September. He didn’t get it although he won the race in 13:49. Teams for the World Champs get announced next week. (Also Jack Perry-Williams from the Cottage group ran 14:28.)

• Vuelta a España starts tomorrow (Saturday 22 August 2026) with an individual time trial in Monaco. I see Ben Tulett is in the Team Visma | Lease a Bike team. I wrote about him a year or so ago.

• Women’s Tour of Britain - it started on Wednesday this week and finishes on Sunday. It’s on ITV4 and it’s also being livestreamed on YouTube. Current leader (as I write this after stage 3 has finished) is Kim Le Court-Pienaar who took today’s stage which finished up the Great Orm and with it the lead in the race.

• Tracksmith - they are closing down their London shop on Chiltern Street this Sunday (23 August 2026). According to the shop’s Strava (Tracksmith London), everything is 50% off until then. It’s a nice message actually, and states that the decision has been made by the “brand and leadership team'“. (Thanks to John Sanderson for the h/t on this one). Last time I was in there, there was a picture of John and Sam Gebreselassie on the wall.

• My son has started writing about music. Some of you may know he used to be a runner and to be fair he still runs, just not competitively these days. Anyway, I was amused to see he mentioned something I had said in his most recent piece when I commented on “performing” when you are DJing. You won’t be surprised to learn that I now see everything through a performance lens.

  This DJing business is tricky, whatever people might tell you. A real battle with myself, often. Which I guess is where much of the value in it comes from. I used to be a runner, and, as my Dad observed, it’s like racing. Ideally you want to come in feeling relaxed, rested, ready to go. But you can’t always guarantee that. Then it’s about how you manage all the other stuff happening around you, how effectively you block it out and stop it from getting in the way

  It reminds me that there are a lot of very good musicians in the worlds of running and cycling. I need to investigate that, so that I can expand on my theory that they are all performances. Plus, if we keep quoting each other, we might attract a few more subscribers to our respective Lloyd-Like Streams of Consciousness.

• Talking of performances and on a final note, I have a son-in-law. Who is the singer in a band. They are called New Translations. They are signed to Warner Brothers in the States and today marks the release of their latest single which I am happy to share with you. Because, why not? It’s really very good.

I think that is the lot for this week. It seems to be a longer one than usual, which I will take up with my editor. Thanks to for the support as always. It’s very nice when people talk to me at some of these events and tell me how much they like reading it. Or send messages. Or “like” it. As I said last week, and as Jack echoed in his comment, I am easily pleased.

Enjoy your weekend, whatever you are doing, and I will be back next week.

The Week That Was and The Weekend That Will Be

There are so many things I could write about this week, but the thing I seem to be thinking about a lot is the psychology of sport. Not just the athletes but the coaches as well. And parents even.

I was wandering around the track at St Mary’s on Sunday looking at races from different angles and I heard a mother tell her late teenage daughter, who’d just run a race, and not done terribly well, that she was an “embarrassment”.

It broke my heart and I had to hold myself back from saying something. Because it might not have been about the race, there may have been some context I wasn’t aware of, and families are their own ecosystems. Not to be interfered with by outsiders.

But the way in which the athlete quietly walked away and sat down away from her mother told me everything I needed to know.

I hope she keeps running but I could understand it if she thought it wasn’t worth it. Because no one who takes to any start line is ever an embarrassment, no one who has that courage (because it is courage) is ever an embarrassment, and if you are a parent (as I am) you have to accept that it is never about you. Literally never.1

Contrast that with Elise Thorner’s parents immediately after the 3000m steeplechase final last night (Thursday 13 August 2026) at the European Championships.

She had been in with a chance of a medal, but had had nothing left over the last 200m and finished in 5th.

The cameras tracked her going to her parents who comforted her. When she gave what I thought was an excellent interview afterwards, she said that they had told her they were proud. Because that is the only response.

Sport isn’t just about the winners, as hard as it is for us to accept sometimes.

Taking part really matters too.

It’s also pretty unscientific, or at least a lot of racing is.

What makes athletics fascinating isn't simply the physical performance. It's watching human beings deal with pressure, expectation, disappointment and opportunity.

Jacob's win in the men’s 5000m for example, Matthew Hudson Smith who looked so nervous before the start of the 400m final, and the palpable relief he felt when he won, Amy Hunt’s approach to her racing, and Mark English’s response to his brilliant win in the men’s 800m.

You can see it with Keely as well. Does she have enough for the final? Will Femke actually sprint? And how will Audrey Werro come back from what was a really heavy fall. We will find out tonight at 21:45.

The European Athletics Championships which are currently being held in Birmingham (which I assume all of you are aware of) have been dramatic and fascinating in equal measure. It’s a reminder what a bloody great sport athletics is.

St Mary’s British Milers Club Grand Prix

I obviously have a few more thoughts on the European champs, but before I get to those, I wanted to say something about the BMC Grand Prix at St Mary’s University on Sunday.

It was brilliantly well organised by Craig Winrow and the BMC team and there was some really good racing too. Conditions were pretty perfect, a slight breeze but no more. Very warm but not so warm as to be debilitating.

I am not going to go through the results, which are available here but a few thoughts.

The first is that three men fell right in front of me in the A 800m with 100m to go. Which means they were going fast. And these were hard falls. I remember something similar happening last year. My assumption is that they are all about the same standard and they are fighting for the same space, but I am not too sure precisely what is going on. Seems odd, and looked painful. There have been a lot of falls at Birmingham too. Again, a lot of people of similar ability.

Second, I chatted to some athletes from Aberdeen AC who seemed delighted to be there. They said they couldn’t believe how hot it was. They had come from 14/15 degrees to 30 degrees and it was a shock to their system. Funny how we have all adapted to it more or less. In London and the south east I mean. They had got a grant from their club and used it to come down. Seemed a good use of cash to me.

Third, is that I really enjoy it when I see people I know running well. They don’t have to win, although Nancie Bowley and Abbey Brooke both raced really well to win both the women’s B 1500m and 3000m respectively.

Fourth, a special mention to Josh Lay who pushed on in the B 1500m, taking everyone through to a fast time, including himself. Sometimes you have to lay it on the line.

A few more.

Two men in the Cottage group are going through a bit of a purple patch. Sam Knee-Robinson had never broken 3:50 for 1500m until two weeks ago when he went to Belgium and ran 3:49. Sam will forgive me for saying he has been running a long time, so this was a pretty big deal, and he never gave up believing he could break 3:50.

Then on Sunday, he dug really deep and was rewarded with a 3:48 clocking. Incredibly impressive.

Similarly, Andrew Penney is now a V35 (sorry Andrew:-)) and has been running brilliantly well this year. A 3:44 1500m pb on Sunday to go with his 13:46 5000m and 7:58 3000m. Not a bad summer for either of them.

Let’s hear it for the over 30s!

I remember it was Mark Hookway who told me that most people gave up the sport too soon. He is a wise man, is Mark.

So don’t give up too early, or at least realise that there’s always a way back to the sport, if you love it.

The European Athletics Championships

I made some notes earlier in the week when I thought they had been good so far. “Not great, yet, but you can sense it is coming”, I wrote.

Actually, the last couple of days have been very good.

Yes, the wind is clearly irritating, because you need closed stands in the 21st century.

The qualifying rounds in the sprints are even more irritating. It’s clearly unfair. because everyone should race all the rounds.

The poor attendances particularly at the beginning of the week were not great. Not helped by these huge temporary stands which seemed to accentuate the problem. There must be a way to fill these spaces but I guess they will look at that afterwards. Still, it will be busy from now on.

Plus it’s all live on the BBC. Gabby Logan raises the standard every evening because she is so professional and Greg Rutherford has been good too.

It means it’s a good watch for both the avid and the casual viewer.

One caveat I have to the generally excellent coverage is this whole hoverboard/Segway cameraman thing where they film the athletes close up as they go around the bends.

Except it means you miss what is really going on.

I mean I saw Nick Griggs go flying in the men’s 5000m (and he lost his shoe) but I didn’t see Mike Foppen go down. Did you?

It’s happened several times and I have realised that we need perspective to see the moves properly.

Maybe it’s because I am fascinated with the sport and the less interested viewer might like it, but it’s not really working for me.

Did anyone watch Bloudek in the men’s 800m semi final? Yeah, I know this is niche.2 But he came right from the back all the way through the field. You need an overview to watch that. Otherwise, you are missing what is really going on.

I appreciate it is still considered innovative, but not every new idea is a good one.

It’s on again tonight, tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday starts with the marathons with the women at 7:30am and the men at 8:10am before the final session in the evening. Should be good.

Odds and Ends

• I wanted to mention Jack Millar’s excellent 6th place in Sunday’s City2Surf race. You may remember Jack wrote a great piece on here about his experience of Australia. I wasn’t sure how good a result this was (given what I suspect is my parochial world view) but the comments on his Strava from Australians made me realise it was pretty special. Further investigation has confirmed that. Good to see him running so well and he was 5th fastest up Heartbreak Hill.

• The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift had some drama over the weekend, but it’s safe to say that Demi Vollering made it her own on the final stage around Nice.

• Battersea Park update - it’s busier than ever. On Saturday we were doing sessions (and I was on my bike) and it was challenging to say the least. A RunThrough event (5k, 10k, half marathon), brought in a load of people many of whom drove there. I saw Rose Harvey doing her session and she too was having to dodge dogs, dog walkers and other runners. This is an international athlete who is preparing to represent Great Britain over the marathon this weekend. I can’t help but think we must be able to do better with this. I mean, I know everyone should be allowed to run in the park, but international athletes who are starting their sessions at 8:30am surely need some consideration. Or should they be the ones who have to go elsewhere?

• Do you remember the Men’s Health story? Journalist David Smyth came down to do a piece on the Cottage group (and running groups generally). He was lovely but it ended up being a load of work dealing with images. Nothing to do with David, who was doing the words, but it’s a reminder to myself to ask better questions before agreeing to do things.

• “If you have got a chance, take it” came up on Wednesday morning at the velodrome, when we were talking about “match sprints”. One lap races with 2 or 3 others in the race. Phil Wright (dad of British national champion and World Tour rider Fred) said it was something he had picked up in the British Cycling coaching process, and I observed that it was good advice for life. A lot of racing comes down to this. You don’t have that many chances, and you need to rely on your intuition, and not overthink it.

• Matt Stonier, who I have mentioned before on here, has put out a load of his thoughts on Substack this week. He’s been through athletic hell and is coming back and they are his reflections on the experience. Worth a read.

• As if this weekend wasn’t busy enough athletically at least, it’s the Tooting Record Breaker BMC event next Wednesday (19th August 2026). It will be the last race of the track season for a lot of the domestic athletes although the international programme still has a long way to go. Looking forward to that.

• Cycling’s Renewi Tour (formerly the Benelux tour) starts next Wednesday as well as cyclists build towards the cycling world championships in Montreal next month. Stage 3 of the Tour finishes in Geraardsbergen, where the riders go up the Muur, which I rode up twice, at the start of the Transcontinental Race 3 years ago now. Time flies, doesn’t it?

Thanks for all the support last week. Lots of “likes” which I really appreciate. I am easily pleased.

Enjoy the weekend whatever you are up to and there will be more of this next week.

I went to see some art this week. At Sotheby’s in New Bond Street. Hassan Hajjai is a guy about my age (60s) who has taken to photographing young people in London who are doing great things in the creative world. It’s called My London Rockstars. Ends to Estates.

The images are really cool, although I was equally impressed with the way in which he uses physical things to frame the photographs.

Somehow I stumbled across a mini tour guided by a young man called Seb, who essentially works for Hassan’s gallery. If I wanted to buy one of these photographs for £25,000 then Seb would be the man to talk to.

Chatting to him, I commented that all the subjects looked pretty relaxed and clearly enjoyed the photographic process. They all looked as if they wanted to be there.

Seb told me that Hassan had a real talent for creating the sort of environment in which people feel comfortable and it allowed them to thrive and he agreed that you could see it in the photographs themselves.

I often think that we don’t spend enough time focusing on environments, particularly in the work place where generating the “right” sort of atmosphere seems to be a real challenge. Maybe that’s because there’s a sense of obligation about work. You are not really there out of choice, although, of course, you are.

We all know that it applies to sporting environments too. Teams, groups, clubs. All have the same dynamic. An atmosphere, a culture, a way of being.

As I have got older, I recognise its importance more and more.

It also reassured me that what I am doing with the Cottage group is creating the sort of environment where people thrive. Or at least that is what I am trying to do. I don’t make it a KPI although that would be funny and it’s very much an emergent property, if that doesn’t sound too “woo woo”.

It’s both harder than you think, and yet, at the same time, it’s obvious.

When I talk about seeing the wood for the trees, I realise that it’s not so much about the detail of the sessions, although those really matter, but it’s about the energy in the group.

We had a moment last Saturday when that feeling was palpable - and it was a fantastic buzz for all of us. In fact, we have lots of moments like that which, I guess, is why we do it and why people come.

We don’t get there every time we meet, but we do seem to do it more often than not.

I was going to say, “hopefully, I am not alone in feeling it” but actually I know I am not.

All we need is a bit of old carpet, some trendy running gear, and we will be able to give Hassan a proverbial run for his money.

The Commonwealth Games

I didn’t get to see everything but what I did see I enjoyed. I really like boxing for some reason. Always have. Even if I don’t understand the rules. The track cycling was excellent as was some of the athletics. Really pleased that Georgia Hunter Bell won the 800m, and as tense as the men’s mile was (and it was uncomfortable to watch for most of it), the “right” man won.

I am still not convinced the Games have a future, but my guess is that they will have a few more iterations before someone (Mrs Money?) finally pulls the plug.

Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift

What a great race. There’s so much going on both on and off the road.

There’s definitely an imbalance between the presentation of men’s and women’s sport.

Maybe it’s not quite the same in athletics, where the women’s events take place next to the men’s, but in cycling it’s world’s apart.

There was stage 3 where Sigrid Haugset attacked early and her attack wasn’t even filmed. All we, as the viewer saw, was she was up the road riding solo. What was even more astonishing about that stage was that former world champion (twice) Lotte Kopecky got within 12 seconds of her, but then the effort of getting across proved too much. Incredible racing.

And that whole ridiculous saga about the aerodynamic “chest padding”. Which, of course, the mainstream media picked up on with glee. That was annoying. Lots happening every day. Worth following, if you are not already.

Mount Ventoux today, and the race finishes in Nice on Sunday.

Odds and Ends

• There’s a British Miler’s Club Grand Prix meeting at St Mary’s University, Teddington on Sunday, which looks like being a great event. Last year’s, which was held earlier in the summer, in perfect conditions, produced some fantastic results. Let’s hope for the same this weekend. Looking at the weather forecast, it is supposed to be a little breezier than I would like, but it’s going to be warm. And that helps. I will hopefully see some of you there.

• Conditions make so much difference in athletics. The IFAM meeting at Oordegem in Belgium on Saturday produced some incredible results and the standard was ridiculously high. I wonder whether more and more people will start to make that journey. It’s a little longer than the trip to Wimbledon (although probably not in the case of someone like Charlie Brisley who lives in Dover) but all the Cottage lads who raced and finished, ran PBs. That said, there was a decent turnout at Hercules Wimbledon 5000m Festival and it was a lot easier to get home from.

• The European Athletics Championships start in Birmingham on Monday (10 August 2026). Decent preview here, although I really don’t really care whether Great Britain returns to the top of the medal table. That’s a sort of journalistic filler. I just want to see the competition and it looks as if it will be a great week. The women’s 800m final, which will probably be one of the races of the week is on Friday at 21:45. I may be forced into an overexcited mid-week post, but let’s see how we go. And I hadn’t realised it was the first time these championships have been held in Britain.

• I have been thinking about the patriarchy this week for all sorts of reasons. I am not going to do a whole post on it, but it came to my attention that one of the women in the group got pretty badly hassled on a solo run. By a group of workmen. This makes me very angry, and it is a reminder, as if one were needed, that there’s still a long way to go. I wonder if this is partly why Battersea Park is so busy. Because there’s safety in numbers. I wish people felt safe everywhere.

• I see that London has submitted a bid to hold the 2029 World Athletics Championships someone having done a deal with the Championship side, West Ham. Worth keeping an eye on. It is a good venue for athletics and the World Champs is a very good event.

• I got to the velodrome this morning having bumped into Andy and Charlie from the Cottage group on the way there. I absolutely love how I bump into runners from the group all over the place. It happens on an almost daily basis and it makes me feel as if London really is a village. Which all people of a certain age know it is anyway. I managed to get the session done although I have felt better. Nice of Olivier (one of the coaches) to take photographs of us. Maybe that should be my role at Cottage sessions. Rather than the “vibes coach” that I obviously am.

  

  I think that’s it for this week. Battersea Park tomorrow morning for sessions, St Mary’s on Sunday for racing. And I may do my own ride at some point. What’s not to like? Enjoy your weekend whatever you are doing and thank you for reading.

  Thanks for reading Mark’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

You are only ever as happy as your unhappiest child

I remember hearing this for the first time 20 odd years ago. It was Katie Snowden’s mum who told me, and as much as I don’t want to believe it, there’s definitely something in it.

Sadly, Katie didn’t make the final of the women’s mile at the Commonwealth Games this week, so I am guessing her mum is testing the theory.

Actually, her mum has been supporting Katie for more years than I imagine she cares to remember, so she will have a handle on it by now.

I have also been wondering if that principle follows through to coaching.

If 9 people raced brilliantly, why do you find yourself preoccupied with the 10th who didn’t run that well?

Injuries are similar.

They are very much a fact of life, but when they happen, and they do, you feel the need to look at yourself and ask questions.

I think I have had four messages this week about injuries which is a higher rate than I would like although it is actually a small percentage of a large group.

We all know that performance is a complex system. There’s your body, the fatigue you carry, what you eat, how strong you are, how much sleep you have been getting and all the other stress you have got going on in your life all of which make a difference.

Do we train too much on hard surfaces? Could we do more on grass? Are people trying to do too much and not recovering? Is it the shoes? Did people recover from the last race they ran? And so on.

It probably goes without saying that the answer is not always obvious although there will often be clues.

There are so many things that can go wrong and the harsh reality is that injury is inevitable at some point.

Part of the process involves working out what might be best for you and there are many ways to get fit. I think it pays to be “sensible” and to be “flexible” in the way you train. You don’t always have to finish a session, you don’t have to run hard all the time, and there’s no shame in having a few days off if you are run down.

Always remember that the golden rule is to make sure you can do it the next day, and the day after that. Consistency is key. But you all knew that anyway.

Events, dear boy, events

I have been to loads in the last week, but so far, there’s been no sign of the government falling.

I guess it’s only been two years since the last one was formed but you never know, in this day and age.

The South London Grand Prix at Herne Hill Velodrome last Saturday was marvellous. I was told the Friday afternoon and evening had gone incredibly well too. Entertaining commentary, an international field and really high quality racing. Nice to have a quick word with Theo Bos, former pro cyclist, five time world champion and Olympic silver medallist and now coach of the Belgian team. “Nice vibes” he said. He’s down with the kids.

I didn’t get to the T100 triathlon on Sunday because it started at 6:30 am and I decided that was far too early to go to Docklands. Delighted to see that Charlie Sandison did really well, finishing 3rd. It was obviously the ride we did in Richmond Park that made all the difference to his preparation.

Seriously though, Charlie does appear to be quite good at this triathlon lark. I don’t want to encourage him too much, because we need him in the Cottage group, but I am not averse to dalliances with the less serious sports. (That’s a joke, by the way. In case you were wondering.)

Monday evening, I popped along to the Southern Vets League in Wimbledon which did much to restore my faith in human nature. Not that it needed restoring. Lots of people of a certain age (a veteran in athletics is someone who is 35 and over) having what looked like a lot of fun.

We do this sort of thing so well in the UK and it never ceases to amaze me how many people want to keep competing right up until their 80s. It’s inspiring.

And then there’s all the people who volunteer to make these events work. It’s always the same people too. The people I saw officiating on Monday, will be the same ones I see tomorrow. Amazing really.

Tuesday, was a warm and sunny Cottage session, with Battersea Park just as busy as ever, particularly now the track is shut for resurfacing.

Then it was back to an even warmer Battersea Park for the Top Flight 5k on Wednesday evening. 2:06 marathon runner Jack Rowe won the men’s race with Olympian Alex Bell winning the women’s.

Conditions weren’t great. Almost everyone I spoke to complained about having a dry mouth caused by the dust, the pollen and the heat but it was a well supported event and great to see so many people down there, both running and supporting.

I have to confess that I have been struggling to keep up with the athletics from the Commonwealth Games, but even looking at the results is fascinating.

Really sorry to see Max Burgin didn’t make the final of the men’s 800m. I noticed he said on social media he didn’t feel great. Georgia Hunter Bell looks like she should be favourite for the women’s 800m. Tomorrow night (Saturday 1 August 2026) should be a really good one in the stadium with Josh Kerr going in the mile. He looked good in his heat, but it won’t be easy. And pleased to see Megan Keith pick up a bronze medal in the women’s 5000m.

There’s a whole post on how the Australians manage their periodisation given they seem to have come into these Games with really good form, when basically it’s winter for them. I will have to look into that a little bit more but their system, whatever it is, seems to be working.

Finally it was good to see “Friend of Cottage” (it’s an official designation) Ollie Lockley running for the Isle of Man in the 10,000m too. He paced Andy Fyfe and George Grassly with Max Milarvie at the London Marathon which means that Andy and George are forever in his debt.

Odds and Ends

• In the Danny Mackey interview I linked to last week, he talked about helping Brandon Miller improve his kick and explained they did “neuromuscular drills” to work on turnover. Essentially, Brandon would do a “mile repeat”, then do the drills, then do a much shorter, faster interval. Makes absolute sense to me, and I am still thinking about that.

• The British team was announced for the European Athletics championships which start a week on Monday (10 August 2026) in Birmingham. Hopefully they will be easier to follow than the Commonwealth Games have been.

• I was really pleased to see Tom Keen (who has made the final of the men’s mile at the Commonwealth Games) giving Phil a shout after his heat at the Commonwealth Games. Phil started the Cottage group and although he now spends more time in Cambridge than he does in London, he is very close to our hearts.

• I said I hadn’t listened to the Rich Roll chat with Malcolm Gladwell and Chris Chavez but I have now. It’s really very good. Maybe I am biased because Malcolm Gladwell is my generation, but I appreciate the thoughtful (if not intellectual) approach he has to the sport. Well worth listening to.

• Lydia Thomson’s Substack popped into my inbox this afternoon and I thought it was really good, and echoed some of what I was trying to say about the stresses of running which are different for everyone.

• Athlos comes to London on 18 September 2026. At the Saracens stadium in north London.

• Lots going on this weekend. In London it’s the 5000m Festival at Hercules Wimbledon (where I will be) and there’s an IFAM meeting in Belgium. Where lots of British athletes will be. Which reminds me that I could either be racing or volunteering at the Vets League at Herne Hill Velodrome. You see the problem? I can get stressed too because I can’t be everywhere at once. And my rule is that young people’s racing matters more than old people’s. As much as I like Vets Leagues of all descriptions.

• The title of this post comes from something I read this week in the latest Ian McEwan novel, What We Can Know. It made me think about and appreciate just how pleasant this summer weather has been in London, particularly as the evenings go on, and the light and the air appear to soften. Or maybe they do actually soften. Who knows? Either way, it will be gone too soon so make the most of it.

Thanks for the support as always. Have a good weekend whatever you are up to and I will be back next week.

London Diamond League

What a great event. A bit like parties. The lower your expectations, the better the experience. 60,000 people, nice weather, and a brilliant show put on by some of the best athletes in the world.

Of course, Josh Kerr’s mile world record was extraordinary. Not just for the way he ran it, but for the atmosphere it generated in the stadium. I am not sure I have ever felt anything like it.

There is something too, in level of expectation he created in the run up to the race. I think that made a huge difference. Although I am sure there were plenty in the stadium who had no idea what he was planning to do.

A great race too, and astonishing results for all the British athletes given the opportunity. Getting into a race like that is one thing. Being able to perform on the day is quite another.

I was pleased to see Keely win the women’s 800m, although Femke looked like she was jogging.

A bit of a pity for Armand to bow out injured, but there were brilliant women’s discus, high jumping and long jumping competions. The track events were great and I thought Sarah Healy ran really well in the women’s 3000m to finish 3rd in a pb of 8:25.

Athletics is definitely having a bit of a moment and Saturday was a pretty good reflection of where we are in the summer of 2026.

There are loads of little things I could criticise about the event (not least the scheduling which left the 800m women on the track for far too long) but, as I have said, it really exceeded expectations and that has got to be a win.

Even if it is potentially the last Diamond League event to be held there.

The Tour de France

As I write this, the Tour is about to head up Alpe d’Huez, one of the hardest climbs of the race.

This was the stage used for last Sunday’s L’Etape (the “sportif” that is open to amateurs). Good riders I know took 7 hours to do it. The pros today will be a little bit quicker.

I was amused to see a quick interview this week with Luke Plapp who was commenting on how fast each stage was.

He said that on the 184k stage, he looked down at his bike computer and noticed that in 90 minutes he had ridden 100km. It’s not quite Josh Kerr level, but it’s pretty astonishing particularly given I think 3 hours for 100km is a decent effort.

The chat this morning was that UAE team have a virus in the team and the hope (for them) is that it doesn’t spread to Pog.

Which it doesn’t seem to have done, because he has just won the stage in 3 hours 17 minutes.

Poor Fred Wright crashed and hurt his hand the day before yesterday and he’s going to find it difficult to ride but he will make it to Paris.

It really is a war of attrition.

Tomorrow (Saturday 25 July 2026) is another very hard stage before the sprint stage in Paris on Sunday.

Then it’s all over for another year.

The Dave Clarke Mile Extravaganza

Hats off to Ben Noad for putting on yet another excellent evening of racing at Wimbledon on Wednesday evening.

Jack Kavanagh and Charlie Brisley both broke 4 minutes for the mile, and Cottage man, Andrew Penney ran really well for third in the A race, running a pb of 4:01.

It wasn’t happening for Dom Nolan, but he gave it a go. A reminder that it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to and there are fine margins when you are racing this fast. Go a little too fast on the first lap, and the last one becomes exponentially hard.

Of the other men, Michael Cameron (4:17) and Charlie Easthaugh (4:23) both looked to be getting their racing legs back. Racing is the best form of training.

Nice to see Chloe Baker (4:59) and Juliet Hodder (4: 54) racing too.

Lots of coaching chat, some of which happened away from Mark’s camera. Because we all worry we will get recorded talking rubbish.

I know you can’t imagine I’d ever talk rubbish.

Plus we had quite the coaches gathering at the end with Geoff Jerwood and Keith Newton (both of Herne Hill Harriers), Tim Eglen (of AFD), Mark Hookway (Tonbridge AC), and Matt Seddon, who had been commentating and is the coach at Oxford University all chewing over various things. You’d have thought someone would have taken a photograph of such an august gathering.

There’s a few years experience of the sport in that group and that includes Matt who is positively boyish compared to the rest of us.

Results are here (including Clare Elms’ world records for over 60s women in both the 1500m and the mile).

The Week in Podcast Land

• Sunday Plodcast - this is the above mentioned Matt Seddon and his mate Ollie Lum and in this week’s episode they have a good interview with Tim Brennan (who I ran against 1000 years ago) about the future of the British Milers Club. Tim is currently the co-chairman.

• Danny Mackey - Jonathan Gault of Let’s Run does a really good interview of Danny - who for those who don’t know is Josh Kerr’s coach as well as the coach of Brandon Miller who won the 800m on Saturday. Really, very, very good. For all sorts of reasons. If there any coaches reading this, it’s definitely worth listening to. And athletes too. I think we operate the same way at Cottage (“keep it light”). We just don’t quite as fast. Not yet, anyway. Go to 1 hour, 13 minutes, 35 seconds, if you want to go straight there. And thanks to Mark Hookway, who recommended it to me.

• Andrew Huberman with Dr Tommy Wood (who is British). Tommy explains the meaning of “clutch” which I has always assumed was an Americanism, although it’s clearly significant in the sports psychology literature.

  “The term “clutch” is colloquially used to describe important or crucial situations in sport, with clutch performance referring to successful performances during these pressurised circumstances”.

  Interestingly, Andrew Huberman had never heard of it and Tommy distinguished it from “flow” states. It’s an interesting chat all round with lots of performance points in there.

  It occurred to me that there was little about Josh Kerr’s performance that was “flow”. It might have looked smooth, but he worked really, really hard for that.

• Rich Roll talks to Malcolm Gladwell and Chris Chavez about how we are “selling running all wrong”. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I will - but I thought I would mention it. In case you were interested.

Frinters

I put this on my Strava most Friday mornings and it stands for “Friday Intermediate training”. Which is a session that takes place at Herne Hill Velodrome.

It’s a coached session, and this summer it seems to have got very hard. There are no age restrictions and you often get people who are racing regularly and racing, as you all know, makes you so much faster than someone who “just” trains.

I keep thinking that it’s age, and that may be part of it, but some of these guys ride very fast. Type 2 fun.

Sadly, there was a big crash in a keirin race last Sunday and two of the guys who regularly attend the session are still in King’s College Hospital, one with a split aorta (which I gather is pretty serious) and both have several broken ribs. It’s hard to get your head around the sort of track cycling we do when this sort of thing happens.

Anyway, today, Carl Ison was there. I love Carl. He is always cheerful, keen to race and quick to complain about my 50k “easy rides”. He has a point.

He’s also creative and this morning he “accosted” me as I was leaving with a very cool little camera and took my photograph, as he did everyone else who had completed the session. I really like the format. Not the picture of me, though, because who likes pictures of themselves?

Odds and Ends

• The Commonwealth Games have started. The cycling and the athletics both get going on Thursday next week. I tend to think it’s a dated concept, but I am open to persuasion. Hard to know what the other Commonwealth countries think. As if a country can “think”. That said, there’s lots to look forward to. And I have just discovered I can watch it on Now TV (who show HBO Max content). And HBO Max have the rights.

• The US track and field championships have also started and they are being held in New York for a change. Lots of other countries have their national athletics championships this weekend too.

• It’s the South London Grand Prix at Herne Hill Velodrome today and tomorrow. Elite cyclists from around the world rocking up in a perfectly formed corner of south London. My understanding is that the team at the velodrome has worked really hard to put these fields together and it looks like being a really good event. I will hopefully get there at some point.

• There’s triathlon on in London this weekend too. I mean, there’s always something on in London isn’t there? Charlie Sandison of the Cottage group is racing the T100 on Sunday and seems to have sparked some sort of competition with running influencer Hugo Fry. The pros race in the World Triathlon Championship Series races which take place tomorrow (Saturday 25 July 2026). Which the BBC will be showing in the UK. Free to air. The women’s race is at 14:30 and the men’s at 16:15. That’s the power of Alex Yee for you.

• Topflight 5k in Battersea Park next Wednesday (29th July 2026). This is the rearranged race which was postponed during one of the several “heatwaves”. Funny how we have all adapted. Chatting to Jack Rowe (one of the UK’s top marathon racers), I gather he is racing, so it should be a quick race.

• I am pleased to see that the Crystal Palace Sports Centre is going to get a much needed £130 million revamp. I think I first raced there 50 years ago and it’s been sad to watch it deteriorate over the years.

• Finally, Substack have introduced Pangram which tests how much AI generated text there is in a post. I just did a check, for fun, and you will be pleased to hear that this is ‘fully human-written”. Makes me smile anyway.

  Thanks for all the support as always. There’s a lot going on at the moment and I have to whittle down the list of things I want to write about every week. Not that successfully, I might add! I hope you all have a great sporting weekend whatever you are doing and wherever you are.

  Thanks for reading Mark’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

It’s the first anniversary of this Substack today so thanks for all the support over the last year.

Thanks too, to Jack Millar for his great piece on life in Australia last week. That seems to have gone down really well and it helped me out massively too.

It’s not actually that easy to put something out week in, week out and I am pleased I have kept it going. I had a few hiccups around Christmas, but other than that, I have managed to get something out every week.

It’s not unlike training, I suppose. You build consistency and then you just keep doing it. You don’t have to ask yourself “do I feel like it today"?” Because we all know that if we were to ask ourselves that, we’d never get out of the door.

I haven’t done the greatest job of promoting it but I am aware that a few of you have done some of that for me. I am grateful. It’s not necessarily about having lots of people subscribing or commenting, but it’s really, really nice when people do.

Looking back at the inaugural addition, I note that it was posted the day before the London Diamond League, as this one is. So let’s start there.

London Diamond League

The Cottage group gave me two tickets to tomorrow’s event as part of my Christmas gift which was both generous and appreciated. So I will definitely be going.

I am wondering if I will see my second world record of the year, if not a third or fourth? The first, being the London marathon, of course.

Josh Kerr has made no secret of his desire to break the world mile record and that looks like a great race. Yared Nuguse will be a threat but it’s a race and I suspect they both need each other to break the record.

Josh has been putting out some great videos promoting what he has called Project 222 and he is posting the last one tonight. This is the final lap of his 1200m time trial. Which I suspect went well, given how he looked at 800m.

The world record is a big ask, but you never know. Either way, he has given us all something to really look forward to.

And do you think he should shave his beard, for the milliseconds? We will see.

The men’s 800m could be very, very fast with both Emanuel Wanyonyi and Max Burgin in there. Has Arop withdrawn? I thought he was racing.

Then there’s the women’s 800m where Keely Hodgkinson faces Femke Broeders-Bol and Phoebe Gill. I was going to say it’s not billed as a world record attempt but I have just checked the BBC website and they are saying it is. Either way, it’s going to be quick.

Sadly, Georgia Hunter-Bell and Jake Wightman have both withdrawn from their respective 800m races. In Georgia’s case because. of illness and Jake’s case because of a niggle.

There’s plenty of interest in other events too with what looks like a very good national 800m men’s race at 1:15pm. Credit to the organisers for putting that together.

And there’s plenty of British interest in every event, as you’d expect with a “home” Diamond League.

For those not going, it’s on BBC One and iPlayer from 1pm. Definitely worth watching.

The Week that Was

It’s been a busy one. Watford Diamond League last Saturday, a huge group for Tuesday’s Cottage session (which included a visit from a journalist) and a chat to Phil Wright about how Fred was getting on at the Tour. He’s enjoying it apparently. Indeed, Fred was actually in yesterday’s sprint which meant he missed the crash, and there’s a great picture (below) of him here bossing it at the front of the world’s biggest cycle race. Impressive for a lad from south London, who learnt his craft at Herne Hill Velodrome.

David Smyth, who is doing a piece for Men’s Health magazine on running groups, was the journalist who came down.

David was lovely and charming and a pleasure to have around (and thanks for subscribing to my Substack:-)). And he chose a good night to see how the group works.

Oddly, for mid-July we had about 30 men on the road. With about 12 men on the track. And there were 10 women on the road, with 6 on the track.

When I say the “road” I mean in the park itself. Normally this is a staple in the winter months, but I sense that things are starting to change a little. I suspect we have a few more committed road racers than track racers these days but we still love the track. Great to see Dom Nolan, Andrew Penney and Angus McMillan (and a load of others) keeping the track flame alive.

I wasn’t able to make it to Watford for various reasons but I was really pleased to see so many of the Cottage lads running well.

Josh Lay had his first race for years (3:42), Andrew Penney broke 8 minutes again for 3000m, Angus McMillan ran 3:48 for 1500m, Harry Cox won his 1500m race in 3:48, and Elliot Moran ran another 3:45.

One other person I was pleased to see do well was Matt Stonier who is on the comeback trial after a long period out with injury.

I think I wrote about leading him out up Box Hill on a bike last summer and he was very charming. (I have just checked and I don’t think I did write about it, but it happened. You see? I don’t write about everything that happens!).

And you must know me by now. I only need to meet people once to then follow their careers in detail.

Anyway, Jack Kavanagh left the door open for Matt, who walked right through to win that 1500m race in 3:41 which must really give him confidence.

The Arlo Ludewick Story

I actually haven’t met Arlo notwithstanding he is a member of Herne Hill Harriers, which is a club I know relatively well. But he’s had a fantastic season and it is one of those great stories that give everyone some hope that they, too, could have a breakthrough year.

He won the 1500m at the British Championships and then on Sunday he went to Kortrijk in Belgium and ran 3:33.07 which is inside the qualifying time for the European Championships. So one would expect him to be selected to run for Great Britain, which would be a first for him.

He’s also been invited to run the mile at tomorrow’s Diamond League which I imagine will be an incredible experience for him and I hope he runs well.

I listened to Matt Seddon on the Sunday Plodcast who described it as a “Cinderella” story.

Matt also mentioned the selection policy doesn’t guarantee a place on the team for someone who runs the time after winning the national champs, but the lawyer in me would like to think that that is legal language for keeping your options open in a worst case scenario. We will see, but I would be very disappointed if he doesn’t get selected.

Phil Cavell

I was saddened to find out this week that Phil, the author of The Midlife Cyclist, and one of the partners in Cyclefit, got so badly injured after coming off his bike recently he’s had to give up work. Which shocks me. He has a Substack post about what happened.

For those who don’t know me, I ride a lot and I am very aware that it is dangerous. I am also the same age as Phil.

Last year I got knocked off and broke my arm. More recently, an angry motorist assaulted me. But you carry on because you like doing it.

Maybe I am feeling slightly pessimistic about this riding lark, but I see Phil’s story as a bit of a warning. Because shit happens, however good you think you are. Or however long you have been doing it.

I don’t know him terribly well although I have chatted to him, bought a bike from Cyclefit and think really highly of everyone there.

I also note his new book is called The Cycling Addiction. I mean, really? Is this cycling “addiction” a thing? I would have no idea what he is talking about.

Keir Starmer

This is Keir’s last weekend as Prime Minister of this country. I know he isn’t terribly popular but he’s a bloke in his early 60s, much as I am, trying to do his best. Even if it isn’t good enough.

I think it’s sad, for various reasons, but mostly because he must be acutely aware that he has failed as a politician and none of us likes that feeling. A successful lawyer, certainly, but the skillsets are very, very different.

I don’t think I have ever told the story on here, but I knew Keir at university. We both did law at Leeds in the early 80s and in my final year (after I had been battered into submission by Bill Taylor and Geoff Turnbull and their ridiculous 100 mile weeks) I abandoned running and played football for the Law Society team. With Keir. He was quite good. Not brilliant, but then it wasn’t a serious university side. It was just a bunch of blokes knocking the ball about. I always got on well with him. He was interested in music and sport, which at the time, were my two main interests, although I suspect he worked a little harder than I did. And was clearly more ambitious.

I last spoke to him when I bumped into him in a court 25 odd years ago, so I don’t consider him to be a friend as such, but I have always followed his career.

We have a mutual friend to whom I sent an email in May 2015 asking him what he thought the odds were of Keir becoming Prime Minister. He replied then relatively positively, and replied again in 2024 when it actually happened. Having remembered our exchange. A lot of things need to go right to get the job, although it seems a lot easier these days given the turnover.

He doesn’t appear to be the same person I used to know, but maybe that is a professional facade. I like how he still loves football though, and reportedly still plays.

I suspect he will be the only Prime Minister I actually know and I am disappointed for him that he didn’t get to go to New York for the World Cup Final. That would have been a great farewell.

Odds and Ends

• Football - yes, disappointing. I could write a lot about it, but everything has already been said, many times over. 2030 it is, then.

• Jessica Schiffer’s Three Weeks at Wimbledon - I am not quite sure what it was about this piece that I liked. It seems to cover a lot of ground. Sport, and covering it. London and how we manage (or don’t manage in the heat), the current emphasis on sport and fashion, and more tellingly, for me at least, how badly this lady appears to have been treated by the All England Club. Who knows if it happened as she described, but it has the ring of truth about it. Not too sure, either, if I should see this as “aspirational” for a Substack writer. She seems to be doing very well.

• Tom McNabb, who was a famous coach when I was growing up, has died. I don’t imagine the younger readers of this Substack will have heard of him. Although I may be wrong.

• I have mentioned Mark Kowalski before. He did the TCR with me three years ago. Did very well, in fact. Seems like he broke a world record and there’s a piece in Cycling Weekly about him. Now a Green councillor in Lewisham too.

• London 10k - I didn’t get to this, and it seemed like an odd race to have in the middle of July. Seyfu Jamaal is clearly going well and won the men’s race and Lucy Jenks won the women’s race. It seemed to have lots of running influencers involved.

• Battersea track closes on Monday 20 July 2026 for resurfacing. Which will have an impact for the rest of the summer.

• It’s the Summercross at Herne Hill Velodrome this evening. Sponsored by Rapha. Might have to think about racing one of these. Only two more rounds to go.

• Finsbury Park 5000s and Portsmouth 5000s this weekend

• Joe Scanes won the European U18 3000m yesterday. Which was a pretty impressive achievement. He won the “B” 5k race at Battersea Park on New Year’s Eve, when I was the lead bike. Clearly very talented, and good to see him win a major championship.

• Dave Clark Mile Extravaganza at Wimbledon on Wednesday 22 July 2026. Do you think Ben Noad got a little carried away naming the event? No start lists yet.

• And it’s that time of year when the Transcontinental Race starts. In Norway this year. And the official start is on Sunday at 8pm. Because you ride through the night. It’s a mad race and I can’t quite believe I thought I could do it. At least I lived to fight another day.

• That’s it for this week. As I said at the beginning, thanks for the support, have a great weekend and I will see you next week.

By way of introduction: I’m Jack (above, left), a Cottage regular since the pandemic. At least I was until May, when my partner, Liv, and I made the move to swap London for Sydney for a year.

So, a couple of months in, how does the running scene compare?

Centennial Park: Sydney’s Battersea Park?

If you want the closest thing Sydney has to an equivalent of Battersea Park, it’s Centennial Park. It’s become the obvious answer to “where do I go for a ‘workout’” here.

But Centennial’s importance to Sydney runners is even greater than Battersea’s to Londoners. Centennial’s trails and hills also make it a default option for easy and long runs. And it is the go-to inner city cycling loop too. Battersea, Richmond, and Regents parks all rolled into one, then?

Training: Run Crew, and some experimentation

On the training side, I’ve been running with Run Crew, which is a group based - you guessed it - at Centennial park. The group ranges in ability and includes athletes who will compete at the upcoming Commonwealth Games, a 2:11 marathoner, as well as more recreational runners, and several juniors too. The group is coached by Ben St Lawrence and Gary Howard. Ben is a double Olympian and former Australian record holder over the 10,000m, while Gary was still running sub 2 for 800m well into his fourties. So they both know their stuff, and the group has been a great way into the local running scene.

The sessions themselves aren’t wildly different in structure to what I was doing in London, but one adjustment I have had to get used to is that morning sessions here start early. I’m not sure I’d ever met at 6:30 to warm up for a Saturday session in London. But I can definitely get used to a trip to the beach to recover afterwards. Oh, and the frequency of well kept public toilets and water fountains has been a pleasant surprise!

On my own training, I’ve been using the move as a bit of an excuse to experiment - playing around with session structure, including some double session days. There has been more and more interest in double threshold and the Norwegian method in the past few years - and I have seen many trying out the “staple” double threshold sessions that the Ingebrigtsens use.

I have been reading Marius Bakken’s book on the topic, which Mark mentioned recently. I was pleased to find a more nuanced approach, that relies on a set of guiding principles while providing scope for variability. As with any training approach, it is best tailored to the individual, rather than blindly copying a boiler plate template. The fundamental ideas of accumulating volume at threshold intensity and carefully managing muscle condition (or ‘tone’) aren’t new to me. But I am still working out what works best and different philosophies are always interesting.

Racing: a long-distance pursuit

You don’t need me to tell you that Australia is a really big country. At the same time, the population is smaller, and the numbers follow that there is generally reduced depth. Taking the marathon as an example, in 2025 104 Australian men ran under 2:30 and 63 Aussie women ran under 2:50. Meanwhile, 327 British men and 117 British women broke those same marks. All this means that it quite common to fly a couple of hours for a race.

I picked out some of the top events and made the trips to Tasmania for the Launceston 10k and the Gold Coast for the Half Marathon, both of which were high quality events with very competitive fields. They also proved good excuses to exploring new parts of Australia, and running in new places has offered impressive scenery.

Gold Coast especially pulls people in from everywhere - the marathon, half, 10k and 5k all run as one big weekend, and runners from across the country (and further afield - Japan in particular) make the pilgrimage. It has a similar feel to the trip to Valencia, which is becoming more and more popular amongst UK runners. This year, the men’s marathon was won by Haftu Strintos in 2:06:20 - a new Australian record.

So far, I’ve come close to my PBs, running 29:43 for 9th at Launceston 10k and 65:45 for 42nd at Gold Coast half. Something to build from.

Cross country, but not how we know it

Those who know me will know that I love cross country. I didn’t think that it would be much of a thing here, but I found that many of the group were heading down to the State Championship a few hours South of Sydney, so I thought I’d get involved.

This is not British cross country though. The purpose built cross country course was dry and mown short like a golf fairway, and 6mm spikes were plenty long enough. I was, however, impressed with the hills, which made up for the lack of mud and created a tough challenge. The field was small compared with most UK across races, but good quality up front. I finished fourth, but third amongst those affiliated with New South Wales - so took home a bronze medal.

It’s not all sunshine

It would be dishonest to make this sound like an unbroken run of good weather and scenic running.

Aside from arriving to two weeks of rain (Sydney actually has more rain than London, apparently), leaving London meant leaving friends, family, a job I liked, and a training group that felt like home. There is a kind of quiet that comes with landing somewhere new and figuring out what comes next. Running has helped enormously with that - it’s the fastest way I know to make a new city feel familiar and to meet people - but it hasn’t made the adjustment weightless.

It has taken a little bit of time to get into the rhythm of training again after a busy few months leading up to the trip and the upheaval of moving. But I am getting there.

And it was sobering to witness the aftermath of a near-fatal shark attack at Coogee Beach, while I was putting my feet up after an early Saturday session - not something I’d quite bargained for as part of settling in.

Against all that, I’ve genuinely enjoyed following the UK scene - and Cottage in particular - from afar. It’s easier to follow than it used to be, not least thanks to the rise of the Cottage influencer, so even from the other side of the world it hasn’t felt like being entirely cut off. And there have been some great performances from the group, both on the track and the road.

It’s a small world

One thing that hasn’t changed is just how small the running world is.

I have seen many of the same faces at each of the races so far, and it doesn’t take long to form a (friendly) rivalry or two.

I have bumped into fellow Brits and ex-Londoners at races I had no reason to expect them at, and there’s a decent overlap with the Cottage crowd specifically - some of whom have helped to show me the ropes around Sydney, while others have sent recommendations and even cheered for me on the sidelines. I have been looked after well!

So, what next?

More of the same, I hope! I love to race, and have picked out several over the next couple of months. This starts with the state “short” (7.5km) cross country champs tomorrow, and ends with the Sydney marathon in late August, which will be its second running as a World Marathon Major. And there are a handful of others in between. Do follow along on Strava if you are so inclined.

Thanks for having me, Mark. Normal service resumes next week!

It might also act as a bit of an aide - memoire because it’s just hard to keep up.

• Cycling doing some interesting things before the start of the prologue in Barcelona. Netcompany Ineos keeping their arms in cold water before the start to lower body temperature.

  

• I thought the format in the prologue worked really well. The while team working for one rider, who went for the fastest time. A hard event, and an impressive - and, should I say, unexpected win for Visma-LAB.

• Keely doesn’t appear to be having much luck at the moment. A fall before heading out the States for the Pre Classic and what for her was an underwhelming performance in the 800m where she was beaten by World Champion Lilian Odira (1:56.19). It will be interesting to see if she manages to get this season back on track. I don’t doubt she is incredibly fit but it was be a test of her mental strength to turn things around. London Diamond League in 10 days time as well. That will be a good test. Nikki Hiltz looked really impressive in the women’s mile and beat Faith Kipyegon. Does anyone know what happened to Georgia Hunter Bell? Nice to see Sarah Healy running well.

• Wimbledon has been great this year. I suspect it is most years, but I also really like some of the chat. Annabel Croft (who I once saw jogging around Richmond Park) interviewed Novak Djokovic and asked him if he ever got distracted. He looked incredulous. “You played” he insisted. “Then you will know we get distracted all the time. The one who manages that distraction is the one who wins”.

• There was a moment at the end of Grigor Dmitrov’s game against Berrettini with when he mouthed “food” to his box of supporters. It was 10pm. He had just finished a 4 set match and he needed to recover. His box looked bemused. The whole recovery thing for both tennis and the Tour is fascinating. At least the cyclists don’t have to deal with 11pm finishes, which can’t be easy. Yes, I know, it is worse in New York, but getting home at 2am can’t be that good for you.

• Inrng reported that UAE managed to cock up their booking for Magny-Cours so didn’t get a team time trial session in. Aside from that being a weird oversight for what is supposed to be a highly professional team, I wonder if it made that much difference?

• Football now. And I was going to comment on England’s chances at altitude on Friday but I don’t actually know what they were doing in terms of preparation. Either way, it seems as if we shouldn’t have been worried. Astonishing that what look like the best game England have played in the last 50 years happened in the middle of the night. Fortunately I was woken by the roar from a local gathering at 2:38 am and got up in time to see the first goal replayed. Then I saw the second, and the third. Excellent result and being under pressure suited the English team as much as it suits many people. Less time to think. More to come on Saturday.

• Before the weekend, the fastest men’s 5000 time on the track in the UK this year was 13:27:00 run by David Mullarky in winning the British champs. Then on Saturday, Jacob Deacon, rocked up at the Pursuit 5000m in Stirling (Scotland) and ran 13:26:93 which becomes the fastest men’s 5000m in the UK this year. Looks like a great race, and I wonder whether we have enough 5000m races of this quality in the UK? First three were all under 13:30.

• I feel slightly embarrassed I didn’t even know it was the England Athletics Championships at the weekend. Nor did many other people by the looks of things. In my defence, we had about 6 different sessions happening on Saturday, so it’s not as if we were idle.

• I mentioned Iga Swiatek on Friday, who then got promptly knocked out. No sign of any of the Wimbledon Range Rovers since.

• If anyone sees a good explanation of how the LTA funding system works in Britain, I’d be very interested to read it. Seems to me, as an outsider, that a lot of money goes into the sport particularly from Wimbledon. And maybe the results aren’t there. I don’t know and I wouldn’t want to criticise because achieving success at world level is hard.

• There were the Mile End Miles on Saturday too. And it is the Tracksmith Twilight 5000m races at the London Community track tomorrow (Thursday).

• Lots of photos of Tom Pidcock in an ice vest before yesterday’s Tour stage. Looks like the next week or so is going to be incredibly hot. Average temperature on Tuesday’s stage, where they let the break go and the GC now looks really different, was 37 degrees.

  

• Monaco Diamond League on Friday this week too (10 July 2026). Alex Yee in the 5000m and Ben Pattison and Jake Wightman in the 1000m.

• Another busy night at Cottage last night. Both on the track and the road. Lots of people training for lots of different things. Still a long way to go with the track season and the heat seemed to make no difference to performance.

That’s it for now. I won’t make this a regular thing and I have something slightly different lined up for the end of this week but I hope you are all enjoying your sport!

Families and sport

On Sunday evening I found myself watching both the final km’s of the men’s British road cycling championships and the Diamond League athletics in Paris at the same time.

This summer of sport is the gift that keeps on giving.

Watching the cycling was interesting, because I really wanted Fred (Wright) to win. Partly because he is local but also because I would have been devastated for his mum and dad who I knew who had gone up to watch.

I have got to know Phil Wright (Fred’s dad) pretty well over the last few years as a fellow rider (and over 60s racer) at the Herne Hill Velodrome.

I know he can handle the ups and downs of supporting his children, but there’s a certain sort of discomfort that comes from watching your children perform at any level. Let alone the highest level.

You could see it on the face of Maya Joint’s mother in the match against Serena Williams which Maya went onto win earlier this week. It looked painful.

And I know Katie Snowden’s parents too. Katie being an international middle distance runner who has competed in the Olympics and at world level for the best par of decade and has just been selected for England team for this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

They have supported Katie much as Phil and Becca have supported Fred, but they do get put through the proverbial ringer. Katie was 10th in the Diamond League 1500m in a season’s best of 4:00.91, although I don’t doubt she wanted more. Like sub 4 minutes.

The other thought is that there are often siblings, and as supportive as they can be, they don’t always love the sport in the same way. Or care that much. Which can create pressures in any family.

Someone told me something the other day about the brother and sister of a world class athlete (who will remain nameless) who struggled with their sibling’s success. I suspect this happens more than we realise, and parents have the challenge of making sure they value the efforts of all their children, whatever they do.

Anyway, I was delighted for Phil and Becca that Fred won the race on Sunday and that he will be wearing the national champion’s jersey both throughout the Tour de France and the rest of this year.

The Women’s Cottage Group

A few months ago, my daughter (there’s a family theme this week) made the very good point that if you looked at the Cottage Instagram account, you wouldn’t think there were any women in the group. ”

Social media is not really my forte, and whilst individuals in the group are making the most of Instagram, I am not sure we, as a group, are. Which is something we are working on.

The thing is, that last week, we had 19 women on the track. Someone got one of the lads to take a photo of them all, and it made me proud to see so many of them all training together. It’s taken years to build up to this and I have been helped by Maddy and Katherine over the years too but it’s a bloody impressive group and we were even missing a few too.

London Marathon Double Day 2027

I have to confess that I don’t feel too bothered about this. Maybe I should be, but it’s still not clear precisely how it will work.

It would be good for the elite women to run with some of the faster mass start men, in my opinion. But London prides itself on the elite women having their own race.

Yes, it’s probaly about money, but running is having its moment, so who can blame the organisers?

Who knows how long it will last? I don’t think the atmosphere will be that much different, and I write as someone who does his best to avoid the crowds (except for Cottage Corner of course) but let’s see.

On balance, the more people who get to do the race, the better. And expect to see some of the other major marathons doing the same thing.

Paris Diamond League

I thought this was a great event. Astonishingly high levels of performance, particularly given that it was warm. The women’s 800m is looking to be one of the events of the summer and there’s still a long way to go.

Prefontaine Classic

The Eugene leg of the Diamond League this weekend. It starts this evening and goes on tomorrow. Keely Hodgkinson is racing in the women’s 800m with Georgia Hunter Bell, Laura Muir and Sarah Healy in the women’s mile.

Tour de France 2026

It starts tomorrow with a Team Time Trial in Barcelona. Can’t wait. I know I have mentioned him before but Inrng is always good on the Tour and I need to check what fellow track rider Nick Christian is doing for the next three weeks.

Odds and ends

• There seems to be a bit of a lull in the domestic track season, before things really get going again next weekend at the BMC Grand Prix in Watford. In the meantime, it’s the Pursuit 5000m in Stirling, Scotland tomorrow (Saturday 4 July 2026). Looks like a really good event. Tom Graham Marr, who comes from Stirling, is I think the only Cottage representative. Put on by Stride Athletics who appear to be doing great work north of the border.

• I am half way through Marius Bakken’s The Norwegian Method Applied which isn’t a difficult read. I will save a full review for now, but I was thinking about “muscle tension” as I rode over to the track this morning. Can I add that I am also trying to finish Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter although I don’t think that is going to have any impact on the way in which I coach.

• There was a bit of excitement as I left my building this morning, because Jamie, who is the building’s maintenance man, was watching out for the Wimbledon Tennis branded Range Rover which was circling. I live about a mile from the grounds and have seen this car a few times this week. The poor driver got lost apparently but it looks as if Iga Swiatek is staying in my building. She in the third round tomorrow so I will report back if I see her. Maybe Freddie Hessian needs to do one of his runs around here.

• A couple of the lads from the Cottage group are riding the Maratona ( a very well known sportif in the Dolomites) on Sunday. Both solid riders so it will be interesting to see how they get on. One, Charlie, is more “social”, than the other, but good luck to Alex Howard too.

• Jack Millar (a reader of this fine Substack and a stalwart of the Cottage group) races the Gold Coast half marathon this weekend as well. Where hopefully, he will get some support from the Cottage diaspora.

• Talking of families, as I was at the start of all this, my daughter has a new single out today which is available on all platforms. Called Brush My Teeth, I would obviously recommend it to you although it has nothing specific about running or cycling to recommend it. Other than we all have to do it. It amuses me to think she probably won’t read this Substack. And I am pushing it with the “probably”. Still, she’s taking her mum and me to see Biffy Clyro tonight so I won’t complain if she doesn’t share my obsessions. Well, not much, anyway.

Have a great weekend, and enjoy whatever sport it is that entertains you, whether watching or supporting.

More to follow next week and I am lining up some guest writers for a bit of a change of voice. Because you can always have too much of a good thing.

The Heatwave and its Impact on Training and Racing

There was a certain amount of frustration when the Top Flight 5k which was due to be held in Battersea Park on Wednesday, was postponed because of the hot weather. (The new date is 29 July 2026 by the way).

To be clear, though, this was going to happen before a mass RunThrough 5k and 10k, which may well have impacted the decision not to go ahead.

But I understand the frustration on the part of the athletes.

All the athletes I know who were planning on doing it are fit. I don’t think there’s any particular danger to their health, but I can see how the heat might have an impact on others. Like the marshalls and time keepers.

What’s odd is that there were inconsistencies this week. The Rosenheim track event at Tooting didn’t go ahead, but the BMC Gold Standard at Watford did. In fact, there were some great 800m races, as you might expect. Warm conditions are ideal for 800m.

I had no hesitation in going ahead with the Cottage session on Tuesday evening although the track session was designed to be a little less demanding than usual.

And the men on the road were prudent given the conditions and called it early.

At the Herne Hill Velodrome, they have allowed the early morning sessions to go ahead but they cancelled the Track League on Wednesday evening.

Clearly, the Met Office’s Red Warning has had an impact on some of these decisions, but if we are going go have more of this sort of weather, it would be good to be clear about what the risks actually are.

As I write this, I see that the Paris police authorities have asked for the Diamond League, due to take place this Sunday, to be cancelled because of the potential strain on emergency services. That makes sense because it is a pretty big event, and protecting the public is key.

Sports seem to have different approaches.

It’s been the Wimbledon Tennis Qualifying Tournament this week and I haven’t seen anything about that being impacted by the heat.

But I did notice the Henley Rowing Regatta has pushed back its qualifying races to this evening because of the heat.

And further afield, the Hamburg half marathon, which was due to take place this weekend, has been cancelled along with Ironman France and the 70.3 Nice. Maybe it’s more to do with not having enough emergency personnel available in countries where they are close to capacity already.

UK Athletics Championships

These were great, for all sorts of reasons. There were far too many highlights for me to list them all but Success Eduan’s win in the women’s 200m over World silver medallist Amy Hunt was a fantastic run.

Arlo Ludewick’s win in the men’s 1500m was a stroke of running genius, going long before anyone thought of it.

Sarah Calvert’s electrifying kick at the end of the women’s 1500m was brilliant, given that on paper she is four seconds slower than Katie Snowden and Laura Muir. That’s why we love racing.

And Georgia Hunter Bell showed that she has got a very quick 800m in her and it’s not just all about Audrey Werro and Keely Hodgkinson. Femke Broders-Bol is also in the mix after her 1:57 on Sunday. I sense there’s a long way to go in the women’s 800m this summer.

I was particularly interested in the men’s 5000m because Dom Nolan from the Cottage group was racing and he benefitted, as did most of the athletes, from Jake Smith’s early pacemaking. He finished in 12th in a pb of 13:42 which is a pretty incredible achievement given he was injured earlier this year and has only managed a handful of track sessions and races. Just goes to show, that you don’t always need them. Worth noting that the first 16 men went under 14 minutes, and there aren’t many domestic 5000m races in the UK where that happens. And a great win from David Mullarkey.

Dom also did a great interview with Activate the Burners (who is a supporter of this Substack) which made me smile. Lots of wisdom from Dom and worth a listen:

Scottish Selection for Andy Fyfe

More good news for the Cottage group this week as Andy has been selected to run for Scotland at the Antrim Half Marathon on 23 August 2026. That’s his third vest, which is a very impressive achievement, even if I say so myself.

I am not sure either or us would have thought that was possible when he joined the group but it’s testament to his commitment, and determination. And his talent of course!

Did I mention we have got George Grassly in the England team for the same event? And we are currently waiting on the Welsh selection.

I might have to venture to the land of my birth for that one.

Podcast Listening for the Week

There seems to be no end of podcasts, which probably means I don’t need to start one.

Chatting is easier than this writing lark, and if you know me, you will know I can chat.

My “problem” with all these podcasts is a bit of a niche one.

Do I have to listen to all the podcasts which feature Cottage members?

And what happens if they say something about me I don’t like (he says with a smile on his face). Because that is never going to happen…..

So this week, in no particular order, I have listened to the following:

• Toadally Running’s chat to new Cottage member Jack Perry Williams - gives a bit of an insight into how the group operates. Normally that sort of thing is top secret but Jack’s a nice guy so I don’t mind;

• The RunThrough podcast with Cottage stalwart Charlie Sandison - with Charlie being as interesting as ever on how he manages to do it all and more;

• The Sweat Elite podcast with Alex Milne fresh from his 4th at Comrades - Alex is phenomenal. Some good info on his hill running (65k!), heat training and carb loading. Plus he makes the very good point that he just loves racing so isn’t interested in 3 month “builds”;

• Peak Performance Unplugged interview with Kev Campbell - nothing to do with Cottage but Kev is in the same Scottish team as Andy for the Antrim Half. Thanks to my Scottish Athletics expert Max Milarvie for the tip;

• The Sunday Plodcast was good this week too. A review of the British champs. Interested to learn that steeplechasing is really popular at schools events. Definitely positive news. I love the ‘chase and the races at the British champs were great, even if you had to put up with Tim Hutchings saying that if he was coaching Elise Thorner (winner of the women’s 3000m steeplechase) he would have her racing a 1500m.

British Road Cycling Championships

These have already started with the time trial events happening yesterday (Thursday) and the crit races this evening (Friday).

On Sunday, the elite women’s race starts at 8:30am and the elite men at 11:30am.

It’s on TNT and for those who don’t subscribe, there’s also a live feed on British Cycling YouTube channel.

I am hoping it’s a good day out for Flora Perkins in the women’s race and Fred Wright in the men’s.

They are great attritional races these national champ races, with as many people as possible hoping they can hang with the professionals. A bit like the athletics, if i think about it.

Worth saying that it was good to see Ethan Hayter winning the Time Trial yesterday. I note he is 27, so it’s precisely 10 years since I bumped into him on a ride and he told me he was about to leave school and move to the British Cycling elite programme in Manchester without bothering with his A levels. That set off a little panic in my very conventional brain, but he was a World Champion within the year and he doesn’t seem to have done too badly since then.

Odds and Ends

• It’s the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event in Zagreb this evening (Friday 26 June 2026). Officially known as the Boris Hanžeković Memorial. There’s a live feed on World Athletics and some British interest, including Phoebe Gill over 800m. It’s 34 degrees in Zagreb, as I write this, and the first event starts in an hour.

• Paris Diamond League - as I mentioned, already in doubt for Sunday. But that is when it is supposed to happen. Scratch that. Seems to be going ahead in an adapted fashion.

• There doesn’t appear to be any doubt that heat training is good for us. There’s a good explanation here so I won’t repeat what they say. But one thing that I think is helping me is the Precision Hydration 1000 Electrolyte tablets which I pop into a pint of tap water both before and after training. I worry about losing sodium and it could be a placebo, but they “seem” to give me a lot more than “just” water. Who knows? I have no commercial link with Precision Hydration by the way. I just seem to like their products. And for context, I have probably done at least 6 hours of riding (some of it quite hard) in 30 degree heat this week. Still able to write this. Just! Oh, and I think I got this idea from David Roche who seemed to be of the view that a pint of water just tasted nicer with one of these effervescent tablets in it, so why wouldn’t you?

• Need to read this. I will have done it by this time next week. If I commit publicly, then I will.

• I am going to leave it there for this week. Obviously lots going on in the sporting calendar to keep us all busy and then there’s the benefit of just getting outside in what is beautiful weather. Look after yourselves though. Don’t forget hydration, keep eating even when you might not feel that hungry and remember that Factor 50 is your friend.

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Do Unto Others

No one writes books on what you say to athletes. If you are a coach, I mean.

There was a moment in the Queen’s Tennis Final last Sunday when Emma Raducanu, who was in the process of being hammered in the first set 6-0 by the Croatian Donna Vekic, shouted at her box: “Say something”.

The camera focused on her coach and he said precisely nothing. Indeed, his facial expression was glacial and it was a fascinating moment.

I thought he probably had nothing useful to say and had taken the view that anything he did say would only make things worse.

I don’t blame the coach for a moment. Emma had played two games the day before, she was clearly slow to get going and Vekic was “on fire” as the commentators like to say. “Hang in there” probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

There was another coaching moment this week when the England football team’s assistant coach, Anthony Barry, popped up on our screens at half time and said how unhappy he and Thomas Tuchel were with the way in which the team had played in the first half against Croatia.

As this Guardian piece notes, “Barry gave an honest assessment of the team’s failings up to that point.”

My thinking, probably like yours, was, “blimey if he is saying that publicly, they must be really pissed off behind the scenes”.

And lo and behold, England emerged a different team.

My sense is that we all have our own unwritten “rule book” which we update from time to time. And we are all limited to some extent by our personalities. But that is part of the fun.

The idea for the title, came from a Steven Magness newsletter, in which he talked about the “craft of coaching” and listed 33 principles. As he does.

On “emotions are contagious” he says this:

You are the thermostat, not the thermometer. You are changing the room temperature.

Worth thinking about.

UK Athletics Championships

These are being held this weekend at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.

They are much earlier than normal because athletes have to qualify for the team for the European Athletic Championships, which are also being held in Birmingham in early August.

It’s an invite only event, and for a lot of people, just being invited represents a significant achievement.

A couple of the group are involved. Nanci Bowley is racing in the women’s 1500m and Dom Nolan is racing in the 5000m on Sunday afternoon. Andrew Penney was also invited to take part in the 5000m, but unfortunately he has picked up a niggle and won’t be there.

It’s one of those events which provides those of us who are mildly obsessed with the sport with lots of fascinating encounters.

All the middle distance races, along with the 5000m have loads of interest. Even qualifying for the 800 final, particularly for the men, can be tricky.

Some of our world class athletes will be there although not necessarily doing the event they want to do in the Europeans. Keely, for example, is doing the 400m. Sadly, there’s no Josh Kerr this year who doesn’t really need to compete but Jake Wightman will be in the men’s 800m.

If you want a more detailed review, then I’d recommend the Sunday Plodcast who also do a good job of working out the ranking points issue, which adds another level of complexity to all this.

City of London Nocturne

I popped up to watch the 2/3 category races in the middle of the afternoon and thought it was great. Biggish crowds, well marshalled and high quality racing.

I also noticed that the elite races much later in the evening (which were televised) picked up a lot of interest on social media, which is no surprise.

There’s also a really good report of the racing on the British Continental.

I mean, I know I am maybe past the point where I need to be inspired by this sort of stuff, but I am.

I still love riding my bike as fast as I can around tight corners although the days of the Nocturne-style racing are long behind me.

Anyway, by the time the elite races were on I was already up on Parliament Hill for the London 5000m races which provided just as much - if not more - inspiration.

London 5000

A series of 5000m races put on by Highgate Harriers at Parliament Hill, starting at 3pm, on Saturday afternoon and going on until close to 9pm.

Slightly windy, but warm, and a really well organised event.

Loads of people travelling to London from all over the country. And Europe for that matter.

I managed to chat to more people than I normally chat to in a day and enjoyed watching Cottage athletes pacing and racing.

(Dom Nolan on the left, Max Milarvie in the centre and Lizzy Apsley on the right. All photos by George Parker. )

One of my highlights of the day was a brief chat with Victor Moreau, who said in his French accent: “I thought I was in 13:40 shape, but clearly I was not”.

That made me smile because it’s all too easy to think you can run a certain time without actually going and running it.

Victor, who is part of the management team at Salomon Running, ran 13:58.

Lots of good runs from Team Cottage and nice to see so many helping out with the pacing too.

Tom Marquand

About this time last year I was getting on a plane to fly back from Rome after I had been to a wedding. I can remember seeing two young men in the queue to get on the flight, who both looked so physically compact and so skinny they could only have been jockeys or rowing coxes.

Then, as luck would have it, one of them ended up sitting next to me on the plane and I somehow managed to ask him what he did. And it turned out he was a jockey and he had just ridden in the Italian Derby that afternoon. This was Tom Marquand.

We then had a great conversation about training methods (he rides bikes for fitness) and weight management, sports psychology and the life of a professional flat race jockey. About which I knew nothing.

I was reminded of Tom this week because I rode past the Ascot race course on Sunday where preparations were under way for this week’s Royal Ascot.

I then met someone in full morning dress on their way to the racing on Tuesday and he said that Tom’s wife (who is also a jockey) had broken her leg recently. Which doesn’t sound like much fun.

Anyway, I checked yesterday’s results (Thursday 18 June 2026) and was pleased to see that Tom rode a winner. Mezcala in the Buckingham Palace Stakes, no less.

The man has all the qualities of a star performer, and was very impressive when I met him.

As I write that, I think, is that patronising? Although it’s definitely not meant to be.

I am also acutely aware that everyone I write about on this Substack is impressive so maybe I shouldn’t say anything.

I think it was my lack of familiarity with the horse racing world that made me think about it, but it’s a good reminder not to let familiarity get in the way of recognising what are often pretty remarkable achievements.

South Downs Way 100 mile race

I mentioned this last week and I checked how Jonathan got on. Really pleased that he managed to finish within the cut off of 30 hours and he does brilliant job of telling the story of his race on his Substack, which I’d recommend to all, but especially those who love adventures.

That was the story I expected and hoped for, but it’s not the one I got. Maybe you don’t get to choose with 100s?

Instead, I got a story deeper than I’d imagined, going beyond running and athletic achievement. My SDW100 was about love, friendship, shared endeavour, and unexpectedly finding a part of me (be that my spirit, soul, or neurochemistry) I didn’t know existed. It was a beautiful adventure.

You see. Emotions are contagious.

Odds and Ends

• Alex Milne - talking about impressive individuals, Alex is definitely up there and is 4th place at the Comrades Marathon is an astonishing achievement having raced the London Marathon at the end of April, which in itself followed the Seville Marathon and the World 50k championships. I might have to do a special feature on him, because is evolution as an athlete is worth examing.

• Tour of Switzerland - having ridden a bit around Switzerland a few years ago, this race always draws me in. Apparently shortened this year to 5 stages with both women’s and men’s races being held on the same day, it was good to see Gregoire get the win yesterday as the break held off Pogacar.

• Battersea Track Closure - the latest update I have is that the track will close on 20 July 2026 for much needed resurfacing. Given it was supposed to be 29 June, I don’t think it’s fixed in stone. There’s a part of me that hopes we might just make it through the track season so that I don’t have to work out an alternative on a Tuesday evening, but I can’t quite see that happening.

• Track Night Vienna tomorrow (Saturday 20 June 2026). It looks like it is going to be very warm in central Europe this weekend so hopefully that doesn’t have too much of an impact. Looking forward to seeing how Joe Hudson and Tom Graham-Marr go.

• Welsh team for Commonwealth Games - I noticed that this has been announced today which suggests other teams (England and Scotland) will be announcing their teams soon as well. The Commonwealth Games start at the end of July and are being held, as you all know, in Glasgow.

• Oh, and one final thought is that there is a Top Flight 5k on the road in Battersea Park next Wednesday (24 June 2026). Looks like being a decent event, and I go to the park so rarely it will be a pleasure to attend.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend whatever you are up to and I will be back next week with more tales of impressive individuals.

Some thoughts on racing

Racing is hard. Any racing.

Putting yourself on a start line is an act of courage, which it has taken me a lifetime to really appreciate. Not only does it hurt physically, but the mental scars can last forever.

And yet, thankfully, we persist.

I have probably done some sort of race every decade of my life. All sorts of racing, if I think about it.

I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I have been satisfied with the outcome. Which probably says alot about me.

But I have taken the view that “there’s always another race”.

It isn’t an original idea, but the genius of most racing is that if it doesn’t work out, you can try again next week. Yes, I know there are marathons, and ultras and all sorts of races that you may only be able to do annually, but that doesn’t mean to say there aren’t any races to fill the gap in between.

The fact that there is huge ocean of possibility is something we should all be very proud of, because in the UK in 2026 you could race several times a week if you really wanted to. Particularly in the summer.

Or at least in the two worlds I inhabit, running and cycling.

Hercules Wimbledon Night of the 3000s (10 June 2026)

I was at Wimbledon on Wednesday evening and thoroughly enjoyed it. It never ceases to amaze me how many people sign up for these events and Ben Noad is providing a great service through the age and ability groups.

As I keep saying, there’s a lot going on at the moment so maybe at the top end, a few people were missing because they want to race this weekend, but the winner of the “A” race, Jack Kavanagh (bottom right) looked really good for his 7:54.

It’s not lost on me that I could have gone over to the Track League at Herne Hill Velodrome to watch or even compete.

And if I wasn’t coaching on Tuesday, I could have gone to Crystal Palace where the final crit of the year was taking place (see Odds and Ends below).

There’s more this weekend too.

On the running front, there’s the London 5000m at Parliament Hill, put on by Highgate Harriers, and there’s the BMC Grand Prix in Loughborough for even more top class competition. I am planning on being at Highgate by the way. It’s a lot easier to get to than Loughborough.

There’s also the London Nocturne tomorrow (Saturday 13 June 2026). Resurrected after 8 years away. More high end competition for the cyclists.

Incidentally, I raced the first of those. Back in 2007. That was hard.

South Downs Way 100 mile race

One of the people I have enjoyed reading in the last year or so is Jonathan Bean who writes a Substack (a “running journal”) called ¡Venga! about his journey to a 100 mile race.

¡Venga! (it's a running journal)

Running, athletics, movement, thinking, etc. By Jonathan S. Bean Volume One: '326 days to 100 miles'

By Jonathan S. Bean

Well, he’s almost there.

He’s doing the South Downs Way 100 tomorrow (Saturday 13 June 2026). 600 starters and it gets under way at 6:30am. Now that is a challenge and I wish him well.

Just getting to the start line of a race like that strikes me as a success and, as I said, for everyone of those 600 people, it’s an act of courage.

I shall be seeing how he gets on and not for whether he wins it or not. But for the experience that it gives him, whatever the outcome. Because racing teaches you so much. About yourself and how you handle your world. Win or lose.

Odds and Ends

• Nice to see George Grassly getting selected to represent England at the Antrim Half Marathon. Verity Hopkins is in there too (for the women obviously?) as is Sam Eglen who used to train with Cottage when he was a trainee accountant in London. Like George, it will be his first international vest of any sort, and a moment, for both of them to be proud of;

• Alex Milne, who is an incredible racer, takes part in the Comrades marathon this Sunday (14 June 2026);

• The Crystal Palace Crits seems to be getting a lot of attention this week. Close to 70k views for this video. Great to see David Joss Buckley in there, along with fellow organisers Pat Hawkins and Bob Ruskowski. All of whom I know. And I have raced there too:-)

• Keely Hodgkinson’s attitude after getting beaten by Audrey Werro at Stockholm over 800m last Sunday was excellent. Video here. She handled that incredibly well and there’s going to be some great races between those two this summer. The Diamond Leagues over the last few weeks have been great. And there’s loads of racing going on in Europe too, which almost get missed. Marseilles was on Wednesday this week.

• Just over a week to go before the British National Championships in Birmingham. More on that next week, I think. Some Cottage interest too, you will be pleased to hear. And I see that Keely is racing over 400m. I think that all the top athletes should be racing and there should be no excuses.

• I mentioned “Gel Wars” last week, and was amused to see that Alistair Brownlee’s TrueFuels have raised the stakes this week. All good publicity I suppose. And thanks to Joe Hudson for the heads up on that.

• The title of this Substack is from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I have moved on from the Metaphysical poets. As you will all know, it’s part of the “To be or not to be” soliloquy “Thus conscience doth makes cowards of us all” seems to be saying if we think too much about something we don’t do it. I wondered if we sometimes overthink racing and end up defeating ourselves? Should I, shouldn’t I? Am I ready? What is that niggle? Who else is in the race? What are the conditions going to be like? When sometimes, all you need to do is just bloody race.

• I popped in to see Liam at Runlimited today and picked up a Bandit t-shirt, because I am hip and cool. But you knew that already. Great space in Borough Yards and nicely curated shoes and kit. Highly recommended. And they are featuring a new women’s brand called Pruzan at the moment, which looked great. Because, obviously, I am an expert on women’s running kit.

  That’s the lot. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend and I hope to see some of you up at Highgate. Have a great weekend!

  Thanks for reading Mark’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Impostors1

After all that chat about optimism last week, I am going to start with a niggle. Not a physical one, but an irritation.

And that irritation is people who think it is acceptable to jump into a Cottage session without having the courtesy to talk to me first. Let alone message me in advance.

It happened this week and it’s the third time it has happened this year. That is three different male athletes who just decide that they are entitled to the benefit of training with us without so much as a by-your-leave.

I have to confess to being flabbergasted. Because surely common courtesy requires that you introduce yourself to the coach first?

Essentially, I am watching the group and I think “who is that person in the middle?” Are we just overtaking someone, which can happen. But no, he is running with us, stopping when we stop, starting when we start.

Who the hell is he?

On Tuesday, I was helped a little by someone at the track and my practice is not to intervene immediately but to wait until the session is over. And then have a quiet word.

I have wondered why they do it? Naturally, they are all awkward when I approach them, which is not a position I want to find myself in either. It is awkward all round.

It’s entirely possible they are worried that if they ask beforehand I might say “no”. Which I might for any number of reasons.

They may be shy. Which I can understand. But that isn’t a reason not to speak to someone if you want something enough. In this case, to train with a very good group of athletes.

But it also occurs to me that they think I will not notice. Which is adding insult to injury.

One had the gall to post the session on Strava as his “Cottage Debut”. Another (an army doctor apparently) just seemed to think he was entitled to do it, and the third, this week’s offender, was actually apologetic.

But the point I would like to make is never jump into a coached session without letting the coach know.

Expect that coach to ask you some questions, like who you are, your state of fitness, whether you are just in London for an evening or want something more and don’t be surprised if they say “no”.

It may not be personal, and the courtesy will stand you in good stead.

Manchester 10km and the BMC Grand Prix in Birmingham

A busy weekend for the distance runners. Cottage had some great results from Manchester across the board and some really solid performances at Birmingham too. I am not going to list them all but great to see see Joe Hudson and Max Milarvie go under 29 minutes. It was Joe’s first time under 29 on the road (28:50) and Max’s first ever sub 29 (he ran 28:59).

I actually watched Manchester on the television and maybe it was me, but the tail enders from the half marathon that started before the 10k, were uncomfortably close to the the leading runners in the 10k. All very awkward and, I thought, unnecessary.

UK Athletics and the £350,000 fine

This is just a sad story and there’s no getting away from it. An athlete dies, the governing body gets fined £350,000 after pleading guilty to corporate manslaughter and a 79 year old man (who was Head of Sport) has to do 150 hours of community service. Oh, and UKA also has to pay costs of £44,000.

I can’t find the actual judgment (although I have looked) but the Central Criminal Court doesn’t hand them down in writing. Or at least I don’t think it does.

So I am reliant on reports. From the CPS, and there’s the Inside the Games piece I have linked to.

Clearly the former management team at UKA made a pig’s ear of their defence, for which they were criticised by the Judge.

The current management team, who took a different stance put out this press release after the hearing on Tuesday.

Although there’s no mention of the £400,000 projected loss. You get the sense that things may not be all that well in the world of the athletics governing body.

Diamond League

They are coming thick and fast at the moment. Rabat on Sunday night, Rome last night and Stockholm this Sunday. I can barely keep up and I am someone who is really interested. I wonder how everyone else manages.

My highlight, and it’s always a bit insidious to pick out one performance, but I really do think that Max Burgin’s run in the Rabat 800m was sublime. Worth a watch if you didn’t see it

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/videos/cevpww72xkgo

Odds and Ends

• Michael Woods is the former World Tour rider famous for being someone who also ran a sub 4 minute mile before he turned to cycling. There’s a great Substack from him about his race at The Gralloch, a UCI gravel race in Scotland. I haven’t heard of Jenson Young before (a Yorkshire rider) but he is clearly very talented.

  Michael Woods

  The Gralloch

  My dad grew up on a farm outside of Fergus, Ontario. As a kid, we would make the long drive, multiple times per year, from Ottawa to the town settled by Scottish immigrants in the 1800s. Going to Gatehouse of Fleet this past week to take part in my first UCI World Gravel Series race, The Gralloch, in Scotland, I couldn’t help but think; “now, Fergus mak…

  Read more

  3 months ago · 39 likes · 6 comments · Michael Woods

• It’s the European Off Road Running Championships this weekend. In Slovenia. Jared Martin (from Cottage) is representing Ireland in the Classic Up and Down race;

• Verified Athlete Badges on Strava - a new one on me. It’s an orange tick. Two the group have them, as far as I can tell.

• Oh, and more Strava news about something called MCP. “It's the supported path for athletes who want to interact with their Strava data through AI.” I suspect this is a more interesting development than the “Athlete Intelligence” that gets added to every activity.

• Tom Pidcock had 9 days off! I enjoyed this Sean Ingle piece. Tom describes his 9 days off (after a crash in which he injured himself) as “quite a long time”. It probably did him some good.

• Track capacity in London - there’s a longer piece to be written about this but Battersea closes on 29 June for much needed resurfacing. All the tracks in London get busy with school sports days and commercial takeovers at this time of year, and it’s actually really hard to get track sessions done at weekends. I appreciate it’s a niche problem, but it’s something we all have to think about. More than we would like.

• Vingegaard wins the Giro - and it will be interesting to see how he recovers before the Tour de France which is due to start in four weeks time. In Barcelona.

• Paavo Nurmi Games - some really interesting results in what looks like a really good event on Wednesday evening. It may not be the Diamond League but the quality is incredibly high.

  I could go on, because there’s a hell of a lot going on in the sporting world, but I will draw the line there this week. You will probably be surprised to hear that I have already taken out something on “Gel Wars” because you have only got so much time! I appreciate the support which is growing. Thanks to all the new subscribers and I will be back next week.

  Thanks for reading Mark’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Some Thoughts on Optimism

I am not too sure what prompted this, but I think it was novelist Ian McEwan talking at the Hay Festival earlier this week. He was reported as saying that optimism is an “exercise in rationality”. Apparently he expressed the view that a lack of hope for future generations is deeply problematic and that optimism was a “moral duty”.

There’s no video of his talk and he seemed to be talking about the impacts of climate change, and living standards, but it occurred to me that it could just as easily be applied to sport.

Or at least the sports I am involved in.

Because there’s an absolute requirement for us all to believe that things will improve, both structurally and more importantly, individually.

There’s this sense that if you just do the work, things will get better. Even if all the evidence is to the contrary, you still hope.

Maybe that isn’t rational, but it’s what we all do. And I like it.

Of course, all the older athletes I ride with have a slightly more circumspect view of the world, but it wasn’t lost on me that this week I had separate conversations with two completely different age groups about the impact of AI on our lives. Neither were particularly positive, I have to say, but there was a general weary acceptance of its inevitability.

But there’s an element of “fuck it” about it all. Whether that is AI, or politics, at home and abroad.

When it comes to sport, we can generally do what we love doing regardless of what is going on in the world.

Yes, the world may be going to hell in a handcart, but as long as we can meet up on a Tuesday night, or a Friday morning and train together, we can keep the illusion that all is well with the world alive.

Comeback 5000m

This was a series of 5000m races for men and women put on by Belgrave Harriers and Ben Noad at Battersea track on Friday last week. Great to see so many people down there and the Cottage group generally had a really good evening with Andrew Penney and Abbey Brooke both taking 2nd in the elite men’s and elite women’s races respectively.

I am not sure there were quite as many supporters as in previous years (it’s free to get in) but the atmosphere was great and the athletes I spoke to all enjoyed having a crowd that was allowed onto the track.

The winner of the elite men’s race was a young man from Ireland, Diarmud Fagan who none of us had ever heard of, but he deserved his win. And I suspect we will hear of him again. Irish distance running is doing really well.

I suspect anyone who wants the results has them, but for completeness, they are here.

Dom Nolan

Rather than run Comeback, Dom headed out to Brussels and raced 5000m on Saturday.

He’d seen Andrew Penney had run 13:46 the night before and he knew he was fit, and he was really looking forward to it so it was great to see him deliver on the night, finishing in 13:44 claiming the Croydon Harriers record for 5000m

He then raced on Wednesday this week over 1500m at the Hercules Wimbledon Night of 1500s. A series of 1500m races put on (again) by Ben Noad, which attracted large fields. A busy evening with all ages racing and Dom ran well to win the A race in 3:47.

There’s a nice photo that Rui took of Tim Eglen (Dom’s coach) on the left, Dom and me after the race.

And worth watching a shortish video that running shop, Runlimited did of Dom, which tells his story (with a very nice appreciation of my efforts).

The Art of Being Tough

I have mentioned her before, but I really like Andrea Petkovic’s Substack, Finite Jest. She is both funny and insightful.

Like this comment from last week:

Now, listen. I pride myself with the intellectual side of this newsletter but I never wanted to be the fourth song on the B-side of a free jazz record. I’m very much okay with writing a hit every now and then. Incidentally, my biggest hit by a mile this year was “How to pull a tennis player”.

It made me laugh anyway, because she really did write a post about how to pull a tennis player.

For those who don’t know, she was a professional on the tennis circuit until he retired in 2022. She now appears to commentate and do the sort of things that ex professional athletes do (which I say without any judgement). Like host business conferences.

Emotional resilience was a subject that came up this week and it’s something that has been on my mind. Everyone has to have a different approach, but being “happy” for want of a better word, is worth its weight in gold.

Andrea tells the story about NFL player Tom Brady on what he said about being “tough”. It’s worth a read.

There is no circumventing some form of pain and discomfort in order to be the best version of a tennis player you can be.

There’s a lot more than that in the piece, but I will leave it to you to digest.

Enhanced Games

I don’t feel inclined to say much about these although I questioned why they got any media coverage at all. Who is interested?

Unseasonable Heat

Someone relatively new to the Cottage group sent me a message during the day on Tuesday asking me if the session in the evening would be cancelled because of the heat.

To be honest, it hadn’t even occurred to me.

Yes, it was going to be 30 degrees at 7pm but, as I said to him, we are an endurance group. We never cancel sessions. Adaptability matters and conditions are rarely perfect.

It actually meant Battersea Park was quieter, the track was definitely quieter and I think mostly people did fine.

I also operate on the basis that most “big” events often take place in hot places and the more adaptable you are the better. Olympic finals, World Cup football, Tour de France cycling. You don’t see those cancelled because of hot weather.

It’s been hot for a week now and it’s become more manageable as the days have gone on. I don’t imagine it will be the only heat wave we have this summer, but after what seemed like a long, cold and wet winter, it’s nice to be able to wear t-shirts and shorts well into the evening.

Odds and Ends

• British Milers Club (“BMC”) Grand Prix in Birmingham tomorrow (Saturday 30 May 2026);

• Great to see Revée Walcott-Nolan running well in the Diamond League last Sunday. 4:00.8 for 1500m. Fastest outdoor time of the year for the women. Georgia Hunter Bell slightly faster indoors.

• It is the Manchester 10k this Sunday (31 May 2026). It is actually the UK 10km road championships, which rather oddly, is two weeks after the track championships. The race starts at 11:45am and is on BBC from 11am. Oh, and you can download the app as well, because you know that you really want to do that.

• More Diamond League this Sunday from Rabat. Looking forward to Max Burgin’s first race of the year. On BBC2 again, from 7pm until 9pm.

• Tom Pidcock raced the cross-country Short Track (XCC) World Cup event in Nové Město, Czechia last week on his mountain bike. Worth watching to see just how slowly he goes off, minimizing energy expenditure and waiting until the last lap to work his way through the field. The results of the short course determine the grid position for the full cross country race that takes place the following day, which of course, Tom went on to win. He is a phenomenal athlete.

• Giro d’Italia - Jonas is now in the lead by 4 minutes so has got the race won. He’ll now he thinking about the Tour de France which means the last two stages tomorrow and Sunday’s are very open.

• There is a Cottage MP, I will have you know. Well, he wasn’t an MP when he trained with us, but I was reminded this morning when I heard Henry Tufnell on the Radio 4 Today programme. It’s a funny old world.

• Finally, Charlie Sandison has been making me jealous posting reels of his stay in Chamonix this week including an epic 100 mile bike ride. He should be getting paid by the Chamonix Tourist Board. And he’s up to 22.5k followers. Which reminds me that two young women have told me how much they enjoy Charlie’s content this week. “Wholesome” was one word used to describe it. Which indeed it is.

  I think that’s the lot for this week. I hope you find it sufficiently wholesome. Lots and lots of races (both running and cycling) at the moment and there is no way I am going to cover them all. Inspiring though, and there’s no doubt in my mind that both sports are pretty popular in the UK (although I am all too well aware I have a London-centric view). That doesn’t mean to say there aren’t problems, but it is a reason for optimism. Which is where I started. Have a great weekend.

A Tale of Two Races

I started last Sunday in Hackney for the Hackney Half. And finished it in Loughborough at the UK 10,000m championships.

It was definitely a day of two halves, and I am still trying to reconcile the two, in my mind at least.

Hackney was full of cheerful crowds. The UK 10,000m champs were most definitely not.

I enjoyed both events but for very different reasons. I do like the mass participation events. I love that people come out to support their friends and family. It creates an atmosphere that athletics events often seem to lack. Maybe it’s the London Marathon thing. People are happy to come out onto the streets and support runners.

And I love that Sam Tyas, can have a wonderful day, win a race and go home incredibly happy. Because I know how he has struggled with injury over the last year or so and it’s always good to see someone come through that.

Chris Bruchhausen, in second, did well, but was clearly carrying (London) marathon legs, and sadly it was all a little too for George’s body as he pulled a calf muscle and had to stop at 6 miles when leading the race. A full range of emotions there.

Heading up to Loughborough I was looking forward to the Loughborough International and it was great. There was a sizeable crowd, lots of top athletes, particularly in the field events, and the sun was out. Even if it was a little breezy on the back straight.

I was particularly pleased to see Abbey Brooke (one of our Cottage women) taking a really well executed win in the women’s 3000m.

Lots of chatting to other coaches and athletes - which is always good - and then just before 6pm, the event ended and literally everyone went home leaving the stadium deserted. It was odd.

Essentially, there had to be full rebrand of the start and finish, a change of officials (which was fair enough because the Loughborough International officials had been there since 9am) and then the women’s race started at 7:30pm.

By this time, 50 odd Loughborough students had returned to the track and set up on the back straight where they gave enthusiastic support. Izzy Fry trains at Loughborough and it was a good race as she sat in the whole time before racing away in the last lap to take the win and secure her selection for the European Championships.

The men’s race was at 8:10pm. I mention the time, because it is a ridiculous time to start a major race on a Sunday evening1. It’s the National Championships so it is supposed to attract athletes from all points north, south, east and west. Except it didn’t, of course, and 9 men lined up.

I was there to support Max Milarvie who actually ran as well as he could have been expected to run in the circumstances, and it was a pleasure to see him go about his business in the way that he did.

It made me very aware that races are rarely perfect and that an obsession with times doesn’t necessarily serve us well.

Every time we race, we build something. Fitness for one thing, mental resilience most definitely another. Neither are easily quantifiable but both make you ready for the days ahead when it really matters. You may not know what those days are, of course, but they invariably exist in the future.

In the meantime it is always worth appreciating a national medal, a personal best and a job well done.

Odds and Ends

• Comeback 5000m - this event is on this evening (Friday 22 May 2026) on the track in Battersea Park and I thought I would publish this Substack before heading up there. Having said it was cold a few weeks ago, it’s now very warm but hopefully it will have cooled down for the Elite races later on. Lots of Cottage interest as you might expect.

• It’s the European Cup 10000m tomorrow in La Spezia, Italy. The Giro went through there this week. I will save you my views on the selection but it’s going to be as warm there as it is in London. Should be interesting and there is going to be a livestream on the European Athletics YouTube channel.

• Not that I will be able to watch live because I am hoping to race in the Vets League at Herne Hill Velodrome. So that I can remind myself how much racing hurts. He says cheerily.

• Lots of people racing at IFAM in Belgium (on the running track) including Dom Nolan who has been building his Insta following with some entertaining reels as he builds towards this. He is racing 5000m and he’s a lifetime member of Croydon Harriers. The Croydon Harriers 5000m record was set by Australian Olympian Dave Chettle who ran 13:46.9 in Brussels in 1979. Dom’s best is 13:48.51. No pressure then, Dom.

• There’s a second Diamond League in a row from China tomorrow. Looks like it is on the BBC Red Button service from noon. I thought last week’s was great. Particularly Mark English’s win in the 800m and the men’s 3000m in which the first 14 men went sub 7 minutes 30 seconds. There’s no time to build into a season at this elite level anymore. You have to be able to put in a world class performance at any stage of the season.

• Which reminds me that Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman and Katie Snowden are all racing in LA tomorrow as well. At the LA Track Fest.

• The Giro d’Italia continues. Jonas Vingegaard still hasn’t taken the lead, but there is still over a week to go.

• The line “For those are my best days when I shake with fear” comes from John Donne’s Holy Sonnet XIX which I came across this week. As you do. I think he is talking about reverence and not the prospect of a hard 5000m or 10000m on the track, but I’d like to think the sentiment is still applicable.

  Thanks to everyone for the support and hopefully I will see some of you out and about this evening or over the weekend. Please say “hello” if you see me.

  Thanks for reading Mark’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

The Subtle Art of Pacemaking

My sister mentioned that someone had asked her about pacemakers in the London Marathon and she had sent them a link to my explanation. Which, gratifyingly, they found helpful.

It occurred to me that this isn’t something everyone understands so I thought I would try some sort of explanation of how it works on the track, where it will be much in evidence over the summer.

For obvious reasons, pacemakers are only involved in races from 800m upwards and they play an incredibly important part in the race. Too slow or too fast, either way, they can ruin a race.

As an example, there’s a British Milers Club Grand Prix event on at Trafford tomorrow (Saturday 16 May 2026) and every single race will have a pacemaker. And there are 26 races.

Everyone one of those pacemakers will get paid and their “job” is to take the race around at the pace that it is thought the athletes want.

Actually, that isn’t entirely true. Because sometimes the athletes get involved and ask for something faster - or very occasionally - slower.

At the very top level, pacemakers are international standard athletes, some of them on their way up and others, having had success, just happy to make some money and be involved.

At lower levels, there is often a big demand for people to pace races. I think Cottage will be providing some of the pacemaking at the Comeback 5000m races next Friday and it’s good training without the pressure of a race.

They have to be very fit and they have to warm up and be ready to “race” like everyone else.

What is more important, and this is something I think about a lot, they also need to make it look “easy”.

It frustrates me when I see a 400m runner pacing an 800m because all too often they sprint the first 200m (which isn’t what the athletes want) then slow down. So they can say, “I took you through in 51 seconds”.

The job requires you to do it so smoothly and so calmly that everyone in the race behind is able to follow.

Thinking about this I realised I hadn’t watched the 1500m in the United States where a college student called Marco Langon had run 3:32 for 1500m.

For those who don’t know, this is ridiculously fast particularly for a student, and I wondered if he had had pacemakers.

It’s a great race to watch actually, and the race is paced by two men, Aiden McCarthy and Craig Engels, both very good athletes.

They make it look very smooth an easy and the eventual winner is able to sit in their slipstream until 500m to go.

Actually it isn’t clear what Craig Engels is supposed to be doing because he actually pulls out at 900m although it clearly didn’t affect the result.

https://youtu.be/BlJ9J6qqvC4?si=3vwGqsmozMa-sjui

One thing I hadn’t realised is that British athlete Jake Hayward, who has been out injured for two years or more, but is now fit again, came 3rd in 3:34 which puts him top of the British rankings for this year. Yes, it’s very early in the season, but it’s good to see him back.

It probably goes without saying that most people who pace races have an internal clock. Tell an experienced athlete to go through 400m in 58 seconds and provided they are physically capable, he - or she - will do it. A few years of intervals on a track will do that to you.

Of course, we now have wavelights which operate at a preselected set pace and they are adding an extra dimension to pacing in races.

The two main benefits appear to be that they enable the athletes to better target a specific pace or target time and they also add something to the spectator experience. Provided someone tells you what they are set at.

Former 400m runner and very good middle distance runner Ben Claridge who actually races over 800m tomorrow before he paces, is clearly making a name for himself on the circuit as a pacemaker and seems to be enjoying himself. He is also supported by On as an ambassador which suggests they value pacemakers and the work they do.

Finally, a quick Google search (as I looked for images), brought this 2021 Track and Field piece to light which is worth a read if you want to know more.

Oh, yes, and I am reminded that the Americans sometimes call pacemakers “rabbits”.

The Track Season is Definitely Warming Up even if the Weather Isn’t1

There’s a lot going on this weekend. The Diamond League gets going for 2026 in Shanghai and it looks like a really good event, bearing in mind how early in the season it is. It’s on BBC2 (in the UK) from 12:00 (noon) tomorrow (Saturday 16 May 2026).

I have mentioned the BMC Grand Prix meeting in Trafford (which is slightly less easy to watch) and there’s the Loughborough International on Sunday, followed in the evening by the UKA 10000m Championships for men and women, which are both also trial races for the European Championships later this summer. I have no idea whether any of this will be livestreamed but one would like to hope so.

All the details are on Roster Athletics, although inevitably, it’s not entirely clear who will be lining up in either of the 10,000m races.

There’s Cottage interest in all these events including a tangential one in the Diamond League where it looks like Revée Walcott-Nolan is down to be a pacemaker. Revée used to come down and train with us in the winter so naturally we love to see her on the global stage.

On the road this weekend, there’s the Hackney Half Marathon on Sunday and “Cottage’s Most Famous Athlete” (currently) Mr George Grassley will be giving it a go. It will be interesting to see how he has recovered from London.

I am actually planning a double day, should you be interested. An early morning ride over to Hackney to watch the half and then a trip to Loughborough to watch the athletics with the 10,000m races in the evening. I will need to make sure I carbo load.

On the subject of half marathons, I was quietly pleased to see Jack Millar and Alex Carter (both Cottage) sharing the podium at the A J Bell Great Bristol Half Marathon last Sunday. Jack won in 67:02 and Alex (coming off the back of his 2:16 at the Manchester marathon) was third in 69:01. Jamie Williamson, who I don’t know, was 2nd.

Katie Archibald Retires

I really like Katie Archibald, and pleased to hear she has a plan for her future as she announces her retirement this week. She’s off to be a nurse.

I mentioned her back in October last year - The Many Ways to Skin a Cat- and her comment on training “how much more important the cake is than the icing” still resonates.

She’s the sort of person you hope makes it into commentary at some point - provided that doesn’t take her too far away from nursing.

And that she write a book of course. She’s a very good writer I am told, on good authority.

Odds and Ends

• I currently pay for one Substack. And it’s Ian Leslie’s The Ruffian. Which isn’t supposed to be anything to do with running (because even I need some variety in my life), and yet, and yet….. here we have a post on the London Marathon. Which, you will note, I have barely mentioned this week. He comments on the numbers applying to do next year’s London Marathon: “Personally I hate running, but I’m cheered by this. In a country that doesn’t have many positive social trends to celebrate at the moment, it is a bright spot.”

• Gralloch - it’s the Gralloch gravel bike race this weekend, which I had a loose plan to do at the start of the year. It’s a qualifier for the UCI World Championships and they have an old man category. So I am just shaming myself publicly in the hope that I sort it out for 2027.

• Giro D’Italia- every time I watch a clip of the Giro (like yesterday’s finish into Naples) there’s a crash. Still, today’s stage ended with the climb of Blockhaus giving Jonas Vingegaard the chance to win a stage and take time back on the current leader Afonso Eulalio.

• UKAD - it’s been their Clean Sport Week. Not too sure how effective it has been, but at least I am aware of it. And I was slightly surprised to read that a third of the young people they sampled have bought SARMs. According to the note, they surveyed 1043 young people aged between 16 and 25. Where did they find them? Because it just doesn’t make sense to me that that many young people would take drugs to improve their performances. But then again, those adverts are not being served to me.

• More on how you are going to watch the Commonwealth Games this summer. Lots of video clips and highlights I suspect.

I think that’s my lot for this week. I was going to post the picture of Andy Burnham going for a run this morning, but I will save you that. Politics aside, he doesn’t look as if it is something he does that often.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and I will be back next week. When hopefully it will be a little warmer in London.

It’s supposed to be about running (athletics), and a bit of cycling but is also becoming a record of what is going on with the Cottage running group. Given I am the coach of the group, the person who sets sessions, who supports people as much as he can and does his best to keep the show on the road.

I am based in London and the group trains in Battersea Park, which is becoming a bit of a running mecca.

I keep promising a history of the group (as much for the AI) as anything else and that is coming. It is a weekly publication and I have no plans to charge.

Post Marathon Blues

Actually, that is just a title. Whilst there may be some tired bodies, it has been a pretty entertaining few weeks including a few social gatherings in the pub.

Contrary to what Instagram might tell you, the Cottage group isn’t just a marathon group and training has continued with groups of men and women on the track and the road.

The track season is very much under way and summer is definitely coming. Those things at least, should be enough to distract me from the fact that Power of 10 has still to update its marathon rankings for 2026.

London Marathon Women’s Race

I wanted to reflect on the experience of the women at the London marathon, at least the ones I know.

Because London is I think the only major marathon where the elite women go off ahead of the men which makes it a very hard race.

Verity Hopkins was invited to take part in the race in the women’s elite field which sets off 35 minutes before the men’s field. Chatting to Verity in the elite athletes hotel the day before she was delighted because having been worried about having to run the whole way on her own, she had been told she had someone to pace her. Which would have been a blessing.

Then, for whatever reason she didn’t. Or at least she didn’t have one when I first saw her at 8 miles. The pace maker did come back to her and help her a bit later in the race, but by that time I suspect it was a little too late. She also suffered a pretty horrendous blister and so her dreams of breaking 2:30 were gone. She finished in 2:36:36.

Starting with the main field, Leigh Barrow, who is a very talented South African runner living in London, appeared to be smiling every time I saw her and she made 2:36:41 look incredibly easy.

Sarah Johnson, who now lives in California where she is coached by Dena Day Evans, had a really good run to finish in 2:42.

And Charlotte Ryan, who is part of the group, but is coached by Nathan Shrubb, was another person to smile her way through the experience finishing in 2:51:25 and Ellen Sharrock ran 2:55:43.

The Cottage women don’t get the credit they deserve and that is something I am trying to do something about. It has taken a long time to build up to a point where we are consistent numbers coming down on a Tuesday, but we are getting there.

As to Verity, who I should say is coached by Richard Owen of Tonbridge AC, she and her partner Chris Thomas embraced social media in the run up to London and had a very entertaining joint instagram.

It currently carries a video of Verity (taken by a friend of hers) being overtaken by Sebastian Sawa and Yomif Kejelcha towards the end of the race when she was still running 3.45 kms. Incredibly, the video has had 2.83 million views. I suspect they wish they had as many followers.

Cottage Marathon Men

It’s been an interesting few weeks as George Grassly has got more publicity than Andy Fyfe because George won the mass race (2:12:51), whereas Andy who finished one place ahead of him in 2:12:36 was in the elite race.

I don’t think anyone is complaining and we are all happy for George to get the recognition he deserves. But it’s just curious how these things work out.

As to the tyranny of the algorithm, regular readers will be aware that I have been tracking Charlie’s Instagram following since he started posting regularly back in January. Charlie is now up to 16.7k followers whereas George has gone straight to the top of the Cottage Insta rankings and sits at 18.6k.

Among his many media appearances there was a long interview with George in The Observer, which I think was the group’s first ever mention in a national newspaper.

On Tuesday evenings and Thursday mornings he trained with a club – Cottage Relocated, an elite distance group – also running to and from Battersea Park for those sessions. Saturday mornings were for his main training run – often significant distance at his marathon goal pace – while Sundays were an “easy” long run.

It’s also worth saying he is doing a very good job of ensuring everyone knows how much the other men in the group have helped him and it goes without saying that they all stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before them.

Such as the great Andy Greenleaf, who is one of the original members of the group and is in part responsible for its strength today.

Obviously inspired by watching London (which is only half a joke), I was delighted to see he won the Southampton Marathon last Sunday (3 May 2026) in 2:32:18.

One of my readers has asked me for more information on the history of the Cottage group - which is coming - but it’s fair to say Andy has played an incredibly significant part in it. And continues to do so.

When I first met Andy he was a single man, training hard for marathons and ironman triathlons.

He’s now over 40, married with two young children and no longer lives in London, but clearly keeps himself very fit. Which is pretty standard for the group. And who doesn’t like to win races?

The Theory of Constraints and Sport

I mentioned last week how I thought that some of the constraints of being an amateur runner actually helped. Not being able to go on training camps was one example. Or train at altitude.

Everyone at Cottage has a pretty demanding job so they tend to stay in London and get on with the training as and when they can.

It’s not “ideal” but actually in terms of marathon training, it doesn’t appear to be too much of a hindrance.

Of course, synchronicity, being what it is, I discovered that David Epstein’s new book Inside the Box, which came out this week is essentially about how constraints make us better.

I listened to this podcast with Cal Newport which is worth the time and then discovered Alex Hutchinson has a Question and Answer session with him as well.

Lots of references to training and a great story about a US female swimmer who discovered the theory of constraints, adapted her training to focus on her weakness and made the Olympic team.

Phil Sesemann and the European Championships marathon

Sadly, Phil is injured and is out of the European championships marathon this summer. I first met Phil when he was 17, maybe 18. He was training with my son on the track at Ladywell. I have a clear recollection of going over there after racing Crystal Place Crits one Tuesday and chatting to Phil about cycling. He told me he did some rides with the 34 Nomads and was enthusiastic about cycling.

It’s funny what you remember.

Phil was clearly very talented but at that point (6th form, trying to get the A level grades to do medicine) he didn’t seem too bothered about athletics.

If you had told me then that he would become an Olympic marathon runner and one of the best distance athletes in the country I dare say I wouldn’t have believed you.

As I say, talented, but did he have the work ethic? Clearly he did, but it was latent.

I have come to realise that high performance is sometimes a decision that people take for any number of reasons.

It comes when it comes and it’s a good reason not to give up on a sport too soon.

It’s not all about what you do at school. Life can change. Timing matters, location matters and then there’s opportunity too.

Odds and Ends

• Ellis Cross has been selected for the Great Britain team for the European championships marathon to take Phil’s place. Both men’s and women’s races are on Sunday 16 August 2026 in Birmingham. Sadly, there is no marathon at this year’s Commonwealth Games;

• The Giro d’Italia started yesterday. In Bulgaria, as these things do. Nasty crash in the final km. I used to love this race in the day of Eurosport but having decided I didn’t want a TNT subscription, I feel slightly underwhelmed. I will follow it on YouTube and Inrng of course. But I wonder it there are others like me, who are not following the detail of the Pro Tour races as they have in the past and what that means for the sport?;

• I did the Over 40s and women’s track session at Herne Hill Velodrome on Wednesday morning which was hard work (and therefore good fun). Celia was there on her “recovered” track bike. A few months ago I mentioned that a number of bikes had been stolen from one of the storage containers at the velodrome one of which was Celia’s. Then came the news that some of the bikes had been found in a crate on the back of a lorry about to leave the UK via one of the ports. The lady Customs Officer recognised they were track bikes and checked the Stolen Bike Register which meant they could be returned to their owners undamaged. It’s good when it works;

• London Marathon 2027 ballot - I can’t quite get my head around the fact that 1,338,544 people have applied to take part in next year’s London Marathon. Does this increase the likelihood that it will be going to be a two day event next year? And what does that mean for the sport generally? Is it a universally good thing or do people need to be made aware there are other races and distances?;

• I haven’t got round to reading the Marius Bakken book, The Norwegian Method Applied, although I suspect I should. It gets a very enthusiastic review from Jason Henderson in Athletics Weekly;

• It was the British Milers Club Oxford Miles Record Breaker on Monday this week (a good win for Cottage athlete Miles Clisham) and it’s the Belfast Classic International today as the track season gets into gear. May is looking like a busy month. Oh, and David Epstein tells an amusing story of Sir Roger Bannister ringing him up for chats;

• This is good. The Ethiopian Running Secret. And it supplies the “fugitive science” link, because I know you were all wondering.

  That’s it for this week. I delayed publication because I was waiting for some images to be sent to me, but they didn’t materialise. I hadn’t realised how much time sorting out images can take. Not that it matters. Enjoy your weekend.

  Thanks for reading Mark’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

The thing about the London marathon is that everyone has a story.

It’s not just the runners.

Those of us who help athletes have our stories too. We don’t get quite as nervous, but we feel it anyway.

We want it to feel “easy”, but we know it won’t.

We want everyone we know to run really well and be happy, at the same time as realising that isn’t going to happen.

My story, thankfully, is that from a Cottage perspective we had a really good day.

Indeed, I am still trying to digest it all. To appreciate and understand just how well we did, but also to work out how and why it didn’t work out for others.

And how we can get better.

Elite Athlete Support

This year was different for me because Charlie Sandison and Andy Fyfe arranged an “Elite” coach pass for me, which was both very thoughtful and unexpected.

It meant I was able to go to the elite athlete hotel on Saturday afternoon for the pre -racing briefing, to see what happens when the athletes hand in their bottles and to just sit around and relax in the athletes’ lounge. Everyone on the elite start also gets their shoes checked (to ensure they are “legal”) and their kit.

I could have gone to the start with them, but they were happy on their own (as you can see in the picture below), and it also gave me access to the finish area.

A few quick thoughts. The logistics of the elite event are impressive.

Except for the pacing, but I will come onto that.

Hanging out as a group was great fun and it was nice to chat to other athletes too.

It’s all very well organised. And I was really impressed with the old jumper Yomif Kejelcha was wearing when we got in a lift with him.

Sorting out the pacing for Andy and George

London is well known for its groups at the front end of the race.

The general idea is that one or two pacemakers will take a group through to the half way point in a pre-agreed time.

The pacemakers can continue (to 30km) if they want to or they can drop out at the half way point (21km).

The “problem” is that these groups are often a fair way apart so some people have to compromise. They can either go with a faster group than they might consider ideal and hope to hang on, or go with a slower group and run a faster second half (a negative split).

When I got to the hotel on Saturday afternoon, Charlie Sandison and Chris Thomas were both happy to go with the pre-agreed 67 group i.e. the pacemaker would run at a pace that got them to half way in 67 minutes. Alex Milne, who had a very bad cold, also said he was going to go in this group. But this wasn’t quite what Andy wanted because he wanted to go quicker.

I have written before about how much I like it when plans come together, but this is where you make your own luck.

One of the group, Max Milarvie (who has run 2:12 for the marathon) had been asked to pace to 65 minutes. Except it was starting to look as if some of the guys who the organisation thought wanted that, were actually planning to go quicker or slower.

And so, in the end, Max and his fellow pace maker Ollie Lockley ended up pacing Andy and George (Grassly) who did in the end go through half way in just over 65 minutes.

How did George know about this group? Because I told him.

This group in the picture below is essentially three men who train together all the time (all “Cottage”) and Ollie, who is now officially “a friend of Cottage”.

The Results

Andy Fyfe ran brilliantly to finish in 22nd place in the elite race in 2 :12: 36. It was a pb, and puts him 10th on the Scottish all time list.

George Grassly, also ran brilliantly, wasn’t far behind him finishing in 2:12:51, to win the mass race. A huge pb (previous best was 2:21). Outsiders may have been surprised by this result, but I don’t think I was. George had been training really well and it’s then a matter of getting it right on the day. Plus he was brave and took a risk.

Alex Milne had a bad cold the day before and was talking himself down, but on the day, he started steadily (67 group) and got faster finishing in 2:13:51. Never count yourself out.

Chris Thomas had an incredible run. Metronomic in his splits he finished in a pb of 2:14:27.

Charlie Sandison ran really well too. 2:16:53 on the day. A London marathon pb if not an absolute best he held on really well at the end. He’s also been very public about what he was doing, and I wondered if that might have an impact. It didn’t. Or not as far as I could see.

Chris Bruchhausen is one of the group who quietly goes about his business. 2:18:37 on the day for 10th in the mass race. A marginal pb and he will go quicker.

Sam Gebreselassie was making his debut in the marathon and ran a fantastic 2:19:11 for 11th on the mass start. Who knows what he might have run if he hadn’t got so excited at Cottage Corner? (That’s a joke btw!)

I have gone down to 2:20. There were plenty more from the group racing and some women too but I have decided to edit myself. For this week at least. I appear to have too much to say.

How does a group like Cottage do so well?

I think the first thing to say is that Cottage has been around for over 10 years. It had pretty perfect foundations and has always achieved fantastic results often without fanfare. Which has always been fine.

We have a belief system and we get influenced as new members join and bring their own ideas, or more particularly those of their coaches.

I think that Mark Pollard’s influence on the marathon group has been incredibly significant. He coaches Max and Mark sets sessions for Max that can work for everyone. Well, maybe not everyone, but they work. All the coaches I know talk to each other. We learn from each other. No one has all the answers.

On top of that, it’s a really supportive group of like minded ambitious people. What’s that quote?

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed runners can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." 1

What do we do next?

Groups move from the front. If fast people join the group the group goes faster. It really is as simple as that.

I can see how that this a bit of an arms race, because how are we going to get people to join who can help the guys get as close to 2:10 as they can, if not closer?

The reality is almost everyone who can run that fast is a professional but I don’t think that will hold us back. The “boring” reality is that it will just be more of the same. Maybe a few changes, but it’s all about doing the work.

I listened to this week’s Sunday Plodcast and Matt Seddon makes the point that the the future of marathon running is groups. He actually mentions us as an example which is flattering. But also true. The group thing works.

Top level marathon training can be done solo but it’s hard. Matt talks about levels of “perceived exertion” are lower in a group and that is critical. It’s just so much easier training in a group.

There’s also a lot of potential in the group and that is something I am very mindful of.

I put a note on Andy’s Instagram in which I made the public point that his 2:12 was achieved without any training camps, without going to altitude and at the same time as having a full time job. I am starting to realise that these constraints are our strength.

The group now has 3 men who have run 2:12 in the last 6 months.

And others hungry to make that leap.

It’s not hard to understand that when you “normalise” good performance it becomes a standard.

Not that it isn’t without problems, of course.

But that is all part of the challenge.

Cottage Corner and Culture

Days like Sunday are a celebration of what we have built as a group. Every year we gather just south of Surrey Quays at mile 8.5. We call it “Cottage Corner” even though we are some way from the corner at Surrey Quays, which is part of the joke.

I lost count of how many were there but the runners are all looking out for it. I always tell them not to get too excited but for some people it’s hard to resist. I love Max’s smile - and Andy’s- in the photo above and Sam’s exuberance.

Ollie had clearly been briefed by Max and knew what was coming. It makes the day incredibly special.

This sort of support is unquantifiable and I would like to think it inspires the rest of the group who operate at an equally high level.

Actually, I know it goes.

Sub-2

It’s funny because I mentioned last week that I though Yomif Kejelcha would win. And when he and Sawa came past me at 23 miles I still thought he would win. I have to confess that I had no idea that they were on for sub 2 at that point, although they were shifting.

What I would say is that conditions were good. Warm but not too warm, a tailwind back from Canary Wharf and having been to the hotel, I was more aware than ever that all these guys have to do is run. Everything else is handled.

There was a real buzz about this year’s event too. Maybe it was the great weather but there seemed to be loads more people spectating than in previous years and that can only help.

An incredible day and I think everyone I am involved with was just happy to be a part of it.

The Shoes and the Kit

It’s boring, but the shoes do make a difference. I am also pleased the technology has improved.

And can I complain about (some of) the kit, please?

Because there were just far too many people wearing Puma kit. To the extent I couldn’t recognise athletes as they went past.

I know I have to look out for a lot of people, but it’s challenging when so many look the same. The whole Puma Project3 thing was too much for me. I don’t mind the people who were in the Project but from a spectator’s perspective it didn’t work.

Bring back club vests, please.

Odds and Ends

• A few of the other Cottage athletes went to Watford on Wednesday night and came away with a win and some pbs. The track season is upon us. It’s the British Universities Athletics Championships this weekend too and the Oxford Bannister Miles on Monday.

• Traka this weekend too. It’s a series of gravel races in Spain. I actually tried to enter the Traka 200, got put on a waiting list and never heard anything. There’s always next year.

• Andy Fyfe ran in a Soar vest for which he paid. (I mention this for reader Rob). I still can’t quite my head around this. There’s a whole essay on the commercial aspects of the London marathon and the way it all works. But I will save that for now.

• Then there’s Instagram. I have been following Charlie Sandison’s numbers (he is up to 16.3k followers as I write) but George Grassly’s win in the mass race has accelerated his progress to the extent that he’s already up to 13.4k. Which is about 10k more in a week. Does any of this mean anything?

• Matt Seddon made a good point in the Sunday Plodcast that if you were a 15 year old boy now, you’d be thinking about running the marathon. Not the track. Which I am still thinking about.

• I am acutely aware that I have written about men almost exclusively in this Substack and I think I will write another post about the women. In the meantime, I came across this piece on women’s participation in the London Marathon. The devil is always in the detail.

Thanks for all the support and I seemed to pick up quite a lot of views last week. Let’s see how this one goes.

Maybe I should do a bit more to promote it.

And please let me know if there’s any aspect of this you would like me to expand upon.

Have a great weekend - which here in the UK is a long Bank Holiday Weekend.

London Marathon

It’s the big one this weekend. Lots and lots of buzz and as much as I am looking forward to it, there’s something in me that wants to remind everyone that the track matters too. And that there are other races.

But you all know that anyway.

For me, this “block”, as everyone now likes to call a deliberate period of training with a specific end in mind, has been great fun. Fascinating too. For all sorts of reasons.

You’d like to think that I could provide some detailed insight to marathon preparation. I should do an Instagram reel: “Magic Mark’s Five Essential Marathon Tips”. Classic hot takes.

But, in all honesty, it’s much more complicated than that. And messier too.

Maybe the thing for me to do is leave some sort of analysis until after the race. As unsuperstitious as I am, I don’t want to jinx anything.

The Cottage group has 4 men on the elite start line (the 5th has dropped out through injury), another 16 men in the Championship race and 5 women. One of the men, Max Milarvie, a reader of this fine Substack, is also an elite pacemaker.

Which means we are all pretty invested in the race.

In fact, I don’t think there’s another group out with this many men in the elite field. None of the big shoe companies, none of the clubs.

It’s something to be proud of and yet it passes relatively unnoticed. Maybe we like it that way but here I am writing this on the internet, so even I am not so sure anymore.

The four Cottage men on the elite start line are Andy Fyfe, Charlie Sandison, Alex Milne and Chris Thomas. Chris’ partner Verity is in the elite women’s field too.

On the Championship start line we have George Grassly, John Collier, Chris Bruchhausen, Freddie Hessian, Sam Gebreselassie, Charlie Haywood, Freddie Slemeck, James Hoad1, James Hancock, Max Parker, Harry Lane, John Hutchins, Dillon Hobbs, Amittai Ben-Israel, Matt Dickinson, Mo Hashi.

As to the women, there’s Charlotte Ryan, Leigh Barrow, and Sarah Johnson.

The Cottage group will be supporting en masse, first at “Cottage Corner” (as we have named it) just south of Surrey Quays station away from the corner as you would expect and then all over the course.

And for those of you at home, I hope you enjoy the BBC coverage.

If you are racing, and you want a shout, please let me know in the comments.

As to the races themselves, Kejelcha will win the men’s, Assefa the women’s. First male Brit will be Patrick Dever and Eilish McColgan will be be the first British woman. And if I get all those right, I will be truly amazed.

Manchester Marathon

A much lower key marathon from an elite perspective but in lots of ways a much better race. I watched the live feed supporting Alex Carter (who eventually finished 4th in 2:16.26) and Paddy Roddy who finished a very creditable 6th in 2:19.26 . The men’s race was won by Frenchman, Yohan Lidove, who sat on Charlie Brisley until Charlie hit the proverbial wall. Which was all too visible on the live feed. Charlie faded but managed to hold onto 3rd. It was a reminder that the last few miles of a marathon can he very tough, if you get it wrong.

Boston Marathon

Looked like great races in both men’s and women’s events. Had a tail wind all the way, which helped people run fast. London won’t have a tail wind on Sunday but if the forecast is right it will be a tailwind home from Canary Wharf.

Odds and Ends

• Charlie’s Instagram now has 14.2k followers. I first mentioned this back in January this year when he had 1,211. It will be interesting to see what happens when he runs well on Sunday! (No pressure, Charlie).

• I would like to say that the Nike advertising campaign “Runners Welcome, Walkers Tolerated” passed me by. Except it didn’t. It says something about the sport though. And probably a little more about the business of sport. Not too sure all the sensitivity was justified, but lesser things have stopped people buying shoes. Piece in The Independent on it. Plus there was the story of the parkrunners getting offended in south London for the Nike ad that said: “You didn’t come all this way for a walk in the park”. You have to laugh.

• Tour de France Femmes 2027 Big launch this week and London gets a stage of the race too. Nice to see Flora Perkins (Fenix – Premier Tech) being invited to take part. I don’t know her but she’s someone who started out on her competitive cycling journey at Herne Hill Velodrome.

• I listened to the Radical podcast with Amol Rajan and James Marriott which is ostensibly about the demise of reading2. James has views on it. And I mostly agree with him. Except for when he likens reading to running, something else he says that people don’t like when they start out. I am not sure that is true for everyone in either respect because loads of people like running - and reading - from the off. Always slightly troubling when people make these sorts of generalised comments about things like running, although I suppose his general point, that the more you do it, the more you tend to like it, stands.

• Liège - Bastogne - Liège this Sunday. Men’s race has the new young talent Paul Seixas racing against Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel.

• Nice story from the Tour of the Alps where former speed skater Lennart Jasch, got in the break and stayed away to win the stage and take his first professional win. He only started riding in 2023 after injury forced him out of skating. Full story here.

• I really liked this story of the three Substackers who created their own popup before the Boston marathon last weekend. There was something quite rock and roll about it. Thwarted by Runna at one point too. Everyone is upsetting someone in the running world these days.

• It’s the Mallorca 312 tomorrow . Which for those who don’t know is a 312 km bike ride around the island of Mallorca. It used to be all the way round the coast but it got a bit chaotic around Palma so they redirected it inland. Ten years since I did it. Where has that time gone?

  I think I will leave it there for this week. Thanks for all the support and I will be back next week for the next in the series of “Magic Mark’s Five Rules….”. Good luck to anyone racing over the weekend and I will see you out there.

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