Everpresent

I recently came across a website called the "Ever Presents" ( www.everpresent.org.uk ) which is about a group of runners who have taken part in every London Marathon since the inaugural event in 1981.

Even as late as the 15th London Marathon, in 1995, there were still as many as 42 runners who had a 100 per cent record of finishing each year. But by 2003 the number of "everpresents" had dropped to 29.

All 29 of them took part and completed the course in 2004. In 2005, the number had dwindled slightly to 28.

These runners are no superstars. They come from all walks of life, different occupations and different locations; many are now retired (hardly surprising, since 25 years have passed since that first London Marathon).

Many of them, no doubt, credit the London Marathon with being, at least partly, responsible for their robust good health.

Looking at their ages prompts a question; can it ever be too late to train for and run a marathon?

In defiance of aging, one interesting and humourous snippet from The Independent newspaper in Ireland is included on the website.

It reads, "Police in Norway stopped Sigrid Krohn de Lange running down the street in Bergen because they thought she had escaped from a nursing home. The 94-year old jogger was out getting fit."

In Malta, the number of "ever-present" runners is four, and it is good to be able to relate that all four, Konrad Ciappara, Charles Darmanin, Charles Herd and Paul Gardner (from the United Kingdom), have now applied to take part in this their 21st consecutive Malta Marathon.

Long may their good health and participation continue.

To change topics, one good question for someone expecting to take part in the half marathon to ask themselves right now would be; what training should I be doing with one month to go till race day?

There are many ways to look at answering this question, and they differ depending on the state of fitness of the runner, and his/her expectations in the race.

Making the finish line

If the runner is relatively new to the sport, and perhaps running their first half marathon, the main target will be simply to reach the finish-line in one piece.

In that case simply continue to increase the length of the weekly long run until the runner is capable of running for at least 1hr 45 mins non-stop. Do these long runs once per week, gradually increasing in distance.

From experience we know that most beginners will take somewhere around 2hrs or more to complete the race, so the knowledge that they have completed at least 1hr 45 mins non-stop will give them extra confidence on race day.

With the thrill and excitement of taking part, they will find the extra fitness to reach The Ferries in fine shape.

The target for a runner who has competed in road races before, perhaps even run the half marathon, might be to finish in a faster time than ever before (and set a new personal best).

Assuming their weekly mileage has been consistent and of a good standard, such a runner might consider running mile repeats at race pace to get used to the intensity they are going to meet on race day.

This might entail going to a track (at Marsa or St Aloysius, say) and (after a suitable warm-up) running repeats of four laps of the track at expected race pace. In between each repeat the runner might jog one lap very slowly.

Depending on the fitness of the runner, they might run 4-6 of these "repeat miles", each with one lap jog recovery.

At the end of the session, put on some extra clothing (a sweatshirt, for example) and jog another 10-15 mins cool down.

Over time the runner might reduce the length of the recovery between each rep to 200m jog. Or lengthen the distance of each repeat to five laps and aim for a total of five reps.

So, the runner might start from 4-6 reps of four laps, and build to five reps of five laps. All at intended race pace.

Doing such a training session once per week only (or once every 10 days) will make the runner more able to maintain this pace on race day.