Ross Tucker

I don't usually disagree with Dr Ross Tucker, my South African mate, about the technical stuff he features on his Science of Sport blog, but this time....

Ross has picked up on some recently published research from Japan, in which scientists set up a high speed camera at the 15km mark of the 2004 Sapporro International Half Marathon, observed the foot strike of 248 men and 35 women, and characterized them as either heel-strikers, mid-foot or forefoot strikers.

We could have picked a better day for my first exposure to Ric's infamous hill circuits.
Wind gusting at 50mph does not exactly help when you're plugging uphill on not one, but three different climbs. Turning a corner at the top of one short uphill stretch I came to a standstill as the wind hit me full force.

Zersenay Tadese, world cross-country and half-marathon champion, may be the most "economical" runner in the world according to a new sports science study.

Researchers in Madrid say that Tadese's uses less oxygen per kilometre than any other athlete ever studied -- and that includes other elite Kenyans. Frank Shorter in his prime tested out at 192 ml/kg/kilometer (running at 3:06/km); Tadese's figures: 150 ml/kg/kilometer (running at 3:09//km and at at 2:51/km).