We make it our business to tell readers about notable deals on products we like, and scour the web for legit offers during Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day to help you save money.

But probably the greatest discount out there is available year-round, it’s not restricted to an older model that’s been superseded by a newer release and the product is legitimately life-changing.

The UK government’s Cycle to Work Scheme allows payroll employees to get their hands on any e-bike for commuting and have the cost taken out of their salary in monthly instalments before tax—like a buy now, pay later that you always have the funds to cover. Because it’s taken out of your salary before you’ve paid tax, you save between 28%, 42% or 47%, depending on which tax band you fall in.

There are many Cycle to Work Scheme providers, but Green Commute Initiative is one of the more straightforward and as a social enterprise it’s doing everything it can to get more people cycling—a mission Coach wholeheartedly supports. For instance, it doesn’t charge a 7% fee at the end of the scheme like some traditional providers do, you just make the maximum savings available to you.

It also has a plain explanation of how the scheme works for employees, as well as a more detailed step-by-step guide, because, to be honest, it’s pretty convoluted. But when there’s the chance to save hundreds or even thousands of pounds on a better way to get to work, that’s a minor worry.

Still not convinced? Here are four good reasons for cycling to work on an ebike, informed by my experience of testing a dozen-odd ebikes on my commute.

1. Riding An E-Bike Is Easy

I regularly cycle to work on a normal bike. It’s great and the three subsequent reasons to commute all apply, but it’s not always easy. Hills, wind and the tiredness that builds up after a long week can make some rides a bit of a grind. And even if I take it easy, I sweat enough to warrant a shower and a change of clothes once I arrive at work, which adds time to my commute and bulk to my backpack.

An ebike has none of those problems. Suddenly you just become really good at cycling and cruise into work without breaking a sweat. In fact, I’ve learned to wrap up warmer than I normally would because I’m not working hard enough to raise my body temperature.  Through Green Commute Initiative, you can add clothing to your bike package so you can get the right gear for your commute and make big savings.

I’ve also found that cycling an e-bike to work is the easiest, most reliable way to get into work as you’re far less likely to get caught in traffic or the delays that can plague trains.

2. It’s Healthy

Even though you won’t necessarily get sweaty riding an e-bike, it’s still exercise and you’ll still do yourself the power of good. There’s an aerobic exercise target, recommended by various health agencies around the world, of 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. You really don’t have to work that hard to start racking up the minutes—a brisk walk or riding an e-bike, say—but the benefits you get from clocking up this amount of time doing low-intensity steady state are immense. If there was a pill that could deliver the proven benefits of regular aerobic exercise, you’d pay through the nose for it.

If your weekly commuting time adds up to 150 minutes or more, you’ll be hitting this recommended target without sacrificing any leisure time. And because it’s easy exercise, it won’t leave you too tired to keep up any sport or activity you already do. In fact, you’ll probably end up cycling to that too for a warm-up—that’s what I do.

3. It’s More Environmentally Friendly

While most of our transport infrastructure still runs on fossil fuels, getting around under your own steam will lower your personal emissions and limit pollution. More than that, the more people who cycle, the safer cycling feels. Making a change to your commute can have a ripple effect, inspiring others to travel in a way that’s better for the environment.

4. It’s Good Value For Money

Cycling to work is not free, but there’s every chance it will save you substantial sums of money compared with driving or taking public transport. Obviously, using Green Commute Initiative to access the Cycle to Work Scheme can significantly cut down your initial set-up cost, and you can negotiate with your employer to spread payments to fit your monthly budget. Just make sure to budget for regular maintenance and replacement parts, as well as insurance against bike theft. All customers of Green Commute Initiative have access to special offers on insurance products. I also subscribe to one of the UK’s cycling membership organisations to access liability insurance and legal assistance in the event of an accident.

Most of us have no problem devoting time to thinking about what we’re going to eat after a run: it’s pretty much the only thing we do think about during those latter stages. However, considering what to eat before a run is arguably more important because getting fueling right is key to a successful run.

You can use sports supplements, such as the best running gels, energy bars and sports drinks to fuel before and during a run and these can be convenient options for long runs and hard workouts, but for most runs you can get what you need from your regular diet if you do some planning.

For expert advice on what to eat before a run, I spoke to Dr Samuel Impey, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Hexis, an app that creates personalized nutrition plans for sportspeople.

The London Marathon is one of the highlights of the running calendar and whether you’re keen to follow the elite race or track friends and family making their way around the London Marathon route, it’s a great event to watch live.

This year the women’s elite race looks particularly unmissable, with 10 athletes who have run sub 2hr 20min in the field including world record holder Tigist Assefa. Two-time London Marathon winner Brigid Kosgei and Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir are other notable names, as is Yalemzerf Yehualaw, who won the London Marathon in 2022.

On the men’s side the biggest name is Kenenisa Bekele, who is competing in his seventh London Marathon and aiming to win it for the first time, although at 41 he is perhaps more likely to set a masters record than win overall. The fastest men in the field based on recent results are Mosinet Geremew, Alexander Mutiso Munyao and Tamirat Tola, and last year’s runner-up Geoffrey Kamworor will also have eyes on the win.

The top Brits in the field include Becky Briggs, Alice Wright and Anya Culling in the women’s race, and Emile Cairess, Marc Scott and Callum Hawkins in the men’s. Cairess and Hawkins are both in the top five for fastest marathons by British runners ever, while Marc Scott is a debutant at the distance with impressive pedigree from shorter road and track events.

London Marathon Live Streams And TV Broadcasts

How To Watch The London Marathon In The UK

The BBC has been the broadcaster of the race since its first edition in 1981 and is offering extensive coverage of both the elite race and mass-participation event. Live coverage starts at 8.30am BST on BBC One and runs until 2pm, when it switches to BBC Two before finishing at 3pm. You can also watch the race online on iPlayer, with live streams running until 6pm. There are highlights from the race on BBC Two at 6pm.

If you’re tuning in to catch sight of someone you know, train your eyes on the live stream of the finish line, which last year was available via the red button and on iPlayer. Download the London Marathon tracker app to access predicted finish times for every runner, searchable by name or bib number.

How To Watch The London Marathon In The US, Canada And Australia

Live coverage of the London Marathon is available via FloTrack, with the broadcast starting at 4.10am ET. You can watch online and the FloTrack app, which is available on the App Store, Google Play, plus Roku and the Amazon Fire Stick. A FloTrack subscription costs USD$29.99 a month or USD$149.99 a year.

How To Watch The London Marathon From Outside Your Country Of Residence

The team at Coach stablemate TechRadar have tested VPNs extensively and recommend NordVPN, which is easy to set up and reliable. NordVPN also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it before committing to a longer plan.

London Marathon Details

There are no shortcuts in running and when you see a dramatic drop in someone’s personal best for the marathon then it’s almost always down to a lot of hard work. That’s the case with Lululemon ambassador Anya Culling, who went from running 4hr 34min at the London Marathon 2019 to an astonishing 2hr 34min at the Copenhagen Marathon in 2023, when she represented England.

Prior to this year’s London Marathon, when Culling will take a place at the elite start, we spoke to her about her running journey and just how she got so quick.

How did you get into running and what was your first marathon like?

I ran my first marathon in 2019. That was the London Marathon. I did that for charity. It was a challenge. I’d never done much running before. I was sporty as a child. I played hockey and cricket, and my family is competitive, but I was never quite as good at sports as any of them.

I did some training for that 2019 marathon, but I didn’t do a lot. I went for some dog walks, which I would run bits of, or I’d run around the school rugby fields. I threw myself in the deep end. I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t have carbon shoes, didn’t follow a plan, didn’t have a watch—didn’t understand anything.

It was the hardest and most painful marathon I’ve ever done. I didn’t catch the running bug and I downed tools with running for a bit longer. 

When and why did you start running again?

I didn’t like not being very good at it. I’d got to county level in hockey and cricket. I had to work hard to get there, but I felt like I succeeded. I felt like I hadn’t succeeded in the marathon. I wanted to commit and get good at it. 

Lockdown gave me the kick I needed to take up running. I downloaded Strava on the day we went into lockdown.

As we started to come out of lockdown, we were able to run with friends and do it more as a social thing. That was the only time you could see your friends so I always associated running with that. Then the more I enjoyed it, the more I wanted to do it. 

I was running around Battersea Park, in London, and I’d see the same man every day. That was Nick Bester. One day we just got chatting and he later became my first coach.

You ran 2hr 36min at the London Marathon in 2022, how did you progress to that point?

I did the Rome Marathon at the start of that year, and I did that in 2hr 43min. The one before that was Valencia and that was 2hr 52min, and the one before that was Manchester and that was 3hr 5min. So I was chipping away 10-15 minutes each time. It wasn’t that I just knocked off two hours.

When I ran 2hr 52min at Valencia 2021, I placed in the 1,000s because Valencia is such a big marathon. Then I did Rome in early 2022, and I came first European female and first non-elite, and I think I was top 40 overall, including the men. I thought, “Wow, l really performed there.”

Nothing changed with my training for London 2022. I just inched my way forward. I put my success down to the fact that the time and the PBs have always been secondary. I’ve just enjoyed running.

Along with gradually increasing training, did you change your lifestyle?

I’ve always just rolled with general life. I probably went out slightly less, but I’ve never changed my diet. When you get to doing the amount of running that I do, it’s about getting the calories in before worrying about everything else.

The biggest change has been training my brain like I’ve trained my body. That became a big thing in the weeks before a marathon. Working on my psyche and self-belief, and ways of canceling out any self-limiting beliefs. 

I also did more strength and conditioning. I think you can only get away without it for so long until something happens, and then you wish you had done a few calf raises! I didn’t want to get to that point before I started. I want to be in the sport for as long as possible, and the only way I’m going to do that is if I enjoy it, stay injury-free and be happy and healthy.

What would be your top tip for runners looking to improve?

Consistency. You just need to string together a block of good consistent running. It’s about piling it up and building layers on layers.

The best running watches can do a lot more than track your workouts. Come race day your Garmin watch can help you stay on track and hit your target time, with a variety of features available to help you successfully pace a marathon.

I’ve run the London Marathon six times and used several different approaches when setting up my watch for the race, all of which were designed to keep me on track for my target time. That’s harder than in other marathons I’ve run because the GPS signal goes AWOL running through Canary Wharf and the tunnels on the course.

The simplest way to track your race is with your normal data screens, but I’d suggest adding lap pace to them, rather than current pace. Current pace is particularly susceptible to GPS trouble and will jump around a lot, while lap pace is your average pace for the current mile or kilometer split you’re running and is a more stable number to help you pace your run.

Even with lap pace the GPS problems you encounter in the second half of the London Marathon when running under high buildings and through tunnels can throw your watch off. I take manual splits when passing the mile/kilometer markers to get an accurate number for each to make sure I’m hitting my target pace.

A more advanced setting is to use the distance and time target setting on the watch. On your run page hold the menu button, select training, quick workout (or set a target depending on which model you’re using) and then distance and time. Select marathon distance and put in your target time and you’ll get two new data screens. One shows how far behind or ahead of your goal pace you are, and another gives a predicted finish time plus your average pace and distance remaining. 

The predicted time is handy as long as you take into account the distance your watch has measured compared with the actual distance you have left to run, with GPS inaccuracies included. Check the distance on the watch against a marker when you pass it and add any discrepancy in time to the predicted time on the watch. 

Another Garmin tool you can use is PacePro, which will give you a target time for each mile or kilometer of your race based on the elevation profile of the course, your overall goal and race strategy, as in whether you want to run even splits, or a negative split where you run the second half of the marathon faster than the first. 

I’d advise against this though. PacePro is brilliant but will be rendered near useless by GPS inaccuracy and is most useful on hilly courses like the Boston Marathon where your pace per split will rise and fall with the hills. PacePro can help you stick to target pace in the first half of the London Marathon, which has good GPS accuracy with few tall buildings, but once you hit Canary Wharf inaccurate pace readings will throw it off.

The most complicated and most accurate option you can use is a ConnectIQ app that allows you to correct the distance readings on the watch. I have used one called Peter’s (Race) Pacer to do this (Peter’s (Hi-Viz) Pacer is a simpler app that does the same thing). When you pass a marker on the course, hit the lap button and it rounds the distance measured by the watch up or down to be exact.

So if your watch reads 5.12km at the 5K marker, hit the lap button and it will correct to 5.00km, and then adjust the average pace and other stats on the watch. You can also set a target time with Peter’s Race Pacer and it will tell you how far ahead or behind you are.

I’m hoping Garmin will eventually make this a native feature on its watches—as it is on the Wahoo ELEMNT Rival watch—because Peter’s (Race) Pacer isn’t the most attractive data screen, but it has worked well for me in the past when GPS readings have gone wonky. Just make sure you try the app out in a training run to get used to the info being shown.

The CrossFit Quarterfinals 2024 workouts have been revealed, and they’re a notable step-up from the Open tests before them. 

The four workouts were announced to athletes via email on Wednesday, April 17. Combined, they aim to test the strength, gymnastic skill and stamina of those tackling them. 

The top 25% of male and female CrossFit Open finishers have been invited to participate in this year's CrossFit Quarterfinals. This is up from the top 10% in previous years, meaning the 2024 Quarterfinals are set to be bigger than ever before. 

Here’s everything you need to know if you’re taking part. 

What Are The CrossFit Quarterfinals 2024 Workouts?

Workout One

Four rounds for max repetitions of:

• One minute of barbell snatches (135lb/61kg barbell for men, 85lb/38kg barbell for women)
• One minute of rowing (for calories)
• One minute of dumbbell box step-ups (50lb/22.5kg dumbbells for men, 35lb/15kg dumbbells for women, both use a 20in box)
• One minute of rest

Set a running clock. In the first minute complete as many snatches as you can, in the second minute rack up as many rowing calories as you can, in the third minute perform as many double dumbbell box step-ups as you can, then rest in the fourth minute.

Repeat this for three rounds. Your score is the total number of reps you are able to complete.

Revealing the workouts via an Instagram Live, CrossFit’s competition director Adrian Bozman says this first test is an “homage to Fight Gone Bad”—a classic CrossFit workout that follows a similar “max-reps in a minute” format.

“The best [athletes] are probably going to have pretty even reps across each those movements, and the rest of us are going to have one that really plays to our strength and some others that don't,” says Bozman.

Workout Two

Three rounds for time (20-minute time cap): 

• Wall ball x50 (20lb/9kg ball to a 10-foot target for men, 14lb/6kg ball to a 9-foot target for women)
• Lateral burpee box jump-over x50 (24in box for men, 20in box for women)

There’s not much to explain here. Perform 50 wall balls then 50 lateral burpee box jump-overs, and repeat this for three total rounds as fast as possible.

Your score is the time it takes you to finish all 300 reps, or the total number of reps you've completed if you hit the 20-minute time cap before reaching the finish line.

“It’s a straight-up grinder,” says Bozman. He says that, after featuring smaller chunks of burpees in the Open, the programming team wanted to “add reps, so [the sets] are more aggressive, and see who could hang on.”

Workout Three

For time (15-minute time cap):

• Handstand push-up x10
• Toes-to-bar x20
• Handstand push-up x10
• Toes-to-bar x20
• Handstand push-up x10
• Toes-to-bar x20
• Strict handstand push-up x10
• Rope climb x5 (15ft)
• Strict handstand push-up x10
• Rope climb x5 (15ft)
• Chest-to-wall handstand push-up x10
• Muscle-up x20

This is a gymnastic test, with the exercises ascending in difficulty as you progress through the workout.

There are three pairs of exercises, with the first pair (handstand push-ups and toes-to bar) performed for three rounds, the second pair (strict handstand push-ups and rope climbs) performed for two rounds, and the final pair (chest-to-wall handstand push-ups and muscle-ups) performed for one round.

Your score is the time it takes you to complete the workout, or the number of reps you complete if you don't finish it within the time cap.

“This is going to be a big separator for a lot of people,” says Bozman. “It’s a lot of gymnastic movements, so let’s see who can bust them out. [This is a] personal favorite of the set for me.”

Workout Four

As many reps as possible (AMRAP) in 10 minutes of:

• Clean and jerks x10 (135lb/61kg for men, 85lb/38kg for women)
• Rest for one minute
• Clean and jerk x10 (185lb/83kg for men, 125lb/56kg for women)
• Rest for one minute 
• Clean and jerk x10 (225lb/102kg for men, 155lb/70kg for women)
• Rest for one minute
• Max-reps of clean and jerks in remaining time (245lb/111kg for men, 165lb/75kg for women). 

For this final workout, start a rolling clock and get to work.

Begin with 10 clean and jerks at the first (and lightest) weight. Once you’ve finished these, you’ll take a mandatory one-minute rest before moving on to 10 clean and jerks at the second weight.

Take another mandatory minute of rest once these are completed, then work through 10 clean and jerks at the third weight before sitting back for another mandatory 60-second breather.

In whatever time remains of the 10 minutes after this, complete as many clean and jerks as you can at the fourth and heaviest weight (245lb/111kg for men, 165lb/75kg for women).

Your score is the number of clean and jerks you’ve completed when the clock hits 10 minutes.

“Finally, we have a strength endurance test,” says Bozman. “For those among us that are in that bottom percentile [in the CrossFit Open leaderboard] that just snuck in [to the CrossFit Quarterfinals], it’s going to be about how many you can get at that final bar.

“For the best [athletes] we’re going to see some amazing numbers there—there are going to be some real shootouts happening.”

When Are The CrossFit Quarterfinals 2024 Score Submission Deadlines?

There are two submission deadlines to remember for the 2024 CrossFit Quarterfinals. 

The scores for the first two workouts are due by 5pm PDT on Saturday, April 20 (1am BST on Sunday, April 21). 

Then the submission deadline for workouts three and four is 5pm PDT on Monday, April 22 (1am BST on Tuesday, April 23). 

The submitted scores will be reviewed before Monday, April 29, and the CrossFit Games team will publicly announce the results once the leaderboard has been finalized. 

How To Submit CrossFit Quarterfinals Scores

Scores can be submitted on the CrossFit Games website or app, as with the CrossFit Open. Workouts can be completed in any order so long as the scores are submitted before their respective deadlines. 

In an email sent to those who have qualified for the event, CrossFit encourages athletes to use a judge who has completed its 2024 Judges Course. 

The company also says that “the top 60 male and female athletes will be required to submit video recordings of all workouts should they wish to proceed to Semifinals”. 

On top of this, people who edit their submitted video “in any way risk disqualification”, and all scores must be uploaded before the submission deadlines listed above to be valid. 

What Is The CrossFit Quarterfinals?

The CrossFit Quarterfinals is the second stage of the competitive CrossFit season, after the CrossFit Open.

More than 343,500 people took part in this year’s CrossFit Open—an online fitness competition in which people across the world tackle three workouts over three weeks and submit their scores to a worldwide leaderboard. 

The top 25% of male and female athletes from the CrossFit Open earn the right to compete in the Quarterfinals, which is a second online stage taking place the following month. 

The top 40 men and women from each region (North America West, North America East, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and South America) are then invited to the CrossFit Semifinals. 

These are a series of in-person competitions spanning mid-May to early June, designed to decide which 40 men and women will compete at the CrossFit Games (the pinnacle of the sport) in Fort Worth, Texas, this August. 

To run a marathon successfully you need a plan, a few good months of training behind you, and a whole lot of kit for the day itself. You need good shoes, comfortable clothes, and nutrition and hydration products, all of which you’ve hopefully tested out during your marathon training.

Peloton instructor Ben Alldis is running the London Marathon for the second time this year, and when we spoke to him about his kit for the race it was clear a lot of careful thought and testing had gone into picking it out. That means there’s a lot to be learned from his selections if you’re not sure about your own marathon kit just yet.

Are you excited for the London Marathon?

“I’m so excited because I’ve done it before and I know what I’m letting myself in for,” says Alldis. “I was overwhelmed with the support last time, the fact that at London there are people cheering at every single spot. When you’re in it, it’s so amazing.

“Things have also come on a long way since I ran it in 2018. All the hydration and nutrition, the trainers and the kit has all evolved so much. It’s been fun trying different things out and testing things along the way.”

What running shoes are you using for the marathon?

“I was going to go for a racing shoe, but I’m actually going to stick with the Hoka Arahi 7,” says Alldis. “I’ve been training in them and they feel great. I’ve got slightly wide feet and a lot of the race shoes are quite thin. I have tried the race shoes and they do feel good, but I just don’t want to get injured because of the job I do. I’ve got to teach a class on Wednesday!” 

What nutrition products are you using for the marathon?

“I’ve tried quite a few things,” says Alldis. “I don’t eat a lot of sugar, so when I started with some of the gels, they were so hard on my stomach. They do work, but I get a bit of a stomach ache.

“The ones that I’ve actually loved using are from Veloforte. I’m using a mixture of the gels, the energy chews and also the energy bars, just because too much of one thing is a bit much for my stomach. Mixing up also keeps it interesting across however long it’s going to take.”

I rate Veloforte’s products too and they feature on my selection of the best running gels. Just remember, you should never try a new gel for a marathon—stick with what you’ve been using during training. 

“I also like to suck on the SaltStick electrolyte fast chews,” says Alldis. “I take a lot of electrolytes for my general life and my job, but obviously you can’t really get the tablets out and put them into bottles [during the race]. These are little tablets that you can just suck on. You have maybe two every half hour or something and it just keeps salt levels up. This has helped me massively, because the last marathon I did, I started to cramp up. I think that was because I tried to just survive on one jelly baby a mile! When I look back, that’s probably why I was cramping up because the salt levels in my body were probably low.”

If this is the first you’ve heard about electrolytes, find out what you need to know with our guide to electrolyte drinks.

How are you carrying all this?

“I’ve been using a Peloton running belt in training,” says Alldis, “but I’m actually going to use a CamelBak one because you can put water in it. Obviously, there are water stations along the way, but it’s helpful just to have a little bit on you.”

What other running gear will you be wearing?

“I’m going to be wearing the Lululemon X Peloton collaboration gear—it’s super soft and super light,” says Alldis. “It doesn’t get too much sweat in it. I also like to wear under shorts just to keep the compression on the quads and the hammies. Lululemon also do amazing socks with compression.”

Are those knee-high or ankle-high compression socks?

“I’ve tried both,” says Alldis. “I think it depends how hot it is on the day, because it can get a bit claustrophobic sometimes when you’ve got too much compression. If it’s a bit warmer, I’ll just go for ankle-high, but if it’s a bit cooler, I might wear knee-high, or I might wear compression sleeves.

“I used to be a sprinter and so my typical running style when I get lazy is on my toes, so my calves get a battering. To have a bit of pressure on them helps a little bit.”

I’ve looked ahead to the London Marathon weather forecast and Alldis might be better off going for ankle-high socks.

What running watch and headphones do you use?

“I’m going to be wearing an Apple Watch,” says Alldis. “I’ve been training with it, and I use the Apple Watch Ultra 2. I’ve always liked the Apple Watch. I wouldn’t say it’s the best of the best watches out there, but it’s the watch that I wear and it’s really helpful for me. It just helps you pace yourself, which is good.” It’s a good choice in my book, I’ve reviewed the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and rate it as the best smartwatch for running.

“I’ve been training with Apple Airpods,” says Alldis, “but I’ve just been recommended this brand of headphones called Shokz which sit on the back of your head and it means you can still hear the crowd.” Shokz makes bone conduction headphones that transmit sound through your cheekbones to your inner ear, keeping your ear free to hear other sounds.

“It’s about getting a balance between trying to take in the crowd versus having a bit of motivation,” says Alldis. “I like to listen to a mixture of podcasts and music. Four hours of dance music can get a bit repetitive! So a good podcast and some music for the end.”

With the CrossFit Open disappearing in the rear view mirror, it’s time to look ahead to the next stage of the competitive CrossFit season, the CrossFit Quarterfinals, which will decide which athletes progress to the Semifinals. 

Like the Open before it, this is an online competition. Unlike the Open, it’s invite only. To qualify in 2024, you needed to finish in the top 25% in the CrossFit Open. 

Whether you’re a regular participant, first-time qualifier, hopeful for next year or just curious about the format, I’ve gathered a quick-and-dirty guide to the CrossFit Quarterfinals.

CrossFit Quarterfinals FAQs

CrossFit Quarterfinals Equipment List

Ahead of both the Open and Quarterfinals, CrossFit usually releases an equipment list that tells affiliated CrossFit boxes what needs to be provided to athletes taking part. Participants often comb these lists for clues as to what the workouts will be.

But in 2024 CrossFit has not released an equipment list in advance. Instead, it says “all required equipment can be found in a typical CrossFit affiliate”, although “some workouts may require a specified distance between equipment for safety concerns”. 

The floor plans and equipment list will be posted on the CrossFit Games website after the release of the four CrossFit Quarterfinals workouts on Wednesday, April 17.

CrossFit Quarterfinals Leaderboard

The CrossFit Quarterfinals can be hard to follow as a fan. This is because, while the Open has the live announcements and both the CrossFit Games and CrossFit Semifinals have been live-streamed on YouTube, there are no live updates for this portion of the season. 

If you want to stay on top of the latest results, the best way to do it is to keep an eye on the CrossFit Quarterfinals leaderboard on the CrossFit Games website. Many athletes also post updates on their social media channels, if you want extra information on the competition. 

CrossFit Quarterfinals Workouts 2023

CrossFit Quarterfinals 2023 Workout 1

For time (15-minute time cap): 

1. Front squat at weight one (heaviest) x9 
2. 25 ft handstand walk x9
3. Front squat at weight two x15
4. Muscle-up x15
5. Front squat at weight three (lightest) x21
6. Chest-to-wall handstand push-up x21

Men’s weights: 225lb/102kg, 185lb/83kg, 135lb/61kg

Women’s weights: 155lb/70kg, 125lb/56kg, 95lb/43kg

CrossFit Quarterfinals 2023 Workout 1

As many repetitions as possible (AMRAP) in 12 minutes of: 

1. Dumbbell snatch on arm one x8
2. Overhead walking lunge steps on arm one x8
3. Dumbbell snatch on arm two x8
4. Overhead walking lunge steps on arm two x8

Men’s weight: 70lb/32.5kg

Women’s weight: 50lb/22.5kg 

CrossFit Quarterfinals 2023 Workout 3

Five rounds for time (10-minute time cap):   

1. Burpee box jump-over x5
2. Clean and jerk x1

Men’s: Barbell at 275lb/125kg, box at 30in

Women’s: Barbell at 185lb/84kg, box at 24in

CrossFit Quarterfinals 2023 Workout 4

As many repetitions as possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of: 

1. Row x1,000m
2. GHD sit-up x50
3. Row x500m
4. V-up x25 

CrossFit Quarterfinals 2023 Workout 5

For time (15-minute time cap):

1. Deadlift at weight one (lightest) x21
2. Chest-to-bar pull-up x21
3. Deadlift at weight two x15
4. Bar muscle-up x15
5. Deadlift at weight three (heaviest) x9
6. 15ft rope climb x9 

Men’s weights: 225lb/102kg, 275lb/125kg, 315lb/143kg

Women’s weights: 155lb/70kg, 185lb/83kg, 205lb/93kg

Get help choosing which is best for you with our guide to the best CrossFit shoes.

The Boston Marathon is one of the most exciting events on the running calendar, and this year will be no different with defending champions Evans Chebet and Hellen Obiri returning to defend their crowns.

Chebet is aiming to win the Boston Marathon for the third time in a row after he beat a stacked field that included Eliud Kipchoge last year. His main threat will probably be Sisay Lemma, who ran 2hr 1min 48sec at the Valencia Marathon last year, is the fastest man in the field and the fourth-fastest in history. Last year’s runner-up Gabriel Geay will also be in the mix for the win.

On the women’s side Obiri will have to face down stern competition from other past champions to win her second, with Worknesh Defaga, Edna Kiplagat and Caroline Rotich all aiming to take the tape. New York City Marathon 2022 winner Sharon Lokedi is another runner to look out for, with home interest coming from Des Linden, who won Boston in 2018, and Sara Hall.

Boston Marathon Live Streams

How To Watch The Boston Marathon In The US

ESPN will broadcast the Boston Marathon live nationally in the US, with its coverage beginning on its flagship channel at 8.30am EDT and running until 12.30pm EDT. It will also be streamed on the ESPN website. 

Live local coverage of the race will be on WCVB Channel 5 from 4am EDT to 8pm EDT, along with WCVB’s sister stations WMUR, WMTW and WPTZ.

How To Watch The Boston Marathon In The UK

Eurosport will be showing live coverage of the Boston Marathon on TV and through its website and app. If you don’t have Eurosport as part of your TV package you’ll need a Discovery+ subscription to watch, which costs £6.99 a month or £59.99 a year. Alternatively, you can subscribe to and watch Discovery+ through Amazon Prime Video. 

How To Watch The Boston Marathon In Australia

The Boston Marathon will be broadcast live through FloSports in Australia, which costs AUS$29.99 a month or AUS$150 a year. The FloSport app is available on Chromecast, Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV and mobile devices.

How To Watch The Boston Marathon From Outside Your Country Of Residence

If you’re traveling and want to watch the Boston Marathon through your usual national broadcaster then you can use a virtual private network (VPN). The team at Coach stablemate TechRadar have tested VPNs extensively and recommend NordVPN, which is easy to set up and reliable. NordVPN also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it before committing to a longer plan.

Boston Marathon Details

Whether you’re in town to spectate the Boston Marathon in person or you’re planning to tune into the broadcast and track runners from home, there are several ways you can follow the progress of runners.

If you’re going to watch the race in person to cheer on friends or family members, download the B.A.A. Racing app from the Boston Athletic Association (BAA), which is already live in the App store and Google Play.

The app relays when runners pass any of the 16 checkpoints along the course.

“Folks can track as many runners as they’d like,” says Chris Lotsbom, BAA director of race communications and media. “This is perfect for spectators to gauge what time their athlete is set to finish.”

The app will also feature leaderboards, maps, selfie frames, race information for runners and spectators, participant and spectator guides, weather forecast updates from the BAA’s partners at the local WCVB television station, and more. 

New to the app this year is tracking and results for Saturday’s Boston 5K presented by Point32Health, as well as for the B.A.A. Invitational Miles, taking place that same day.

“We annually see that [the app] is incredibly popular among spectators and athletes, often rising to the top of sports app charts in the month of April,” says Lotsbom. “Usually the most tracked athletes are either from the pro field, or celebrities who may be running.” 

You can also track participants on the race website, BAA.org, which will feature searchable results, leaderboards, splits and tracking.

“The site will switch over to a tracking race day specific page the morning of the race,” he says. “In case it’s helpful for anyone trying to plan out their spectating in person, we also have town-by-town tips on our website, too.”

And for those interested in following the professional and elite races, the Boston Marathon will air locally from 4am to 8pm ET on WCVB-TV, the BAA’s official local television partner. Nationally, the race will air on ESPN2 from 8.30am  to 12.30pm ET. The Boston Marathon start time for the professional men is 9.37am and 9.47am for the professional women.

“There will be lots of coverage on WCVB and ESPN in the lead-up to race day,” says Lotsbom. If you’re not in the US when the race starts, find out how to watch the Boston Marathon where you are.

“We encourage spectators to follow @BostonMarathon across all our platforms (Instagram, X, Facebook, Tik Tok), as well as @Boston26_2_Pro on X, and our B.A.A. accounts: @BAA and @RunTeamBAA on X; @TeamBAA and @RunTeamBAA on Instagram; and Boston Athletic Association on Facebook.”

It’s Boston Marathon weekend! If it’s your first time running the race, you may be feeling somewhere between a bit nervous and overwhelmed, even if you’re there for a victory lap rather than trying to throw down a new personal best. Being well prepared is an effective way to keep you on the “bit nervous” end of the spectrum, so here are a few things I would have found useful to know before I toed the line in Hopkinton for the first time in 2023.

1. Take The T Everywhere, Even If Staying Downtown

I used to live in New York City, where I would walk whenever I could rather than take the subway—especially since subway stations were usually so close to each other. In Boston, however, trips like walking the distance of one subway station to another if going from, say, a Boston Common area hotel to the expo and back, add up. Stay off your feet as much as possible, especially since it’s a long weekend with the race being on Monday.

2. Don’t Go To Too Many Events Before The Race

Easier said than done with the overabundance of brand and media events. Being out all day every day from Friday morning can be physically and emotionally draining, so I recommend picking one event each day, and try to time one with a visit to the expo to pick up your bib. 

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the group shakeout runs can be quite large and crowded. I found a good balance was to go to one group run on Saturday and then do my Sunday morning shakeout alone. It really was nice to be at peace and alone with my thoughts around a quiet Boston Common for my final miles before the big day. 

3. Prepare Yourself Mentally For The Race’s Late Start

My first Boston wasn’t my first rodeo. I’d run another World Marathon Major—the New York City Marathon—three times by that point. This meant I knew to expect a later race start than I was used to with my beloved Houston Marathon, which starts at 7am (the perfect race start time, in my opinion) and with the fact that I start most of my long runs by 6am, especially when the weather is on the warmer side. 

Even though my qualifying time of 3hr 30min 14sec was nearly five minutes faster than my age-graded standard, I was still seeded in the third wave of runners, which meant I was set to start at 10.50am. Even starting a run at 8am feels late to me, so starting at almost lunchtime was a shock to the system, to say the least. I did know to pack snacks for a second breakfast in between leaving my hotel for the bus to the start village and waiting in the start village, but I am glad I also made plans to ride the bus with a friend from home. If I had made the trek alone, I probably would have sat there quietly, overthinking my race. Chatting with my friend really helped take the edge off and made the hours in between fly by.

4. Know The Walk To The Start Is About A Mile Long

That’s right — when you get off the bus at the start village in Hopkinton, you still have a bit of a journey to the starting line, something I hadn’t heard or read about before my first race. While there’s nothing you can do to avoid the additional time on your feet and it’s certainly not going to affect your ability to have a good race, I think it’s an important detail to be aware of because it will help you avoid lollygagging too long in the start village. You can also plan for things like getting in one last bathroom stop before leaving, because the chances are you’ll be worried about making your start time and the long lines for the last bathrooms on the way to the start will feel  too risky.

5. Training For Downhills Is Just As Important As Training For Uphills

Did you know the Boston Marathon is net downhill? Most people brush off that fact and fixate on the notoriously difficult Newton hills, a series of climbs from miles 16 to 21. Uphills have historically been one of my biggest weaknesses, so that was what I spent the most time preparing for. 

Even though I didn’t get carried away on the faster, downhill first half of the course and stuck pretty closely to my plan, my quads still suffered from dealing with more downhills than they were used to. It made those Newton Hills hurt even more, even though I didn’t slow down that badly on them. This is probably the biggest thing I’m filing away for training strategy if and when I run Boston again.

6. Don’t Judge Your Progress By Landmarks

Even if you haven’t spent much time closely analyzing the course map, when you think about the Boston Marathon course, you likely know about famous spots like the Wellesley Scream Tunnel, the Citgo sign, and the famous “right on Hereford, left on Boylston.” 

For one thing, you will hear the scream tunnel long before you come across it, and there is a significant downhill that precedes it, before you hit the halfway point. Don’t let yourself get carried away there. 

As for the Citgo sign, you will see it long before you pass it after mile 25, so don’t further torture yourself if you’re having a tough race. 

Lastly, know that the final stretch down Boylston is nearly half a mile long, so don’t expect to sprint immediately there, even though you can see the finish line.

If you’ve ever run any of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, you likely know that they tend to start much later than most other well-known marathons. It’s a boon for spectators and runners in that neither have to wake up as early, but it can also throw up difficulties for runners who can face quite a bit of downtime before their individual start time. 

To help, I’ve included information about when to wake up, when to head to the start village and how to adjust your fueling plans to accommodate the later Boston Marathon start time, based on my experience of running the Boston Marathon last year.

How To Fuel And Hydrate For A Late Race Start

Since I was in Wave 3 for my first Boston Marathon last year, I didn’t start the race until 10.50am, which is practically lunchtime for someone who is accustomed to running earlier in the day. Being from Houston, Texas, I am used to starting most long runs by 6am and most long-distance races by 7am.

I actually got a taste of similar logistics to the Boston Marathon the summer before I raced it, when I traveled to Ventura, California to run the Mountains2Beach Half Marathon. I didn’t give much thought to the two hours in between when I left my hotel to board a bus to the start and when the race actually started, eating my typical oatmeal breakfast before I left and not packing anything else other than my mid-race energy gels. The race start also ended up being delayed by half an hour, and I was feeling hungry again by the time the gun went off. This was not ideal, and I paid the price for improper pre-race fueling, bonking hard by the halfway point of the race.

Luckily, even though that was “only” a half marathon, it was a reality check for what to expect in Boston, and I knew to pack snacks like graham crackers, stroopwafels and granola bars for the bus ride and start village wait. If you’re on Instagram, I recommend following registered sports dietitians like Starla Garcia and Meghann Featherstun, who will post race-morning fueling and hydration suggestions based on your Boston start time, also noting when you should plan to stop eating and hydrating before your start time.

For help picking, consult this guide to the best running gels.

Any of the best running watches can help you pace a marathon, as long as the GPS accuracy is on point. By using the lap pace in particular you can judge your pace for each mile or kilometer split and ensure it’s in line with your overall goals, and stop yourself from going out too fast at the start.

However, Garmin’s PacePro tool goes beyond this by offering a pacing guide that’s tailored to your target time, the way you want to run the race and the course you’re going to run. That last part in particular makes it perfect for the Boston Marathon.

That’s because the Boston Marathon route is not the pancake flat course you get at other major marathons like London, Berlin and Chicago. Boston has hills, with the most famous being Heartbreak Hill in mile 20, and you need to judge your effort on the uphill and downhill sections of the course carefully to hit your target time.

With Garmin’s PacePro tool you set the course you’re going to run and an overall target time, then you choose one of three race strategies and how hard you want to run any uphills. The race strategies are even pacing, a negative split (where you run the second half of the marathon faster than the first), or a positive split. 

If picking a negative or positive split, you also choose how much of a difference you want between the two halves of the race. You could start slowly and set yourself up to sprint home, for example, or just aim for a minute or two difference across the two halves. You also select how hard you want to run uphills, but if you ease off you’ll have to make the time up on flats and downhills.

This is the magic of PacePro, in that it will give you target times for each mile or kilometer split of the race based on your preferences, target time and the elevation of the course during that exact split. For example, if you set up a target time 2hrs 50min for Boston, plus a negative split where you take it easy on uphills, you’ll be given your fastest split targets for the downhills that come after the famous Newton Hills, with a slower target for the mile that includes Heartbreak Hill, or any other incline.

This allows you to ease off in the early stages of the race, and on any uphills, knowing that the race plan will have you hitting your overall target time by attacking the easier downhill miles on the course. The Boston Marathon has a lot of downhills, so you can judge how much time to make up in those sections well to allow you to be slower on the uphills.

During the race the PacePro screen will show your target time for the exact mile or kilometer split you’re running, plus your current split pace, how much distance is left in the split and the total time you are ahead, or behind, your overall goal.

You will need to use a Boston Marathon route within the Garmin Connect app to get a PacePro strategy, but these are easy to find in the app or on the website by searching for Hopkinton, the town where the race starts. There are several Boston Marathon routes to pick between and you can use them to create your PacePro strategy and then send it to your watch. 

The routes are all slightly longer than the exact marathon distance, because they are probably created from the routes people actually ran—it’s hard to run the perfect racing line at a big marathon because of the crowds.

Most of Garmin’s current range is compatible with PacePro, even if the watch doesn’t have maps or breadcrumb navigation as a feature. The Garmin Forerunner 55 is the cheapest watch to have the feature, and you can be assured that any more expensive watch launched in the past couple of years will also have it. You can check if your watch is compatible on the Garmin website by typing it in and selecting your watch.

Garmin’s PacePro tool is useful for lots of races, but is best for hilly courses and also those that don’t spend much time in the center of big cities with tall buildings, because the GPS accuracy that dictates the pacing info on the watch is affected when you’re in the heart of London or New York, for example. It’s perfect for the Boston Marathon as a result, and may well be just the thing for getting you up and over Heartbreak Hill still on course for your PR.

How To Set Up PacePro For The Boston Marathon 

1. Go to Training & Planning>Courses
2. Search for Hopkinton and select a Boston Marathon course from the list
3. Click ‘create a PacePro strategy’
4. Pick your target time or pace
5. Choose between mile and kilometer splits
6. Choose your race strategy and uphill effort
7. Check the individual splits to see if they make sense for you, then hit save
8. Send the route to your device

You can find the PacePro strategy in the training and workouts section of the running app on your watch. Make sure you select it before you start the race. You can also create a PacePro strategy on the watch for any route you have saved on there, but it’s easier to do it in the Garmin Connect app or on the website.

Taking place in springtime in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, the Paris Marathon is one of the world’s best marathons with a route that takes runners past many recognizable sights including the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Palais Garnier, the Château de Vincennes and the Eiffel Tower. The race starts and finishes close to the Arc de Triomphe and sets off on the magnificent Avenue des Champs Elysées. It also takes runners through the two huge parks at the east and west extremities of the city, and along the north bank of the river Seine. 

One of the best things about the Paris Marathon is that there is no ballot and there are lots of places. Around 54,000 runners started the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon in 2024 and similar numbers are expected in 2025. But it’s worth securing your place sooner rather than later as the race tends to sell out well before the closing date and you’ll pay less if you register early. 

It’s a great first marathon (it was my first, in 2010)—usually around a third of the runners are first-timers—and one worth traveling to—around a third are international entrants. As well as the incredible atmosphere and stunning architecture rolling past, my Paris Marathon highlights included firefighters spraying hoses over the sweaty runners, the adrenaline rush of thundering through tunnels, the cool tranquil stretches in the Bois de Vincennes and the enthusiastic crowds shouting “Allez Camilla!” just when I needed it most. I still regret not going for the wine and cheese on offer around the 35km marker, though.

Doing some kind of strength training is one of the best ways for runners to improve their performance and injury resilience, and Pilates is a fantastic low-impact way to cross-train and support your running.

For more information on how to best incorporate Pilates for runners into your training routine, we spoke to Liz Patient, certified Pilates instructor and founder of the Pilates for Runners app.

What’s a good way for runners to start Pilates?

“The low-impact nature of Pilates means it can be done anytime without impacting your running training,” says Patient. “You can get started with short but regular and consistent sessions tagged onto your runs or existing strength sessions. Start with just 10 minutes 3-4 times a week to see results, and from there you can scale and adapt your sessions around your running.”

Beginner Pilates Workout For Runners

1 Swimming 

Sets 1 Reps 12-15 each side

On all fours, extend your opposite arm and leg away from the body as far as you can. Lift them, pause, and then return to the start position. Repeat on the other side, alternating sides with each rep. Imagine you have a tray of very full drinks balanced on your back, so when you move you keep your torso as still as possible and don’t let your belly drop as you lift the arm and leg.

Progression: Once you’ve extended and lifted your arm and leg, move them out to the side away from the body, still trying to keep your torso as still as possible.

2 Round the world

Set 2-3 Time 1-2min each side

Stand and lift your arms out to the sides to shoulder height to help you balance. Lift one leg and bend the knee of the standing leg to lower into a single-leg squat, tapping the floor with your other foot as far in front of you as you can. Straighten your standing leg, then repeat the movement tapping the foot to the side. On the next squat tap your foot behind you, then finally move your leg across and behind you on the other side of the body. Keep your torso as stable as you can over your standing leg as you do this exercise.

Progression: Interlace your fingers in front of your chest so you don’t use your arms to help you balance.

3 Leg pull

Sets 3 Time 30-45sec

On all fours, tuck your toes then lift your knees just off the floor, keeping them as low as you can. Lift one foot at a time off the floor keeping your knees and torso as still as possible. Lower your foot back to the floor and repeat on the other side. Imagine that full tray of drinks balanced on your back again.

Progression: Lift the opposite hand at the same time as you lift the foot and tap the opposite shoulder.

4 Single-leg hip hinge

Sets 2-3 Time 1-2min on each leg

Stand and lift your arms out to the sides to shoulder height. Hinge forward the hips, tipping your chest forward so it faces the floor and raising one leg behind you as high as you can. Pause, then return to the start. Try to move as smoothly as possible.

Progression: Bring your arms over your head at the start to increase the challenge to your balance. 

5 Side kick

Sets 1 Time 1-2min on each side

Lie on your side with your knees bent and your body resting on your lower arm. Lift your hips so your body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders, and extend your top leg. Lift the top leg to hip height to start. Lift it as high as you can while maintaining the position of your hips then lower under control. Try to keep the knee and foot of the moving leg facing forward, or slightly turned down, rather than turning towards the ceiling. This is to target the lateral hip muscles.

Progression: Try doing this same leg movement from a kneeling position with a straight, rather than bent, arm.

Training for a running event of any length is challenging and it’s not true that the longer the event the harder it is. That was one of the first things I noticed about training for my first ultra-marathon last year: I found it less intense than marathon training. A lot of that is down to expectations, though. I’m usually aiming to run a PR when marathon training and do a couple of hard workouts each week, whereas with my first ultra-marathon I was just aiming to finish and enjoy the process as much as possible.

The event I completed was a local one, in Epping Forest, London, where I ran 10 five-mile laps in just over eight hours. Things got pretty dark towards the end of the event, literally and figuratively, though overall I enjoyed the experience. If you’re tackling your first ultra-marathon this year, here are a few things I picked up that are worth knowing.

1. You Have To Walk And Take Breaks While Feeling Good

The biggest lesson I learned and the hardest for me to take in. I’m used to running races all-out, so the idea of taking a walking break from the relatively slow paces you run at during an ultra-marathon seemed odd.

However, during my main training run—a 50K around the Gower in Wales—and the 50-mile ultra-marathon I should have taken more walk breaks on the uphills in the first half, and longer breaks to refuel, even though I was feeling fresh. I hit the wall hard in the ultra-marathon, having to walk a lot of the last 20 miles, and a more conservative first 30 miles would have helped avoid or reduce the impact of that.

2. When You Hit The Wall In An Ultra-Marathon There Can Be A Long Way To Go

I’m no stranger to hitting the wall in a marathon, but when that happens I usually only have a few miles to go to the finish, and a mix of running and walking will get me home without spending too much more time on my feet. In the ultra-marathon I had to start a mix of walking or jogging with 15 miles to go, which took three hours. Hopefully, better pacing can help you avoid this, but it’s worth mentally preparing yourself for a long slog in the second half of the event, even if you are still running OK.

3. Keep On Fuelling. No Matter How Hard It Is

Fuelling consistently is vital to success in ultra-marathons, but it’s hard to keep eating and drinking when you’re feeling rough after a few hours of running and your stomach is churning. I pretty much gave up on eating after 35 miles of my ultra, which was not smart when I had three more hours of activity to fuel. I learned that I couldn’t be trusted to make smart decisions after that much running, so having a more regimented nutrition plan in place before I started would probably have helped me force down food at appropriate intervals.

4. I Enjoyed Eating A Variety Of Food On The Run

When I run marathons, or shorter events, my fueling is entirely made up of sports drinks and gels that I can consume while running fast, but with ultra-marathons you have time to stop and chew, and usually have aid stations where you can stash bigger items. I enjoyed eating crisps and fresh fruit, and drinking flat cola, and also used energy chews and bars—saving me from gels, which are not the most appetizing thing to have for several hours in a row.

5. Time On Feet Was My Main Training Target

When marathon training I’ll do a lot of speed sessions and work to hit certain paces, but with ultra-marathon training I was just trying to get used to spending a lot of time on my feet. I did a 50K in five hours training, and slowed down a lot on my Sunday long runs to run at the pace I would start at on race day. 

6. Uphills Take Much Longer Than You Think

I didn’t do a particularly hilly ultra-marathon—there was about 3,300ft of climbing over the 50 miles—but even then the hills became the biggest factor in the second half of the race. This was also true on my long run in Wales, which was hillier and had big climbs in the final few miles.

It’s hard to believe how long climbs take when you’re struggling, and it’s dispiriting to think that even if you only have a few miles to go if they’re hard uphills you can still be out there for hours. Check your ultra-marathon course for hills and practice accordingly, and if there are a lot of downhills practice those too because your quads will have to deal with that.

7. Practice With All Your Gear Multiple Times

This is something you should do with any long race, but in an ultra-marathon any minor problem with your shoes or kit will be amplified because you’ll have to endure any rubbing, or annoying flapping, or whatever the issue is, for several hours. My problem was a water bottle with a leaky valve that kept getting sticky sports drink on my hands and chest. A minor problem, for sure, but something I didn’t enjoy dealing with for eight hours. You might not do an ultra-marathon in training, but ensure you get out in all your kit for a couple of hours a few times, just to minimize issues on race day.

The Paris Marathon is big. With ​​52,078 starters in 2023 it was bigger than the London Marathon and Chicago Marathon. If you’re turning up to cheer on a friend or loved one from the sidelines, it helps to know when they’re approaching the area where you’re standing, or if you’ve missed them and need to hightail it to the next viewing spot.

To do that, your best bet is to use live tracking feature of the Paris Marathon app, which is available to download on iOS and Android. It’s also useful for people cheering on from afar, who want to see how their runner is progressing. 

Here’s everything you need to know to successfully track a runner at the Paris Marathon.

Whether or not you’ve tried yoga, you’ve probably come across a move known as downward-facing dog. It’s often used in the warm-up before fitness classes and it’s one of the best movements for stretching and strengthening your hamstrings, hips and shoulders.

To do a downward dog, begin on your hands and knees, then move your hips up and back, and extend your legs to form an inverted V with your body. 

It seems simple, but it’s a pose that requires flexibility and mobility. Some people will find it uncomfortable to begin with while others will be unable to bring their heels to the floor. 

I asked Helen O’Leary, physiotherapist and clinical director at Complete Pilates, what you can do to improve your range of motion and make the movement more comfortable.

“It is important to realize that it may not be possible for everyone to touch their heels to the floor simply due to their own genetic makeup and what range they have within their skeleton,” says O’Leary.

Even if you’re one of those people, moving your feet closer to the floor in the downward dog pose is a good goal to set yourself, in order to get the most out of the exercise.

“Generally to improve your downward dog, you need to do mobility work around your calves, the backs of your legs and the lower back,” says O'Leary.

O'Leary recommends dynamic exercises instead of static stretching to strengthen and lengthen the muscles in the back of your body. Here are three to get you started.

1 Romanian deadlift

Reps 8-12

Hold a barbell or two heavy dumbbells in front of your thighs and stand with your feet hip-width apart. Keeping a slight bend in your knees, a straight back and the weight close to your body throughout, push your hips back to lower the weight until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, then push through your feet to return to the start. Aim to lower slowly and return to the start powerfully. 

2 Thread the needle

Reps 4-5 each side

Start on your hands and knees. Thread your right arm between your left arm and leg, rotating your torso to reach as far to the left as you can. Bend your left elbow so that your right shoulder reaches as close to the floor as possible. Return to the start then repeat on the other side, alternating sides with each rep.

3 Lateral lunge

Reps 8-12

Stand with your legs wider than shoulder-width apart. Bend your right knee and sit your hips back as you lower to the right, while keeping your left leg extended. Push through your right foot to return to the start and repeat on the other side, alternating sides with each rep. 

Anyone preparing to run a full marathon will probably have some idea that they will need to fuel specifically for the race, usually by using the best running gels and sports drinks, simply because they will be running for so long. 

Even though the race is half that length, getting your fueling right for a half marathon is also vital to your chances of success on the day, whether that success involves running a PR or completing the course with a smile on your face rather than hitting the wall because you’ve run out of energy.

For all the advice you need on how to fuel a half marathon we spoke to Andy Blow, sports scientist and founder of Precision Fuel & Hydration.

Whatever kind of runner you are, and whatever you’re training for, it’s always great to make parkrun part of your weekly routine if you can. It’s a great start to the weekend and will top up your motivation for running because of the always-excellent atmosphere.

However, fitting parkrun in isn’t always the easiest thing to do for me when marathon training, and not only because of the million activities my kids have lined up every weekend. It’s also because parkrun is 5K, and once I’m deep into marathon training my speed sessions tend to be longer, and they usually take place on a Saturday.

Fortunately my coach Andy Hobdell also loves parkrun and has found a way to include it in long speed sessions—he just makes me run hard before and after it. The parkrun sandwich during marathon training basically involves running two long stints at marathon pace, one before and one after the parkrun itself, which you still run as hard as you can.

Earlier on in my current training block for the London Marathon I did my longest parkrun sandwich session yet, doing 10K at marathon pace before parkrun, followed by 8km afterward, but you can do much shorter versions of the session—I’m doing 5K before and 5K after this weekend, for example.

It’s a great session for testing out how comfortable marathon pace feels, especially after the parkrun when you’ve put a fast 5K into your legs. The recovery time is usually meant to be three to four minutes between each section of the workout, but this is almost impossible to judge correctly for the start of the parkrun because they don’t usually begin at exactly 9am. Then afterward it can take a little longer to get your barcode scanned and say hello to a couple of people before heading off to run again.

The logistics of this session can also be tricky, depending on the parkrun—if you run a very hilly course, it might actually be tough to run at marathon pace on it before and after, so you might need to find a different route locally for those sections, or adjust your pace targets. It’s also sometimes nice to get off the parkrun route for the workout section after the run if possible, so you’re not in the way of runners still finishing their parkrun.

If you don’t have a parkrun near you or just hate early mornings, then it’s easy to do this session without a parkrun. Just do the middle 5K hard, or find another race if you want the extra motivation of other people to run with, which certainly always helps when you’re pushing the pace.

If you run regularly, you’ll be familiar with the aches that are part and parcel of this high-impact sport. One of the areas that tend to get stiff is the hips—no great surprise given the important role the muscles around the hips have in running.

Most people turn to hip stretches to reduce stiffness, but this deals with the symptoms, rather than the cause.

“Stretching your muscles may provide temporary relief, but it won't build up the hip's capacity to tolerate more load, whereas strengthening will,” says physiotherapist and certified running coach Richelle Weeks. 

“When running, your glute medius and minimus—the glute muscles on the outside of your hip—can take two to three times your body weight in peak force with every step,” says Weeks.

“Sometimes, if your glutes are not strong enough to handle this impact, they can start to feel quite tight, especially towards the end of a long run or after a hard workout.”

Recently, Weeks also posted an exercise to her Instagram, which targets the hip rotators, strengthening them so that they’re protected from this impact. 

Take a look at Weeks' Instagram Reel where she demonstrates the move.

“For this exercise place a mini band around your feet and a ball or yoga block between your legs,” says Weeks. “Keep your hips and knees at 90° as you rotate your feet out as far as possible.”

Try to hold the end position for 3-5 seconds and then three sets of six reps.

For more on how to build a body that can better handle the rigors of running, read this expert guide to strength training for runners.

If you want to use your training time as effectively as possible, add these beginner treadmill workouts to your gym routine. They’re both designed by Fran Bungay, head coach for the Training Today App and Goal Specific Coaching, and use the incline and speed settings on a treadmill to program interval runs that will get you fitter and help you lose weight.

While you can just step onto a treadmill and run at a steady pace for your workout, you’ll get more out of short sessions in particular by doing intervals which raise your heart rate and effort level, and burn more calories.

How To Do These Beginner Treadmill Workouts

Bungay has put together two beginner treadmill sessions to try, one with intervals based on speed and one on incline. You’ll be using the 1-10 RPE scale (rate of perceived exertion) to judge your effort, where 10 is maximum effort. This might feel hard to judge at first, but whatever you do will result in a great workout and you’ll get more adept at judging your effort levels over time.

Each workout begins with a warm-up and ends with a warm-down. Don’t skip either of these.

The main workout involves sections of work and recovery intervals. The instructions for each section are written as “5 x 1min at 8/10 RPE, 1min walk recovery”. This means you do five sets of the following: run for one minute at an effort level of 8/10, then recover for one minute while walking.

Beginner Interval Treadmill Workout

Do the entire workout with the treadmill set at a 2% incline.

Warm-up

5min walk 

5min building up to jogging to finish at around 6/10 RPE 

Workout

5 x 1min at 8/10 RPE, 1min walk recovery

3 x 2min at 7/10 RPE, 1min walk recovery

5 x 1min at 8/10 RPE, 1min walk recovery

Warm-down

2min at 6/10 RPE

2min at 5/10 RPE

1min walk 

Beginner Incline Treadmill Workout

Warm-up

Set the incline to 2% for the warm-up

5min walk 

5min building into a jog to 6/10 RPE

Workout

Aim for 7/10 or 8/10 RPE during the work periods, as you get fitter you might want to increase the pace on the lower incline section.

3 x 1min at 6% incline, 1min at 2% incline, 1min walk recovery

3 x 2 min at 4% incline, 2min at 2% incline, 1min walk recovery

Warm-down

2min at 6/10 RPE

2min at 5/10 RPE

1min walk

Find out which treadmills are worth buying with my guide to the best treadmills.

There are many ways you can go about improving as a runner, and one of the most important is strength training. I knew this, but was still surprised when physiotherapist Patrick Carroll told me how significant that improvement could be—studies have shown an increase in running economy of up to 8%!

Carroll is also owner of the app Running Buddy, which provides strength training programmes for runners, and he was full of great advice which will help any runner understand and get the most out of resistance work. 

To get you started, here are four big takeaways from the interview, which you’ll find in full below.

1. Heavy weights training or plyometrics are the best strength training to do, rather than long sets of bodyweight exercises.
2. In order of importance, you need to train your calf muscles, quads, hips, glutes and core, and it’s worth doing some upper-body work.
3. If you’re not pressed for time, two or three longer strength sessions a week is ideal, or you can add on some exercises before and after your run for shorter, more regular sessions.
4. It’s better to do strength training on a day you run as well, and leave your rest days completely free for recovery.

“If you’re not strength training, you’re leaving performance benefits on the table,” says Carroll. “There’s enough good quality research which shows potential improvements of up to 8% in running economy with the right type of strength training.

“The potential for injury reduction is probably agreed upon within the research community and expert coaches. But if you were to have a hard review of the literature, it’s not as clear cut as the improvements in running performance. It’s very difficult to study because there are so many confounding variables, but the theoretical underpinning is that strength training improves the quality of tendon, bone and muscle, and boosts their force capacities or their ability to tolerate stress. It does make sense that if you improve the tissue quality, you’re going to be able to handle increases in running training load or increases in intensity better, essentially.”

Along with those short term gains, strength training will also help you stay healthy in the long term, not just for running.

“If you look at the running population in general, typically they love running but don’t really want to do a whole lot else,” says Carroll. “There’s general health benefits associated with strength training that you just don’t get from running, like reducing the risk of sarcopenia—losing muscle mass as you age. Runners should also consider strength training as an addition to their training when looking at increasing bone health.”

“They basically try and replicate running movements or do things like lunges, with endurance-length sets and reps,” says Carroll. “You might have long sets with body weight, but you’re not really hitting the right types of strength qualities there.

“There was a systematic review published in 2023, which was able to clearly highlight effectiveness of programmes where runners are moving weight that’s quite difficult, so it’d be termed heavy strength training. You’re getting up above 80% of one rep max, training in a progressive manner over a six to 10 week period. That’s definitely effective. That’s been shown in the research repeatedly.

“The other type is plyometric training. Where there’s a faster muscle and tendon contraction, and it’s done with a lot lighter loads, even bodyweight. That again tends to have a good performance effect when progressed over time.

“It can depend on the experience level of the athlete as well. Maybe a bodyweight exercise is suitable for somebody who’s quite new to strength training. But if you’re experienced in it, then you need to start challenging yourself with external resistance.”

“We know that the Achilles tendon and the calf complex are your biggest contributors to propelling you forward. So you definitely need lower leg training, focusing on the calf complex. Then as you work up the body you get a big contribution from the knee extensors from the quad muscles, and then from the hip extensors from the glute muscles. So they have to be in your training programme.

“Essentially, you want your running position to look the same at the end of a race as you do at the start, and that requires good trunk muscle endurance. So including your core, or it’s probably better described as your trunk, in a training programme is worthwhile.

“Upper-body muscle groups also play a part in keeping that posture steady from the start to the end of a run. You also get a contribution from arm swing. So if your shoulders are fatiguing or if you’re getting soreness through the front of the elbows or in the biceps attachment in a particularly long race that’s not something that you want either. So there is a role for upper-body training too.”

“If you have a blank canvas and plenty of free time and you’re prioritizing strength training—maybe it’s earlier in your training season—doing two or three 30 to 45-minute sessions a week would be good. 

“If you’re in your peak volume weeks of your actual running load and you’ve already built some good strength qualities, if that drops to even once a week, you can do a good job maintaining strength and power levels. Ideally, that wouldn’t be for a very prolonged period, but it’s enough to keep what you’ve earned, basically, from earlier in the season.

“There’s also a pretty good consensus that you can have an effective strength and conditioning routine that fits around your running a little bit more. It could be one or two exercises before a run, then one or two exercises after your run. That’s it. You’re not looking at blocking out more time during the week. That probably leads to maybe four or five mini-strength sessions during the week, and the accumulative benefits of them can match the more traditional standalone strength sessions.”

How hard should your strength training be?

Runners know that if you want to get better at running, you need to work hard, and the same is true of strength training. You’re going to have to push yourself to gain the benefits. Carroll suggests using either your rate of perceived exertion or repetitions in reserve to judge your efforts, as opposed to using your one rep max, which is often referred to in strength training circles.

“If you’re looking to genuinely make changes to strength levels, there has to be enough stress to create an adaptation,” says Carroll. “In the strength and conditioning world, typically measuring intensity is done through the percentage of somebody’s one repetition maximum. In reality, that’s very difficult to do. It’s not realistic for the majority of runners. What can work very well instead is using a rate of perceived exertion scale. So if you pick a set of an exercise that you’re doing, you should be hitting a seven or eight out of 10 for effort in each set of the exercise. That’s a pretty good marker.

“Another useful marker of intensity is something called repetitions in reserve. So if you take a single-leg calf raise. If you’re getting to 12 repetitions and you stop, but you feel like you could have kept going for another 10 repetitions, you have 10 repetitions in reserve. The likelihood is you’re not gonna get a whole lot of adaptation from that. Typically leaving a couple of repetitions in reserve is a pretty good target. You get to the point where you feel like this is very hard, I could probably only do another couple, and then you stop your set.”

How can runners incorporate strength training into their schedule?

Your first thought when adding strength training into your plan might be to do it on your rest day, or if running every day, to do it on a day when you have an easy run planned. Carroll actually suggests protecting your rest and recovery should be the priority.

“I do think you’re better off to have some days that are very hard,” says Carroll. “So if you’re running every day, there’s probably going to be two or three of those days where there’s higher intensity runs or some sort of a session in there. If you can do your strength work on that day, ideally as your second training session that day, that’s your best bet. Then you know the following day should be an easier running day. 

“If you’re running on a Monday and a Thursday, doing your strength work on Tuesday is no problem. But if you’re running six days a week, I wouldn’t be doing the strength session on the seventh day. If you’ve a defined rest period because it’s part of your training plan and you need it, then I would try and protect that.”

Do hill reps, strides or trail runs count as strength training?

In the traditional club circles I’m a part of, runners who don’t do much if any dedicated strength training will talk about hill sessions, trail running and strides as their strength work. Carroll says there is some truth to this, but only if doing certain types of hill reps and strides.

“If they’re more hill sprints, where you’re working for 5 to 10 seconds and it’s pretty close to as fast as you can run, for me that does tick some of the strength boxes because the amount of force you need to produce to propel yourself up the hill at speed, you need to recruit higher order motor units and you go deeper into your type two muscle fiber reserves to do that,” says Carroll. “But if it’s a 60-second rep, where you’re just grinding it out, that’s not doing as much for me because it’s not different enough to what you’re doing on the flat.

“That probably goes as well for flat strides. If there are shorter bits of sprint work and it’s pretty close to top-end speed for shorter durations and there’s a decent bit of recovery, say a couple of minutes, then you definitely hit some of the more plyometric qualities. 

“Trail running is definitely seen as a way to strengthen the legs or or toughen up. Where there probably is some overload to muscles and tendons that you don’t get from your regular running is in the downhill bits. You get high eccentric forces, particularly through the quad, which can be helpful. That can be a useful stimulus, but it probably doesn’t equate to the same benefits you get from a more well-rounded strength plan.”

Anyone who has trained for a marathon will probably have already heard about the taper, an almost magical period where you get to stop training so hard and start resting up ahead of race day.

Outside of marathons, tapering is not spoken about as much, but it is still an important thing to do when half marathon training. You will still have spent several months training, and your half marathon taper will be critical to helping you perform on race day. For advice on how to taper for a half marathon, we spoke to James Thie, coach at Coopah, official training partner of the London Landmarks Half Marathon.

It should come as no surprise that elite athletes run a lot of miles when marathon training. Even so, actually hearing about what they do is still pretty mind-boggling, both in terms of the distance run and the amount of hard running they log each week.

Earlier this year I attended the launch of the Under Armour Infinite Elite running shoe, where the 2022 New York City Marathon winner Sharon Lokedi spoke about her training. Lokedi is currently preparing for the Boston Marathon, and based on the below it’s fair to say that she is putting the work in to succeed at Boston.

Lokedi said she typically runs 200-220km (124-137 miles) a week, doing doubles (two runs a day) on most days. If that amount wasn’t impressive enough by itself, Lokedi is doing most of her running at altitude in Kaptagat, Kenya or Flagstaff, Arizona, and logging several hard workouts each week as part of her training.

Here’s what a typical training week looks like for Lokedi. There are some runs where Lokedi just described them as a double, so presumably they’re a relatively short and easy run in the afternoon, after a harder or longer morning run.

Monday: Hill training—either reps or a hilly route (20-24km). Double in the afternoon (10-14km)

Tuesday: Track session (12-15km). Double in the afternoon.

Wednesday: Recovery run (20-24km). Double in the afternoon.

Thursday: Long run (alternating 35-40km one week, 30km the week after). 

Friday: Recovery run (20-24km). Double in the afternoon.

Saturday: Tempo or Fartlek sessions (20km). Double in the afternoon.

Sunday: Rest day or 25-30km.

It’s obviously very important to remember when looking at a packed schedule like this that Lokedi is an elite athlete with plenty of time to rest around her running, and a full team on hand to help her with her recovery and nutrition, plus other runners to do her sessions with. This is not something amateurs enjoy, and no-one is suggesting you go and try and copy Lokedi’s training for Boston (although you should pay heed to her coach’s Boston Marathon training tip). 

Lokedi says her nutrition strategy involves protein and carbs in every meal, and lots of snacks. There aren’t any real restrictions to her diet—if the body feels it needs it then just eat it. Or as her coach Stephen Haas put it: “there are no cheat meals when you’re running that much.”

Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr paced her way through CrossFit Open workout 24.3 to progress to the next stage of the CrossFit Games season.

The six-time champ pulled out of the 24.3 live announcement showdown with America’s fittest woman Arielle Loewen on Thursday, March 14, because of a wrist injury. But she was able to post a score before the submission deadline the following Monday to qualify for the quarterfinals next month. 

She completed the workout alongside popular CrossFit YouTuber Craig Richey, who posted a video of the pair throwing down on his channel. 

“Recently she [Toomey-Orr] has been dealing with a wrist injury and didn’t want to make it any worse,” says Richey. 

“So she made the executive decision with Shane [Orr, her husband and coach] for this workout to only get two rounds of the bar muscle-ups, make sure she’s safely in the top 25% and call it a day.”

Toomey-Orr raced through the first five rounds in approximately three minutes, then looked casual as she completed two rounds of seven thrusters and seven bar muscle-ups. 

While the CrossFit Open leaderboard is yet to be confirmed, Toomey-Orr’s 24.3 score of 128 reps currently puts her in 11,188th for the workout. 

This follows coming in 61st place for the 24.1 workout test one and 10th place for workout 24.2, resulting in a 2,607th placed finish in the CrossFit Open overall.

The top 25% of individual athletes in each region will be invited to compete in the quarterfinals, up from the top 10% in recent years. Toomey-Orr’s result puts her in the 98th percentile (or top 2%) of athletes worldwide, easily securing her spot. 

The quarterfinals are the second stage of the CrossFit Games season. Like the Open, it’s an online competition, but this time it’s to decide which athletes will compete in the semifinals, the first in-person stage of the season. The top 40 male and the top 40 female performers will proceed to the finals. 

While the workouts are yet to be revealed, quarterfinal registration begins on April 1, so if you finished in the top 25% in the Open you shouldn’t have long to wait for an invite to drop into your inbox. 

The quarterfinals take place between April 17 and April 22, with athletes facing five workouts in prior years. 

When you first start trail running you don’t need to think about running with poles, unless you take the unlikely first step of heading straight for very long runs in the mountains (which we’d advise against).

Once you are comfortable with trail running and lining up some longer adventures, a good set of running poles is up there with a pair of the best trail-running shoes as one of the most important bits of kit you’ll need.

Running with poles is a skill you’ll need to learn, though, because mastering the technique takes practice. For advice on how to run with poles and what to look for when buying a set, we spoke to Simon James, running coach and founder of trail-running adventure company Run The Wild.

The New York City Half Marathon has been one of the New York Road Runners’ most popular races over the last decade. While the course has changed over the years, fans’ enthusiasm for it hasn’t wavered.

I ran the New York City Half Marathon twice when it took place entirely in the borough of Manhattan, running from Central Park to Battery Park in the Financial District. Some people might consider that to be more of a pure New York experience, but when I returned in 2023, eight years since the last time I ran it, I found the new Brooklyn-to-Manhattan course much more enjoyable. It has a New York City Marathon lite feel, with crowds out in full force even though it was 25℉ outside on that mid-March morning. 

Especially running this year on the new course, I’ve encouraged many friends who haven’t had luck with the marathon lottery to enter this one for a similar experience on an equally challenging course. And on that note, running the New York City Half Marathon last year turned out to be a well-timed tune-up run a month before my first Boston Marathon, which is also known to have a tough course.

If you’re running the New York City Half Marathon this year, here’s what to expect.

New York City Half Marathon Route Map

This map of the New York City Half Marathon route has been generated using Emilia Benton’s run in 2023, which was tracked using a Garmin Forerunner 245 Music. A combination of challenging conditions for GPS running watches and runners not being able to follow a perfect racing line accounts for the extra distance.

New York City Half Marathon Route Miles 1-2.5

While the race staging area (with bag check, portable restrooms, etc.) is inside Prospect Park, the race actually starts right outside the park, on Washington Avenue near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Runners enter Prospect Park within the first mile, though, and stay inside it for the next two-or-so miles.

New York City Half Marathon Route Miles 2.5-5

By looking at the course map alone, this long, flat straightaway through and out of Brooklyn lacks interest, but it’s what makes this race because it’s where you’ll find those World Marathon Major-esque crowds. Once you exit Prospect Park, you’ll head northwest toward Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza on Flatbush Avenue for nearly three miles. Before long, you’ll be able to see the Manhattan Bridge looming in the distance, well before you ascend it.

New York City Half Marathon Route Miles 5-6

Congrats, you’ve made it to the bridge. Many runners are probably mentally prepared for this to be one of the toughest parts of the race, but it’s actually just one of the longest, as there are hills throughout. Once you descend the bridge and enter Manhattan, you’ll finally start to see some famous landmarks in the city.

New York City Half Marathon Route Miles 7-10

Once you’re off the bridge, you’ll turn right onto Canal Street, another right a couple of blocks down at Allen Street, heading south, then left onto South Street, before taking another right onto the FDR Drive entrance ramp by Pier 36. From there, you’ll head north on the FDR Drive as you approach the East 42nd Street exit ramp. You’ll stay to the right side of the road and continue up the ramp before finally exiting the FDR Drive onto East 42nd Street at mile 10, with the United Nations to your right.

New York City Half Marathon Route Mile 11

Now that you’re finally on East 42nd Street, you’ll make your way through some of the landmarks the city and race is known for. You’ll run west on 42nd Street past Grand Central Terminal and Bryant Park before reaching Seventh Avenue, where you’ll turn right and continue north through Times Square. Many locals and seasoned visitors alike tend to avoid Times Square due to how crowded it can get, but it really is a cool sight on race day, when runners take over the roads.

New York City Half Marathon Route Mile 12

As you pass Times Square, you’ll make your way through Midtown Manhattan for about another mile of flat streets as you make your way toward Central Park.

New York City Half Marathon Route Mile 13 to the finish

If you ran the old half-marathon course, you might be sad to learn that the current course only has you run the final mile in Central Park rather than nearly half of the race, but this means you are saved the hilly parts of the park. 

As you approach Manhattan’s Grand Army Plaza, you’ll turn left into the park, running north on East Drive. You’ll turn left when you reach the 72nd Street Transverse, before making another final left turn onto West Drive and arriving at the finish line just above West 67th Street, near the Tavern on the Green restaurant. Congratulations, you’ve just finished a partial tour of New York City.

The most important bit of any marathon training block is consistency. No single workout is going to make the difference to whether you achieve your goal time on race day—it’s the cumulative effect of months of regular running that makes the difference. 

That said, once you’ve run a few marathons, certain workouts stick in the mind as having proved great markers of your fitness as you approach the event, and for being enjoyable sessions overall.

I’m currently training for the London Marathon, which will be my 13th marathon and the 11th I’ve done with the same coach. While my coach always finds something fresh to tackle every training cycle, one workout that has been a regular feature of my build-up to races is a series of 3km reps at my target race pace broken up by a 1km float recovery.

I’ve done versions of this workout with five, six or seven 3km reps, so how many you do will depend on the overall amount you’re running and your experience. I usually do it two to three weeks before race day. 

The 3km reps are done at your goal race pace or slightly slower, and the floats are at a pace about 30 seconds per kilometer slower (48 seconds per mile slower, if using miles for your race pace). The floats shouldn’t feel tough, but they also shouldn’t be completely easy either. My top tip is to make sure you don’t run the floats early on in the workout too fast, that’s a recipe for disaster.

Depending on how many 3km reps you do, plus the distance of your warm up and cool down, the workout usually ends being 25-30km long, with a long stint running at your goal race pace. If you can knock out several 3km blocks at race pace with only float recoveries towards the end of a marathon training plan, it’s a great sign that you’ll be able to hold that pace on race day once you have tapered.

Finishing this workout feeling smooth and controlled is a massive confidence boost and in my experience it’s usually followed by a successful race. Conversely, if you do the workout and have to work hard to hold the pace during the 3km efforts, it could be a sign the pace is not quite there yet. Don’t despair if that is the case though, it could also be a sign that you didn’t sleep well that night, are a bit ill, or are just having a bad day.

It’s also a good workout for practicing your fueling strategy for the race, because you can road test carrying and using your gels and drinks while actually running at race pace for long periods. I usually fuel during the workout as if it’s the marathon itself, carrying everything I need for the full distance with me, even if I don’t plan to use it all.

This is a tough workout and one last thing I’d say about it is that it’s worth finding a flat, relatively clear loop to do it in, ideally without any traffic—a park loop is usually a good bet. Most marathons offer closed, flat roads and trying to hit the pace you plan to run in those conditions in training—while crossing busy roads and dodging pedestrians—is a lot harder.

CrossFit Open workout 24.3 is upon us, and thrusters are making a dreaded, if expected, comeback for the competition’s final week. The workout was revealed by Jocko Willink, a retired Navy SEAL turned author, podcaster and entrepreneur, during an announcement show on the CrossFit Games YouTube channel. 

After the unveiling, CrossFit Games athletes Arielle Loewen, Roman Khrennikov, Jay Crouch and Sydney Wells became among the first to tackle the third CrossFit Open test. Aside from Loewen, all of the contenders were drafted in at the last minute after Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr’s withdrawal due to a wrist injury. The six-time champ still plans to complete the workout over the weekend and compete in the 2024 CrossFit season. 

Read on to find out how to do CrossFit Open workout 24.3, and how to get a great score with top tips and tricks from PZL Programming head CrossFit coach Alex Conroy. 

What is CrossFit Open workout 24.3?

Five rounds for time of: 

• Thruster x 10 (95lb/43kg for men, 65lb/29kg for women)
• Chest-to-bar pull-up x 10

One minute of rest, then five rounds for time of: 

• Thruster x 7 (135lb/61kg for men, 95lb/43kg for women) 
• Bar muscle-up x 7

Compared with the rest of the 2024 CrossFit Open, this workout is far from accessible. You will tackle five rounds of 10 thrusters and 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups, take a mandatory minute of rest, then move on to five rounds of seven thrusters at a heavier weight and seven bar muscle-ups. 

There is a 15-minute time cap. The time it takes you to complete the first section will be used as your tie-break score if you don't finish the workout and reach the same number of reps as another athlete.

How to do CrossFit Open workout 24.3 scaled

Five rounds for time of: 

• Thruster x 10 (65lb/29kg for men, 45lb/20kg for women)
• Jumping chest-to-bar pull-up x 10

One minute of rest, then five rounds for time of: 

• Thruster x 7 (95lb/43kg for men, 65lb/29kg for women)
• Chin-over-bar pull-up x 7

The scaled version of CrossFit Open workout 24.3 uses the same format as the RX version. The only differences are that you will use lighter barbell weights for the thrusters, swap chest-to-bar pull-ups for jumping chest-to-bar pull-ups, and substitute bar muscle-ups for chin-over-bar pull-ups. 

For the foundations version of the workout, everyone will perform the first round of thrusters with a stick. Men will then use a 45lb/20kg barbell for the second round, and women will use a 35lb/15kg barbell. The chest-to-bar pull-ups are substituted for a bent-over row using a barbell weighing 45lb/20kg for men and 35lb/15kg for women. Then, the bar muscle-ups are exchanged for push-ups. 

For all weights in the foundations division, CrossFit states: "The load is a suggested starting point. If you are completing all the tests in the foundations division, you are free to decrease or increase the load as your skill level allows."

CrossFit Open workout 24.3 movement standards

This is a challenging workout—don’t make it more difficult by racking up costly no-reps. After all, no one needs more thrusters in their life. Take a look at CrossFit’s movement standards below to make sure you’re doing each exercise correctly, across the RX and scaled divisions. Then you can walk away from 24.3 with a happy judge and, more importantly, your best possible score. 

Thruster

• The crease of your hip must pass below the top of your knee in the bottom of the squat position. 
• Your hips, knees and arms must be fully extended at the top of the rep. This is the point where the rep is credited. 
• Each round must start with the barbell on the floor. You are allowed to squat clean the first rep to save time, but this is not a requirement. 
• You cannot re-bend the knee between the squat and press part of the movement. In practice, this means you can’t perform a front squat followed by any type of jerk or push press. 

Chest-to-bar pull-up

• All grip types are allowed. 
• You must start each rep with your arms fully extended and your feet not touching the floor. 
• Your chest must make contact with the bar “at or below the collarbone” for a rep to count.
• You can use strict, kipping or butterfly pull-up variations. 

Bar muscle-up

• Each rep must begin with your arms fully extended and your feet off the floor. 
• Your feet must not rise above the pull-up bar during the kipping portion of the movement.
• Any part of your arm other than your hands touching the pull-up bar will result in a no-rep. You are also not allowed to remove your hands and rest on your torso at the top of the rep.
• The rep is credited when you lock out your arms and your shoulders are directly over, or slightly in front of, the pull-up bar. 

Jumping chest-to-bar pull-up

• The pull-up bar needs to be at least six inches above the top of your head when you are standing upright. 
• Weight plates, boxes and other stable surfaces may be used to get closer to the pull-up bar where needed, as long as the top of your head remains more than six inches away when standing upright on the surface. 
• Both arms must be fully extended at the bottom of each rep. 
• The rep will count when your chest touches the pull-up bar at or below the collarbone.

Chin-over-bar pull-up

• Start with your arms fully extended and your feet off the floor. 
• A rep is credited when your chin is above the pull-up bar. 
• No-reps may be awarded for starting a rep with bent arms or “not breaking the horizontal plane of the pull-up bar with the chin”.

How to get a great score according to a CrossFit coach

To help you get the best possible score in CrossFit Open workout 24.3, we asked PZL Programming head coach Alex Conroy for his top tips on tackling this test.  He says there are two types of people who will attempt the RX version of this workout: those comfortable with the gymnastic elements and those not so comfortable with the gymnastics elements— and each type should take a different approach.

Type One: Comfortable With Gymnastics

• Try to keep the first round of thrusters unbroken. Either go for speed and pull that bar down if you know you can, or pause at the top, take a breath, then go again.
• Once you get to the rig, go for unbroken chest-to-bar pull-ups if these are a strength for you. But remember, there are a lot of bar muscle-ups to come later on, so break these up if that means your muscle-ups will hold together better.
• There is nothing wrong with pacing the first section—it's definitely a trap and you can easily get sucked into racing it before falling apart in the second section.
• Once you get to the minute of rest, chalk-up, stand tall and get your lungs open to try and settle your breathing.
• Approach the second round of thrusters with respect, breaking them into smaller sets if needed.
• The jump up to the rig for the bar muscle-ups isn't going to feel great—your quads will be pumped and your grip is going to be toast. Focus on being efficient and using your hips. Don’t go to failure here.

Type Two: Not So Comfortable With Gymnastics

• This is a detour away from the accessibility of weeks one and two. Focus on the workout as a whole to maximize what you can achieve. If this means breaking the thrusters into two or three smaller sets (of a six and a four, or a four and two sets of three), do it.
• Approach the gymnastics in a way that suits you. You can chip away at the chest-to-bar pull-ups in singles, just keep focusing on your next rep as each one will move you up the leaderboard. 
• If you get through part one of this workout, you’ve excelled. Then you can just chip through the heavier thrusters and, who knows, maybe the magic of the Open will get you that first bar muscle-up!

How To Warm Up For CrossFit Open Workout 24.3

As one of my old schoolteachers used to tell me on a weekly basis: “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” That rings true for Open workouts, and the final part of your prep should always involve a comprehensive warm-up. Luckily, the team at mobility app Pliability has put together a few moves to help prime your body for 24.3.

1 PVC external rotation

• Stand upright holding a PVC pipe at one end in your right hand.
• Lift your right elbow so your upper arm is parallel to the ground, allowing the pipe to hang down outside your left arm.
• Grip the bottom of the pipe in your left hand and gently pull it across your body, causing your right forearm to rotate to your right-hand side. 
• Hold this position and breathe into it for 30 seconds. 
• Repeat on the other side. Do this for two rounds on each arm. 

2 90/90 hip rotations

• Start sitting on the floor with one leg in front of you, one leg out to your side, and both knees at a rough right angle, as pictured above. This is called the 90/90 position. 
• Lift both knees so they are pointing upwards, then allow them to fall down to the opposite side. As you do this, twist your torso so you are facing the leg that was out to your side. You should feel this stretch in your hips and lower back. 
• You can place your hands on the floor behind you as you do this for stability. 
• Continue to slowly move between sides for 90 seconds. 

3 Kang squat

• From a standing position, push your hips back and reach down to grip your toes while keeping a flat back. 
• From here, push your knees outward and pull your hips down into a full squat position. Your torso should now be upright.
• To return to standing, lift your hips first to feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings, then straighten your knees. Your back should remain flat during this phase, too. 
• Repeat this sequence for 90 seconds, aiming to sink deeper into the squat with each repetition. 

4 Wall Y with thoracic extension

• Stand facing a wall with your forearms raised, upright, and flush against a wall. 
• Hold a band in both hands so it’s taught at chest height, with your hands beyond shoulder-width apart. 
• Pull your shoulder blades back and down, then slowly slide your forearms up the wall until your arms are locked out overhead, forming a Y-shape. 
• Slowly lower your arms back to the starting position, then repeat this sequence for 90 seconds. 

When is the CrossFit Open workout 24.3 score submission deadline?

You have until 5pm PDT on Monday March 18 (12am GMT on Tuesday March 19) to submit your score for CrossFit Open workout 24.3. 

How do you submit your CrossFit Open score?

To register a score for the 2024 CrossFit Open you will need to set up an account on the CrossFit Games app or website then register for the competition, which costs $20. 

Once you’ve done this, you can submit your score for 24.3 via your personal dashboard, which can again be found on the CrossFit Games app or website, any time before the submission deadline at 5pm PDT on Monday March 18 (12am GMT on Tuesday March 19).

If you complete the workout at a CrossFit-affiliated gym, you can submit your score along with the name of the person who acted as your judge. 

If you do the workout anywhere other than a CrossFit-affiliated gym, you need to video yourself completing the test and submit this alongside your score. To do this, upload the video to a hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo, then you will be asked to share the link to the video while entering your score on the CrossFit Games app or website. 

Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr has issued a statement explaining why she won’t be taking part in the live announcement of CrossFit Open workout 24.3. 

The six-time CrossFit Games champ was set to join the current third-fittest woman on earth, Arielle Loewen in a head-to-head workout during the CrossFit Open announcement show. But on Wednesday she withdrew from the competition due to injury. 

“Unfortunately I will no longer be participating in this week’s Open announcement due to my wrist injury that I have sustained over the last two months,” Toomey-Orr says in a video posted to the PRVN Fitness Instagram account. 

Loewen will now tackle the final test of the 2024 CrossFit Open alongside fellow Games athletes Roman Khrennikov, Jay Crouch and Sydney Wells. 

Despite her withdrawal from the live announcement, this doesn’t spell the end of Toomey-Orr’s 2024 CrossFit season. 

“I am so sorry for disappointing anyone out there that was looking forward to seeing me participate in it,” she says. “I know I am very disappointed in it, but it’s the best move for me moving forward and looking long-term in the season.”

Watch The CrossFit Open 24.3 Announcement Live Stream

Dave Castro has kept up his annual tradition of providing weekly clues ahead of each of the 2024 CrossFit Open workout announcements. And, as tradition dictates, the clues have been head-scratchers. 

His 24.3 clue is a video of a dog tearing into a chicken leg, filmed from below. 

Within an hour of going up on Instagram, the video had more than 1,000 comments, with many simply poking fun at the seemingly random clip. But among these, there were a few people genuinely trying to decipher Dave’s latest post. 

A repeat of a two-part Open workout from 2021—21.3 and 21.4—is proving to be one of the more popular choices.

CrossFit Open workout 21.3 sees you tackle three rounds of 15 front squats, 30 reps of a gymnastic movement and 15 thrusters for time, with a mandatory minute of rest after the first two. 

Each round, the gymnastic movement increases in difficulty. In round one it’s toes-to-bar, in round two it’s chest-to-bar pull-ups and in round three it’s bar muscle-ups. There is a 15-minute time cap.

Immediately after the 15 minutes is up, you'll launch into 21.4. Here, you have seven minutes to hit a complex of one deadlift, one clean, one hang clean and one jerk using the heaviest weight possible. 

Other commenters have gone for a more linear approach to guessing—”Time to let the big dogs eat! Bring on the heavy barbell.”—while several suggested the inclusion of a chicken leg meant our lower bodies are in for a battering. 

Current third-fittest woman on earth Arielle Loewen also chipped in, writing: “Chicken wing = bar muscle-ups. Dog = You gotta have that dog in you to do good in this workout.”

The final workout of the 2024 CrossFit Open will be revealed this Thursday during a live announcement show. This will be streamed on the CrossFit Games website and YouTube channel, with the show starting at 11.30am PST (7.30pm GMT) and the workout being unveiled about 30 minutes in. 

Arielle Loewen will then go head-to-head with six-time CrossFit Games champ Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr as the pair become the first people to face the workout. 

Incorporating regular strength training into your routine is one of the best ways to become a better runner, and normally that means a lot of single-leg exercises and core work. But if you completely neglect your upper body you could be missing out on performance benefits.

Running coach, ultra runner and level 4 personal trainer Olga Stignii, who is also captain of Midnight Runners, recently shared a workout on Instagram designed to help runners strengthen the muscles in the arms, core and back.

Intrigued, I got in touch with Stignii to find out why she recommended upper-body work for runners. “A fortified upper body helps you to run stronger for longer,” Stignii told me. “Prioritizing upper-body strength training can elevate your running, enhance endurance, and reduce the risk of injuries as it helps build a strong foundation.

“Arms play a crucial role in propelling you forward, especially during sprints and uphills. With more power in your upper body, you’ll push through fatigue and maintain your pace.”

Take a look at Stignii's Instagram Reel where she demonstrates each of the moves. Complete three sets of 12-15 reps for each exercise. Rest for two minutes between each set to allow your body to recover.

Stignii told me she likes to program compound exercises such as rows, presses and pull-ups, to engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, which mimics the demands of running.

She also includes exercises that work one side of the body at a time. “Unilateral exercises such as single-arm rows, single-arm presses and unilateral cable machine exercises to address asymmetries and improve balance,” says Stignii.

Spend your days running and hiking through gorgeous natural landscapes, before whiling away your nights listening to live music and DJs with thousands of other adventurous, active types. If that sounds like your idea of a good time, then the Love Trails Festival is something you should know about.

The rowing machine has been a fixture at the CrossFit Games since the inaugural 2007 event. It’s also helped build some of the best engines in the sport, from 2009’s winner Mikko Salo to five-time champ Mat Fraser. 

To help you up your game, we’ve enlisted the help of Alex Dunne, managing director of Concept2 which makes the Concept2 RowErg, the rowing machine used in the CrossFit Games and boxes worldwide (and Coach’s pick for the best rowing machine). I’ve also quizzed Reign Total Body Fuel ambassador and serial Games athlete Emma McQuaid.

They talk you through their top tips for setting up your machine for success, and the technique you should be using to start pulling sub-two-minute splits with ease.

How To Set Up A Rowing Machine For CrossFit

Before you start setting 2K test records you need to set up your machine correctly, and your first job should be to sort out the foot straps. 

“Don’t just jump on and go,” says McQuaid. “If I rowed with the straps set to one [the highest setting] then my quads would lock solid.”

“Strapping your feet into the machine in the right spot affects foot and seat comfort,” explains Dunne. He advises adjusting the footplates using the five numbered settings so the strap is in line with the ball of your foot, although, he adds, if you’re less flexible you might want to let your feet sit a little lower by choosing a higher foot strap setting number so you can reach forward more easily. 

This is the case for McQuaid, who tends to let her feet sit lower to counter the limited mobility in her ankles.

The second thing Dunne recommends focusing on is your seat. “If your butt isn’t happy while you’re rowing, chances are the rest of you isn’t happy either,” says Dunne.

If you feel like you need some extra padding, he suggests placing a towel or bubble wrap over the seat. Alternatively, Concept2 offers a seat pad or rowing shorts which might make you more comfortable. 

If this doesn’t work and your backside still ends up void of all feeling, he counterintuitively suggests trying less padding on your seat. “Too much can cause cramping and numbness,” says Dunne.

What Damper Setting Should You Use In CrossFit

The damper is the lever on the side of the fan cage and it changes the amount of air allowed into the flywheel. The higher the setting, the more air is allowed into the fan cage as you row, and the heavier the stroke feels.

There’s no requirement for which damper setting to use during CrossFit workouts and competitions, so Dunne says the best thing to do is play around and find which one feels best for you.

“We recommend starting on a damper setting of three to five,” says Dunne. “Really focus on technique, and as you improve you may find that a lower damper setting gives you the best workout and results.”

McQuaid agrees, saying she works off a “rough guide for females of between three and five, and for guys it’s anything from five to seven”. 

Despite this, you might be tempted to thrust the damper setting up to 10 and try to crank out powerful pulls to maximize your output, but Dunne says this is a poisoned chalice.

Doing this can exhaust your muscles before you’ve had a chance to experience the rowing machine’s cardio perks. Instead, find a damper setting that allows you to achieve a consistent output, which you can gauge from feedback on the monitor. 

You might also want to vary the damper setting depending on the sort of workout you’re tackling. Dunne recommends trying a lower setting for a longer, aerobic-focused WOD, and higher settings if you’re looking to develop strength and power during shorter sessions. 

Rowing Technique

There are four stages of each rowing stroke; the catch, the drive, the finish and the recovery. I asked Dunne to break down each one, so you can hone your technique, one step at a time. 

1. The Catch

This is the starting point of each stroke. Your knees should be bent so your shins are vertical, and your arms should be straight out in front of you holding the handle. 

Look straight ahead, and keep a neutral spine with a slight forward lean towards the fan cage. 

It’s not necessary to keep your heels connected to the footplates during this phase. Allow them to lift if you need them to. 

2. The Drive

Use your legs to drive through your feet and push your body away from the fan cage. 

As your legs straighten lean back slightly, maintaining a neutral spine, then use your back and biceps to pull the handle to your sternum. 

The chain attaching the handle to the fan wheel should remain flat throughout this motion. 

3. The Finish

At the end of the drive phase, hold your position for a split second. Your legs should be extended, you should be leaning back slightly, and the handle is pulled to your body just below your ribs.

4. The Recovery

This is the phase people often switch off for, so pay attention. Instead of just crumpling back into the catch position, be deliberate about how you transition between the two, as this is your chance to take a breath before your next big drive. 

First, extend your arms, then hinge at the hips to lean towards the flywheel. Once your hands have passed your knees, Dunne says, begin to bend your knees to slide the seat back towards the flywheel. 

You should also try to relax your grip here to stop your forearms fatiguing. 

Workouts

There are plenty of CrossFit workouts with rowing as a prevalent feature. Perhaps the best-known is Jackie, which tasks you to complete a 1,000m row followed by 50 empty-bar thrusters and 30 pull-ups as quickly as possible. 

Or, if you’re after a rowing workout that keeps you in your seat throughout, try a 2K test. The gold standard for covering the distance is seven minutes, but be warned, it’s not as easy as it sounds. This 2K rowing plan will help improve your time.

CrossFit Open workout 24.2 has landed, and it’s worlds apart from week one’s lethal pairing of single-arm snatches and burpees. 

The workout was revealed by current WWE world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins during 2024’s second CrossFit Open live announcement. The wrestler has competed in the CrossFit Open for the last 12 years, and stepped in for Dave Castro to share the second test: a 20-minute AMRAP of rowing, deadlifts and double-unders. 

Two-time fittest man on earth Justin Medeiros and fan favorite Colten Mertens were the first to face the test in Medeiros’s home gym, with their efforts live-streamed on the CrossFit Games website and YouTube channel. 

Scroll down to discover how to do CrossFit Open workout 24.2, and find out how to get your best score with tips from experienced CrossFit coach and head of PZL Programming Alex Conroy. 

How To Do CrossFit Open Workout 24.2

As many reps as possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of:

• Row x 300m
• Deadlift x 10 (185lb/83kg for men and 125lb/56kg for women)
• Double-under x 50

Count up your reps (every 10 meters on the rower is worth one rep) and that’s your score.

One complete round is 90 reps. 

How To Do CrossFit Open Workout 24.2 Scaled

As many reps as possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of:

• Row x 300m
• Deadlift x 10 (135lb/61kg for men and 95lb/43kg for women)
• Single-under x 50

The scaled version of CrossFit Open workout 24.2 is similar to the RX one. It's still a 20-minute AMRAP, and you'll still face rowing, deadlifts and skipping. 

The only changes are that the barbells you use are lighter (135lb/61kg for men and 95lb/43kg for women) and you'll perform single-unders rather than double-unders. 

The workout changes slightly for the foundations version of the test. Perform a 20-minute AMRAP of 30 strokes on the rower, 10 deadlifts and 50 single-unders or jumping jacks. The listed weights for the deadlift is 75lb/34kg for men and 55lb/25kg for women. 

However, the CrossFit Games website states that this load is a “suggested starting point” and any athlete completing the workout in the foundations division is “free to decrease or increase the load as your skill level allows”.

CrossFit Open Workout 24.2 Standards

In prior Opens, CrossFit has issued floor plans for each workout, detailing how far each piece of equipment used in the workout needs to be. There are no such stipulations at the Open stage of the competition this year, so arrange the rowing machine, barbell and skipping rope as desired.

However, there are still form standards that must be met when completing 24.2. 

Rowing standards: The monitor on your Concept2 RowErg must be set to zero at the start of each stint—you can ask your judge to do this for you. You must also remain seated on the rower until the monitor shows 300m, so no relying on carry-over meters. 

Deadlift standards: Sumo deadlifts are outlawed—your arms must be outside of your knees—and the rep only counts when your hips and knees reach full extension, and your head and shoulders are behind the bar when viewed from the side. 

Double-under standards: If you trip on your tenth rep then you’ll only be credited with nine—attempts don’t count. In the 24.2 scorecard, CrossFit also specifies that “spinning the rope backward” will be a no-rep, just in case anyone is considering going a little wild with this one. 

How To Get A Good Score On CrossFit Open Workout 24.2

By CrossFit Open standards, this is a long workout. You won’t be able to go flat out for the full 20 minutes, so it pays to approach this test with a plan of action. To help you with this, I asked PZL Programming’s head CrossFit coach Alex Conroy for his advice on how to get your best possible score. 

• “This workout isn't about winning the first round, it’s about finding a pace that's a little uncomfortable, but one you can sustain—remember, 20 minutes is a long time!”
• “Try to keep your pace consistent. Don’t fall into the trap of going too hard then sitting with your hands on your knees, as before you know it you’ll have lost 45 seconds. Instead, try to save your big push for the end."
• “There are a lot of transitions, so keep these smooth to save yourself valuable seconds. Lay your rope out neatly after each set of double-unders, and keep the foot straps tidy on your rowing machine. Don’t stress about getting them really tight at the start of each round, you’ll lose time if you're messing around with this.”
• “The rowing machine is where you’re going to spend the majority of your time during this workout. Remember that, over 300m, holding a 1min 35sec/500m split rather than a 1min 55sec/500m split isn’t going to earn you a huge amount of time, but it sure will spike your heart rate and fatigue you for the rest of the workout. 
• “Aiming to row at a 500m split pace that’s a couple of seconds slower than your 2km pace was my immediate instinct after seeing this workout."
• “Relax your grip on the row during the recovery phase of each stroke.”
• “The deadlift loading isn’t too heavy or too light. You could be doing a lot of reps and, when coupled with the row, this will be a lot of work for the muscles in your posterior chain. [To limit fatigue] make sure you warm up thoroughly and focus on moving well throughout.”
• “Don’t get to a point where you fall apart on either the deadlifts or the double-unders. Instead, if you need to, plan to break these moves up early—and do so on your own terms.” 
• “Manage your breathing throughout; be purposeful and take a breath or two as you get off the rower to move to the barbell, and do the same before the rope."

The first recorded scores for CrossFit Open workout 24.2 are 930 reps for Justin Medeiros and 922 reps for Colten Mertens, according to the CrossFit Open leaderboard at the time of writing.

"Both athletes completed over 10 rounds, with Medeiros’ first round taking 1min 46sec and his second round being done by the 3min 35sec mark," says PZL Programming head coach Alex Conroy.

However, unless you have eyes on a trip to Fort Worth, Texas, this summer for the CrossFit Games, you might want to set your sights a little lower. 

“For us mere mortals, a solid score will be five to seven rounds," says Conroy. "And for those looking to push into that previous quarter-final target, finishing in the top 10% of their division [the cut-off was raised to 25% for the 2024 season], I'd anticipate that you'll need to be looking at eight-plus rounds.”

CrossFit Open Workout 24.2 Winning Scores

The winners of CrossFit Open workout 24.2 have been confirmed. 

The CrossFit Games Instagram account posted a video stating that Finnish athlete Henrik Haapalainen and Swedish athlete Emily Claw recorded the top scores in the male and female divisions respectively.

Haapalainen finished the workout with 997 reps (11 rounds and seven reps) and Claw recorded a score of 926 reps (10 rounds and 26 reps).

Tudor Magda had previously held the lead in the men’s division as the only athlete able to pass the 1,000-rep mark. 

However, according to a statement shared by the Morning Chalk Up, CrossFit dealt him with a “20% major penalty for consistent lack of hip extension in the deadlift”. This took his score down to 800 reps. 

Haapalainen was also penalized, although he lost just one rep for “performing only 49 double-unders in round seven”. This was not enough to knock him off the top spot, and as such he will receive the $2,024 awarded to the winner of each CrossFit Open workout this year. 

However, Claw will not receive this reward as she performed her workout at a CrossFit-affiliate gym and did not submit a video with it. Though performing an Open workout at a CrossFit gym is enough to validate your score, CrossFit says that “no video is available so Claw is not eligible to receive prize money.” 

CrossFit Open Workout 24.2 Submission Deadline

You have until 5pm PST on Monday, March 11 (1am GMT on Tuesday, March 12) to submit your scores for CrossFit Open workout 24.2. Before this time, you can redo the workout and resubmit your score as many times as you like. 

To enter the annual online fitness competition you first need to register for the Open, which costs $20. You can then submit your score to the online leaderboard. 

If you do the workout at a CrossFit-affiliate gym, submitting your score is simple. You just need to add it to the leaderboard via the CrossFit Games app or website, then have it validated by the affiliate manager at the site where you completed it. 

If you’re not doing the workout at a CrossFit-affiliate gym, you'll also have to film yourself completing it. The video needs to be uploaded to a common hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo, then there will be a prompt to input the link as you add your score on the CrossFit Games app or website. 

Your video may be assessed by the CrossFit internal review team, who can accept, modify or invalidate your score based on whether you meet the set standards for the workout. The Wodproof app is the easiest way to film your workouts as it comes with a template for each CrossFit Open test including an on-screen timer. 

Dave Castro has released his second CrossFit Open hint ahead of the 24.2 live announcement on Thursday and it’s as cryptic as ever. 

The former CrossFit Games director shared a video of a chess piece (a pawn to be exact) being knocked out of shot by what the internet has agreed is a shuffleboard puck. 

This has set the CrossFit community guessing what the next test could be. Although, given how vague his 24.1 clue was, many have lost hope of drawing an accurate prediction from the post.

Before CrossFit Open workout 24.1, he shared a picture of a mushroom, which supposedly related to the top-heavy nature of the workout; a variation of CrossFit’s popular 21-15-9 format featuring single-arm dumbbell snatches and burpees. 

Now, for 24.2, we have a pawn being pushed aside by a shuffleboard piece, which feels just as difficult to decipher. 

The most feasible prediction I’ve seen is from the current third fittest woman on earth, Arielle Loewen. 

She writes: “[A] pawn can move two spaces. Increasing rep scheme by two each round, with shuttle runs. [An] AMRAP: 2-4-6-8-10 etc.”

But for the most part, people have been having a bit of fun in the comments section. Among them were the Concept2 team, who suggested a “42,195m [marathon] row”, like the one athletes tackled at the 2018 CrossFit Games.

Personally, my glutes would be happier with a slightly shorter workout than that, but the test that awaits us later this week remains anyone’s guess. 

Running is a high-impact sport which makes succumbing to some sort of injury quite common, especially the longer you continue with the sport. You can mitigate this risk by doing strength training for runners and following a well-constructed running training plan, but even then things can happen—I once scuppered a marathon training cycle by banging my knee on a radiator jumping across a room to impress my toddler.

When an injury does occur, it can be devastating. Not only do you lose out on the physical benefits of the sport and lose any improvements in fitness you had gained from training, it’s also hard on your mental health to not be able to participate in something you enjoy, especially if you’re friends with runners still training and taking part in events.

There is a lot of advice out there for injured runners, but the best I’ve come across was from Stephen Haas, coach of the Under Armour Dark Sky Distance group when he was speaking at the launch of the Under Armour Infinite Elite running shoe. The words of wisdom are especially good for keen runners who are always looking towards their next event.

“It’s a piece of advice that my college coach gave me when I had an injury,” says Haas. “I think it was freshman or sophomore year in college.

“At the time, you think the most important thing is that race that you were getting ready for, or whatever that intermediate goal was. He said to me that the best part about our sport is there’s always something new. There’s always another race. There’s always another goal. There’s always another championship.

“That really hit me at the time, and it was something I needed to hear. It got me to think a little bit more positively: I get through this, then I reset my goals and there’s another race on the horizon.

“I make sure to share that with my athletes now. The biggest thing for getting through an injury is not rushing. It’s being patient and taking your time and not rushing back. You have to be over your injury before you can train properly. You have to be healthy, so there’s a level of patience that is required there, and I think to have that you have to be positive. 

“You have to be positive about what’s coming up next, and if you’re healthy and training at the level you want to be training, there’s going to be another goal right down the road.”

So if you are unlucky enough to get injured this year, try to remember that when you’re back on your feet, whenever that happens to be, there will always be another event to train for, a running group to join, or a running holiday to go on.

The Tokyo Marathon 2024 is the first World Marathon Major of the year, and it’s set to be a fantastic race with the elite fields headed by two of the greatest runners of all time with Eliud Kipchoge in the men’s race and Sifan Hassan in the women’s.

Kipchoge will be aiming to break his own course record from 2022, when he ran 2hr 2min 40sec, with competition coming from Vincent Kipkemoi and Timothy Kiplagat this year. Hasan will be looking to add a third marathon major win to her resume, having won both the London Marathon and Chicago Marathon last year. She’ll have to beat last year’s Tokyo Marathon winner Rosemary Wanjiru to do so.

It’s sure to be a great watch and no doubt some focus will be on the shoes on display, with Nike athletes Kipchoge and Hasan both odds on to run in the Nike Alphafly 3, my pick of the best carbon plate running shoes.

Tokyo Marathon 2024 Live Streams

How To Watch The Tokyo Marathon For Free 

There are two live streams available, with TBS showing the race in Japan and RTVE Play showing it in Spain (you need to sign up for a free account to watch the race on RTVE).

How To Watch The Tokyo Marathon In The USA And Canada

If you’re based in the US or Canada you can watch the Tokyo Marathon on FloTrack, which costs $29.99 a month or $149.99 a year in the US. It might be worth the annual pass if you’re a big marathon fan, with the Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Berlin Marathon and Chicago Marathon all streamed on FloTrack in 2024.

How To Watch The Tokyo Marathon In The UK

In the UK you can watch the Tokyo Marathon on Eurosport and it’s also streaming on Discovery Plus, which costs £6.99 a month for a standard plan that includes Eurosport.

How To Watch The Tokyo Marathon From Outside Your Country Of Residence

If you’re traveling and outside your country of residence you can access your usual services by using a VPN. Our sister site TechRadar has tested the top VPN services available and its top pick is ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN is quick and easy to set up and you can watch on several devices at once. It also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can test the service risk-free.

Tokyo Marathon Details

One of the biggest new features that has come to wearables over the past couple of years is heart rate variability (HRV) tracking, and using this to gauge the stress on your body and how ready it is to exercise.

The Oura ring was the first device I tested to really make this “readiness” measurement useful, tracking your HRV overnight and using it, along with other factors, to give a readiness score every morning so you can judge if you should do a hard workout. It’s also used across many of the best sports watches, especially high-end models from Garmin, with its training readiness score tying together lots of activity and recovery stats, including HRV.

However, getting an Oura ring or a Garmin that gives you this data is expensive, and they might not be giving you perfect data anyway, especially since Garmin watches have a habit of overestimating time asleep.

I’m currently in the middle of a marathon training block for the London Marathon, and I’ve been testing several methods of tracking my readiness at the same time—an Oura ring (3rd generation), the training readiness score from a Garmin Epix Pro watch, and the HRV4Training app (App Store and Google Play).

With the ring and the watch I wear them overnight and they give my readiness score in the morning, using an average of my HRV measured overnight set against my baseline, which takes several weeks to establish.

You also need to set a baseline with the HRV4Training app, but the measurements are done differently—you take it in the morning using the camera on your phone (you can also link a chest strap heart rate monitor if you prefer). You hold a finger over the camera and the flash is used to take a reading of your heart rate and HRV.

This morning HRV measurement needs to be consistent to get the most useful information from the app, with the advice being to take the measurement first thing, sitting up in bed. It takes a minute as standard, but you can set the measurement to take longer, which might make for a more accurate reading. Even a minute sometimes proved a bit tricky for me if woken up by my kids, but I was able to fit it in at the same time each morning.

Along with the measurement, the app asks you to fill out a short questionnaire regarding your recent training, any muscle soreness or mental fatigue, and whether you drank alcohol the night before. You can link apps such as Strava to the HRV4Training app to pull your training in automatically.

After you finish the questionnaire you are given your HRV score and advice on whether it is within your baseline, and whether you should proceed as planned with your training that day, or limit how hard you work.

It’s a simple app to use once you get the knack of positioning your finger on the camera correctly, and I have found the readings and advice to be comparable to the data from the Oura ring. I also like the questionnaire, which makes you aware of your alcohol intake in particular, and the fact the measurement is taken in the morning makes it feel directly applicable to my upcoming training that day.

The HRV4Training app is a lot cheaper than the best watches and wearables to give readiness info, and the fact you don’t have to wear a watch or even a ring overnight will appeal to some people. It costs $9.99/£9.99 as a one-off fee, though there is a pro version that gives you access to a web platform for more insights into your measurements.

After weeks of guessing, we finally know what CrossFit Open workout 24.1 is. 

Dave Castro revealed the details of this basic but brutal test today during the first of three CrossFit Open 2024 announcements. 

Current CrossFit Games champ Jeffrey Adler, two-time podium athlete Brent Fikoswki, fifth-fittest woman on earth Alex Gazan and 2023 sixth-place finisher Alexis Raptis were the first to tackle the workout, with their efforts streamed live on the CrossFit Games website and YouTube channel. 

Read on to find out how to do CrossFit Open workout 24.1, and how to get a good score courtesy of some top tips from APX Fitness CrossFit coach Devon Jewsbury,  ForestFlow CrossFit owner Oakley Hardwick and TIO CrossFit owner Jamie Boston. 

How To Do CrossFit Open Workout 24.1

• Single-arm dumbbell snatch x 21 
• Lateral burpee over dumbbell x 21
• Single-arm dumbbell snatch x21
• Lateral burpee over dumbbell x21
• Single-arm dumbbell snatch x 15
• Lateral burpee over dumbbell x15
• Single-arm dumbbell snatch x15
• Lateral burpee over dumbbell x15
• Single-arm dumbbell snatch x9
• Lateral burpee over dumbbell x9
• Single-arm dumbbell snatch x9
• Lateral burpee over dumbbell x9

Buckle up, this one's going to take some explaining. There are only two exercises—dumbbell snatches and burpees—but the format is something we've never seen before in the CrossFit Open. 

It's a twist on CrossFit's popular 21-15-9 rep scheme. You'll perform 21 dumbbell snatches, all on one arm, then 21 lateral burpees over the dumbbell. After this, do 21 dumbbell snatches on the other arm followed by 21 more lateral burpees over the dumbbell. 

Repeat this for the rounds of 15 and nine to finish the workout. There's a 15-minute time cap.

To make it clear: in each set you will complete all reps of the dumbbell snatches on one arm, and change the arm you use after each set. You can start with either arm. 

The men's RX dumbbell weight is 50lb/22.5kg, and the women's RX dumbbell weight is 35lb/15kg.

How To Do CrossFit Open Workout 24.1 Scaled 

Doing CrossFit Open workout 24.1 scaled is incredibly similar to doing the RX version. It contains the same movements, follows the same rep scheme and has the same 15-minute time-cap.

The only difference is you use a lighter dumbbell; 35lb/15kg for men, 20lb/10 kg for women. 

If you want to compete in the foundations division, men will use a 25lb/12.5kg dumbbell and women will use a 15lb/7.5kg dumbbell for the snatches. You will also perform standard burpees rather than lateral burpees over dumbbell. 

How To Get A Good Score On CrossFit Open Workout 24.1  

Sure, you could just go “full send” on this workout, and all power to you. But if you want to shave a few extra seconds off your time and shoot up the CrossFit Open leaderboard, it can pay to pace yourself and approach the test with a strategy. 

That’s why it’s handy to have these top tips and tricks from APX Fitness coach Devon Jewsbury n your back pocket, as well as advice from ForestFlow CrossFit owner Oakley Hardwick and TIO CrossFit owner Jamie Boston, both speaking to Coach through R.A.D. 

APX Fitness coach Devon Jewsbury

• “This one is all about holding on to that dumbbell. If you want a top time, you can’t afford to drop it and step away. You need to hold on and rip it.”
• “Make sure you aren't flying out of the gate and rushing—you don't want any costly no-reps. Instead, make sure you’re fully locking out overhead at the top of each snatch, and hitting both heads of the dumbbell on the floor at the bottom of each rep.”
• “Start your first set of snatches on your weaker arm. When you’re tired later in the workout, you don’t want to be using your weaker arm and failing reps. Your best bet is to start with it so you can finish each set on your stronger side.”
• “For the burpees, stay smooth and maintain your pace throughout the sets of 21. As you get down to the sets of 15, it’s all about ripping and going dark, then the sets of nine are all about sending it. Do. Not. Slow. Down.”

ForestFlow CrossFit owner Oakley Hardwick, speaking to Coach through R.A.D

• “Some people will be pulling the pin from the start here, but that won’t be a clever tactic for everyone. Identify your limits and realistic potential—this will help you recognize how to attack this workout.” 
• “Take a little time to figure out if the burpees or dumbbell snatch will be your breather. On your stronger movement, you can choose whether to take that one a tad slower to breathe when you need to.”
• Pick a round that you are going to choose to push on.”
• Burpees and dumbbell snatches are both prime movements to fire up your lower back. Ensure you take the dumbbell to the floor without straight legs [to save your lower back as much as possible].”
• “Play around with a step up into the burpee rather than a jump, if you need to, but ensure to switch legs when stepping up to prevent getting a lower back pump.”

Jamie Boston, TIO CrossFit owner and CrossFit level three coach with more than a decade of experience, speaking to Coach through R.A.D

• “A controlled effort is required here, rather than thinking this is a quick workout. Doing 90 reps of each movement will add up. For most people, 10 minutes seems like a realistic time frame to aim for.
• “Step up from your burpees. Stepping up takes a little bit of effort out of the movement, saving it for when you get really tired. It’s not much slower but feels a lot nicer.”
• “Breathe on the dumbbell snatches. Taking a second at the top to relax is much better than being hunched over and not able to breathe at all.”
• “Try to keep the same technique throughout—the one you normally use for both the movements. This is not the time to try anything new, save that for training and not competing.”
• “Lastly, enjoy yourself. This is supposed to be fun and your score isn’t the be-all and end-all. Going in a group will be the way to get a fast time.”

How To Warm-Up For CrossFit Open Workout 24.1  

You might have heard the saying: “The shorter the workout, the longer the warm-up.” 

CrossFit Open workout 24.1 is a fast-paced race to the finish, so you’re going to want to make sure your body is primed and ready to go. Luckily, APX Fitness coach Devon Jewsbury has programmed a warm-up to stand you in good stead. 

General warm-up

Complete three rounds of:

• Bike for 1min at 70%
• Walk-out x5
• Squat to stand x10
• Resistance band strict press x15

Then complete two rounds of:  

• Yoga push-up x7
• Down-up x7

 Specific Warm Up

• Light dumbbell snatch on your left arm x10 
• Light dumbbell snatch on your right arm x10
• Burpee x5

Rest for 30 seconds, then complete two rounds of: 

• Dumbbell snatch on your left arm at working weight x10
• Lateral burpee over dumbbell x5
• Dumbbell snatch on your right arm at working weight x10
• Lateral burpee over dumbbell x5
• Rest 60 seconds

CrossFit Open Scores for Workout 24.1  

Though CrossFit Open workout 24.1 isn’t yet 24 hours old at the time of writing (5.10am PT), the online leaderboard is already filling up with scores. 

And, while many are awaiting validation from CrossFit, there are a few familiar faces near the top of the tree.

Jeffrey Adler’s time of 6min 13sec currently puts him in fourth and is so far the highest of any existing Games athlete. Bronislaw Olenkowicz is just behind him with 6min 22sec, Royce Dunne’s score of 6min 39sec sits in 11th, Brent Fikoswki is in 12th with 6min 43sec, and Lazar Dukic’s time of 6min 47sec is 19th. 

On the women’s side, eight-time CrossFit Games athlete Kristin Holte has the top time of any contender so far, finishing her final burpee at the 6min 2sec mark. 

Emma Lawson is in second with 6min 16sec, and Kara Saunders is third with 6min 21sec. 

And if, like myself, you’re not a professional CrossFit athlete but you do train regularly and are looking to submit your best possible score, experienced CrossFit coach and TIO CrossFit owner Jamie Boston recommends aiming to wrap things up in less than 10 minutes. 

The original Nasty Girls video is the reason many people started CrossFit, inspired by the sight of athletes grinding through their final few ring muscle-ups to finish a grueling workout.

It features a trio of CrossFit’s OGs—Nicole Carroll, Annie Sakamoto and Eva Twardokens—completing three rounds of 50 squats, seven ring muscle-ups and 10 hang power cleans. 

More than a decade on, CrossFit has revisited this workout as part of its new Rogue Fitness Golden Barbell competition, which sees four top-level athletes go head-to-head in three workouts, the third of which will be the first CrossFit Open workout of 2024. 

The cream of CrossFit’s current crop, fittest man on earth Jeffrey Adler, alongside Brent Fikowski, Alexis Raptis and Alex Gazan, all blitzed through the workout in less than six-and-a-half minutes, with Gazan recording the fastest time of five minutes 22 seconds. 

Watch them duke it out below. 

CrossFit pays homage to the original by recreating the conditions the athletes faced in 2005. That means the gymnastic rings are set low—very low—forcing athletes like 6ft 2in Brent Fikowski to complete them strict from an awkward bent-knee starting position.

The only thing missing from the 2024 edition was the need to touch a medicine ball with your butt at the bottom of each squat, as perennial CrossFit Games podium athlete Pat Vellner pointed out on the company’s Instagram post. 

Watch the original video below, or scroll on to find out how you can try the Nasty Girl CrossFit workout for yourself. 

How To Do The Nasty Girl CrossFit Workout  

Three rounds for time:

• Air squat x 50
• Ring muscle-up x 7
• Power clean x 10 (135lb/60kg for men, 95lb/43kg for women)

Few fitness tests have a name as foreboding as the Bronco. That’s probably because few fitness tests put you flat on your back quite like the Bronco. 

It’s a series of shuttle runs completed as quickly as possible. To finish, you need to cover 1,200m while trying not to take your foot off the gas. 

For more than a decade, the rugby drill has also been used to test the fitness levels of the All Blacks—the three-time Rugby World Cup-winning New Zealand national team.

“The Bronco test is a good indicator of rugby fitness as it involves a lot of changing of direction—deceleration, turning, then acceleration,” says Nic Gill, the All Blacks head of strength and conditioning, and founder of coaching platform Rugby Ready. 

In other words, if you want to test whether you’re rugby-ready, this is a good place to start.

How To Do The Bronco Test

To take this test, find a space where you can run 60 meters in a straight line, then set up a start line with 20m, 40m and 60m markers. 

“The Bronco is a shuttle test,” says Gill. “It’s a 20m, 40m and 60m shuttle completed five times continuously. Aim to complete the 1.2km as fast as possible.”

In action, you’ll run to the 20m marker and back, then the 40m marker and back, and finally the 60m marker and back. That’s one round. Repeat this four more times without a break to finish. 

But for all its bravado, the Bronco is blissfully uncomplicated, making it an accessible training tool for any sports team in need of some extra conditioning work. 

“It’s short and can be conducted easily on any field, turf or surface,” says Gill. “It can be conducted during a rugby training session to assess the squad or as a conditioning stimulus.”

Three Training Tips To Become A Better Rugby Player

If you’re a rugby player looking to improve, Gill recommends concentrating on “the big three”.

“One: Be fit to get around the field to do your job accurately.” 

In other words, “you need a good Bronco”, and you also need to be able to keep moving for “60 to 80 minutes”.

“Two: Be strong and mobile through your hips so you can get low to carry the ball or to tackle and clean out. You need a good squat for this.  

“And three: Have an awesome diet so you carry good lean muscle suitable for your position.”

But this doesn’t mean you should neglect the technical side of your game. 

“Bigger, faster and fitter does not automatically make you a better player,” Gill says, adding that most of the All Blacks split their training time roughly 60:40 between the field and their fitness. 

The CrossFit Open is one day away and the only thing the CrossFit community wants to know is what they’ll face during the three-week event. But, for now, all they can do is pick over Dave Castro’s 24.1 hint and wait for the CrossFit Open 24.1 announcement.

So, when I had the chance to chat to six-time CrossFit Games champ Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, I couldn’t resist asking for her predictions.

“It’s safe to say that you should be prepared for anything and everything, right? It’s CrossFit. And if you’re not, I think you missed the memo,” Toomey-Orr tells me.

However, this year CrossFit announced the top 25% of athletes in each division will qualify for the online quarterfinals—up from 10%—and Toomey-Orr suggests this shift could mean higher-skill exercises like muscle-ups and heavy Olympic lifts will be reserved for later stages of the season like the quarterfinals and semifinals. 

In other words, make sure you’ve brushed up on the basics. 

“I think they’ll focus on the general population in the Open. So things that are going to be very manageable for the affiliate to run within the facility, and things that allow people to feel accomplished when walking away—the classics like burpee box jumps.

“I definitely think we will see rowing in there, and probably some toes-to-bar, pull-ups or even muscle-ups.”

The most important thing for Toomey-Orr is that we see three Open workouts which, when combined, provide a comprehensive test of fitness.

“We need to make sure we’re capturing the right people who can really do strength; people who can do a lot of bodyweight movements well. Variety—in order to get to the next section—is going to be really important to set the scene for the whole season,” says Toomey-Orr. 

Toomey-Orr and her programming business PRVN will be hosting the CrossFit Open at their newly opened affiliate in East Nashville: PRVN HQ. This will also be the site of the third and final CrossFit Open 2024 announcement, where she will face the current third-fittest woman on earth Arielle Loewen in a head-to-head showdown.

This leads Toomey-Orr on to the other element she wants to prioritize in this year’s Open: enjoyment. 

“It’s meant to be a really fun time for the community to get together and see each other on the leaderboard,” says Toomey-Orr. “just have fun with it.”

“We will be doing the Open every week at PRVN HQ, and I know I will be doing my own workouts there. So if people are going to be in town and they need a gym, we will definitely be open for it. It’s going to be a very fun year because it’s the first year for us.”

As we dive into the final week of the CrossFit Open, one question remains: What is CrossFit Open workout 24.3? 

The last test of the 2024 event will be unveiled on Thursday, March 14, and there are plenty of guesses flying around as to what it could be after Dave Castro’s 24.3 clue. 

Many think Games creator Dave Castro and his team will hit us with a heavy barbell movement and some more complex gymnastics, both of which are yet to make an appearance in this year’s Open. Others think we’re destined for thrusters, which have appeared in 13 of the 14 Opens to date. 

All we know is that you can find out who’s right by watching the 24.3 live announcement show on March 14. To make sure you don’t miss it, I’ve gathered all the times, dates and information you might need below, and embedded the YouTube Live video so you can watch the announcement right here. 

Watch 24.3 Live Announcement

CrossFit Open Workout 24.1 Announcement

The opening workout of the 2024 CrossFit Open was unveiled on February 29 during a live announcement show streamed on the CrossFit Games website and YouTube channel. 

Former CrossFit Games director Dave Castro and his customary blackboard were back to talk us through the test—a couplet of dumbbell snatches and lateral burpees over dumbbell. And the workout took some getting your head around, with a never-before-seen twist on the 21-15-9 format.

Rather than alternating dumbbell snatches, you performed 21 on one arm followed by 21 lateral burpees, then 21 snatches on the other arm, followed by another 21 lateral burpees. The sequence then repeats with 15 and 9 reps.

After the workout was unmasked, the current fittest man on earth Jeffrey Adler faced off against Brent Fikowski, Alexis Raptis and Alex Gazan—all top-six finishers in the 2023 Games—in a live showdown.  

The champ posted the top time of 6min 13sec, with the other athletes hot on his heels, all coming in beneath the seven-minute mark.

CrossFit Open Workout 24.2 Announcement

CrossFit Open Workout 24.3 Announcement

Read more about this tried-and-tested selection in my guide to the best CrossFit shoes.

Running is a high-impact sport and if you’re not careful your body won’t be able to handle the demands running places on it, which can lead to injury. Following a progressive running training plan is a smart way to let your body adjust gradually to more running, but you can also strengthen your muscles to better cope with running.

Physiotherapists Davis Hallberg and Cate Rudnicki recently shared a workout on their Instagram page @thatdptcouple specifically for runners. 

“This workout is beneficial for runners because it incorporates single-leg glute strengthening, which can help with pelvic stability when running,” says Hallberg. “Proximal [hip and pelvic] strengthening can also help with injury prevention, especially in regards to knee pain.”

All you need is a short-looped resistance band. Watch the Instagram Reel where Hallberg demonstrates each of the exercises.

I spoke to Hallberg to find out more about the moves and tips for doing them effectively.

The first exercise is a standing fire hydrant. “This exercise activates the extensor and rotational fibers of the glute max by pressing the back heel into the wall as the leg rotates,” says Hallberg.

Follow this with two rounds of standing clams for 60 seconds on each side. “Maintain a slight bend at the hips and knees, and keep tension in the band the entire time,” says Hallberg.

The next move is a plyometric exercise, which is designed to increase your ability to produce power. “With the lateral hops, focus on sticking the landing. Avoid excessive trunk lean and knee rotation,” says Hallberg.

Finally, complete 20 reps of a side plank leg raise on each leg, which targets the gluteus medius. “Keep your shoulders in line and try to maintain a neutral pelvis,” says Hallberg. If you struggle to maintain the side plank position for 20 lifts, drop onto your knee.

Once you’ve mastered this routine, continue making good use of your glute band with these three glute activation exercises for runners and this resistance band glute workout.

The 2024 CrossFit Open is just days away and Dave Castro is up to his old tricks again, sharing an obscure hint on his Instagram page.

The former Games director posted a picture of a red mushroom and the caption “24.1”, sparking wild speculation as to what it could mean. 

Teasing the hint on his YouTube channel earlier this week, Castro said he was worried it would be “too obvious”, but there doesn’t seem to be much risk of that. 

Several commenters, including 10-time Games athlete Scott Panchik, thought the mushroom (if poisonous) could hint at a “death by” format. This would see athletes set a running clock then tackle an increasing amount of work each minute until they couldn’t continue—check out this death by burpees workout as an example. 

One popular suggestion for this format was a combination of burpees and rowing, courtesy of CrossFit podcast Coffee Pods & Wods. 

Other CrossFit fans linked the red mushroom to the Super Mario video games, suggesting we could be faced with box jumps because the mustachioed plumber has made a career out of jumping on boxes. 

In the March edition of the CrossFit Games newsletter, The Hopper, Castro gave further, albeit vague, clues as to what to expect from the workout.

“Programming this year is unique, effective and simply beautiful in the classic CrossFit style,” he writes.

My guess? Fran. Maybe not for the first workout, but I have a hunch we might see this CrossFit benchmark test sometime in the next month.  

When Is The CrossFit Open?

The CrossFit Open kicks off on Thursday, February 29, and concludes on Monday, March 18. It’s an annual mass participation event that sees hundreds of thousands of people tackle a workout challenge every weekend for three weekends to test their fitness. For the sport’s top athletes, it’s also the first step to qualifying for the CrossFit Games.

The first weekend’s workout will be revealed on Thursday evening in a live-streamed event, where elite CrossFit athletes go head-to-head as they become the first to officially take the test.

The first live announcement for CrossFit Open workout 24.1 will pit the current fittest man on earth Jeffrey Adler against perennial podium contender Brent Fikowski in an all-Canadian showdown.

Female athletes Alex Gazan and Alexis Raptis (the current fifth and sixth fittest women on earth, respectively) will also face off.

After the release of the workout on Thursday, participants will then have until the following Monday to complete the workout and register their scores on the online leaderboard. 

You can catch the action on the CrossFit Games website or the CrossFit Games YouTube channel. The live show starts at 11am PT (7pm GMT). 

You can still register for the CrossFit Open 2024 to take part. 

I’ve run 12 marathons in the past seven years including doing the London Marathon six times, and right now I’m working harder in marathon training than ever before. The aim is a PR of 2hrs 27min (or faster, faster would be fine), and 10 weeks out from the race my weekly mileage is at its highest ever.

I’ve logged 70-80 miles in the past two weeks and there’s no letting up from my coach, with a couple of long and hard workouts each week, plus a long run and plenty of easy miles. In the past, I’ve run about 50 to 65 miles on average in marathon training, hitting 70 for the odd peak week, so it’s been an enjoyable challenge to increase my distance.

To get through the miles and hit targets during workouts, I’ve also had to be a bit smarter with my nutrition, and I’ve started using more sports supplements to make sure I’m not losing weight and getting the carbs, protein and other stuff the body needs when working hard. To this end, there are three main products I’ve been using regularly during marathon training.

1. Multivitamin Tabs

The main one of these I’ve been using is OTE’s Berry Multivitamin Tabs but they are currently  out of stock, and I’ve also been using more easily available tabs from Tesco, so I think you can substitute in any multivitamin drink for the same effect. A pint of water with multivitamins in it is a great way to start the day and a fixture in my routine when marathon training in the winter when I’m worried about getting ill, especially with two kids at school/nursery acquiring as many germs as they can.

2. Maurten Drink Mix 

This is expensive, but one of the best sports drinks you can get and I’ve really noticed the difference in how much better I feel in long workouts and races when using it compared with other drinks. With two or three runs of at least 12-13 miles each week, I’ve taken to using the Maurten Drink Mix regularly to ensure I have enough fuel in the tank during the runs so I’m not completely burned out by the end of them, which then compromises runs on the following days.

3. SiS REGO Rapid Recovery

One of the best recovery protein powders, SIS’s REGO contains 20g of protein, 23g of carbs as well as electrolytes, vitamins and minerals to help you bounce back after a hard run. In the past I haven’t felt the need for a dedicated recovery powder during marathon training, but with tough, long runs coming along every couple of days it’s been very helpful in speeding up recovery. It’s also a lot easier to get it down quickly after a run than making a meal, which can easily be delayed by pressing work or domestic matters. 

When you’re deep into marathon training with a goal time in mind it can become hard to believe you’ll be able to run that pace for 26.2 miles. That’s because during training you’re almost always running on tired legs, and your target pace feels unduly hard as a result.

Of course, when race day rolls around you’ll not only have a few more weeks of training in your legs to improve your fitness, but you’ll also have tapered for your marathon, meaning you’ve reduced your training load so you line up at the start with fresh legs. However, if you want to check in on your progress during training to see if your target time is realistic or not, you can try this long tempo session.

I got this session from Stephen Haas, coach of the Under Armour Dark Sky Distance group when I asked him for his favorite marathon workouts at the launch of the Under Armour Infinite Elite running shoe. It’s a workout he uses with his elite athletes and a great indicator of the kind of shape they’re in during marathon training.

It’s not easy or short, and it should certainly be the main workout you do in a given week of marathon training, with recovery days afterward. On the plus side, Haas normally has his athletes doing it at altitude, which you probably won’t have to contend with.

“When in Flagstaff or Camp Verde one of the [workouts] that I like to do a lot is a five-mile tempo, one-mile float, four-mile tempo, one-mile float, three-mile tempo, one-mile float, two-mile tempo, one-mile float,” says Haas. “It’s a session that we’ve done a lot. I like that it breaks up the tempo a little bit, and it’s still good volume.”

After a warm-up you hit the first tempo run section, running at a comfortably hard pace. A float recovery means that you slow down, but are still running rather than dropping to a walk or jog.

“For the float recovery we typically do that, depending on if it’s men or women, about a minute slower than what their race pace would be,” says Haas.

If you find that you’re naturally running your marathon pace during the tempo sections, it’s a great sign you’ll be able to hold that pace in your race.

It’s a long session where you’re running 18 miles of tempo and floats, so won’t be suitable for everyone. If it’s your first marathon or you’re just aiming to get around the course of your race it’s probably an unnecessarily hard one. Judging your effort on the tempo efforts will be crucial too, so if you’re not familiar with tempo runs it’s worth doing a couple of shorter ones first.

A half marathon is an excellent goal for runners of all levels. It’s a challenging distance that requires tailored training and a whole lot of grit to complete, without being as tough as running a marathon, which has a tendency to take over your entire life for months.

You still need a good chunk of time to prepare, however, and while how long it should take to train for a half marathon will depend on your fitness and running experience, it’s always good to have more time available.

For more advice on how long it takes to train for a half marathon we spoke to James Thie, coach at Coopah, official training partner of the London Landmarks Half Marathon.