For many people who complete a marathon it is the most meaninggful event in their lives. Successful completion of the 26-odd miles will be the result of months of hard, often lonely, endeavour. The run itself will bring enormous physioloogical and psychological stress that only the most completely prepared runners will overcome. Even after the months of preparation that have gone into training for the event the conditions and how the runner feels on the partiicular day will have a considerable bearing on how they perform.

TRACK AND FIELD