You may be aiming to set a new marathon PR or maybe you’re looking just to finish the course in your next marathon. Either way, your preparation for race day—namely your nutrition tactics—could be the keystone for success. The following tips may help make these your fastest 26.2 miles yet.

Springtime means warm rains, green grass and a fresh generation of new running shoes and updated favorites from which we can choose. This is part one of a two-part review, focusing on the classic running shoe companies and some of their latest stuff. Next month, we’ll look at some of the newer companies breaking into the running shoe market.

Running can bring an amazing blend of benefits: a great attitude, more vitality, clear thinking, a unique sense of freedom and a genuine sense of accomplishment. Most runners feel so positive about these benefits that they influence at least 10 other people a year to hop on the running bandwagon. If you’re one of these people and are thinking about taking up the sport but don’t quite know how to go about it, read on. With the following 10 tips, I’ve taken a conservative approach to get you started so that you ease into it and avoid any aches and pains. If you stick with it, you just may find yourself getting hooked on running.

Time is running out to register for the eighth annual Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, presented by SunTrust, before the entry fee increases. Runners and walkers planning to participate in Virginia Beach’s premier running event on August 31, 2008 are encouraged to register by May 15 for the $90 entry fee. After May 15, the entry fee increases to $105 until the event is sold out. The half marathon is limited to 20,000 entries.

I have been involved in several backpacking trips all over the world and the one constant is the importance of adequate gear for the environment — regardless if we are leading a group through the Wind River Range in Wyoming or hiking the Overland Track in Tasmania,

In her new book, Run Your First Marathon,Grete Waitz, nine-time winner of the New York City marathon, points out one of the wonderful draws of the marathon. “No matter who we are,” she writes, “at some point we are all first-time marathoners. All of us share that. That’s the beauty of the race — Olympians and all-comers share the same event.”