FROM THE EDITOR

This issue is a treat for data fans (which I suspect a lot of runners are) – on page 46 we bring you the results of our State of Running 2016 survey. For this, all of RW’S international editions surveyed over 17,000 runners in 20 countries to get an insight into the habits and likes of today’s runners across the world. The subjects range from the obvious (such as average mileage and running frequency) to the more unusual: I discovered that 49 per cent of you would rather go running than have sex (is it possible to love our sport a bit too much?), while 94 per cent of runners are in favour of waving to other runners – clearly none of them live in London.

If that doesn’t sate your hunger for stats, then turn to page 52 for a feature on Ken Young, ‘Mr Big Data’ – a wonderfully enigmatic, extravagantly tattooed former physicist who has turned into the undisputed king of roadrace statistics, and whose work, whether by informing age-grading comparisons or by keeping an incredibly detailed record book of results, has benefitted global running immeasurably.

And there’s a less stat-driven, but equally fascinating, glimpse into the international reach of our sport on page 38, where four people tell us about the pleasures and challenges of being a runner in Paris, Bangkok, Rio and Djibouti. It’s an inspiring reminder that regardless of where you live, it really is a runner’s world.