It will get a multi-million pound makeover after this years edition of Night of the 10,000m PBs

The track that is home to Highgate Harriers and hosts Night of the 10,000m PBs will be resurfaced.

The 2 million refurbishment of the surface at Parliament Hill will be funded by the City of London, and although it will take place after Night of the 10,000m PBs (May 20), no date for the start of any construction has been confirmed.

The work will ensure it [the track] maintains UK Athletics TrackMark accreditation and can continue to be used to host major national and international athletics events for years to come.

The project will also upgrade the floodlighting, to reduce light pollution, making it more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

As the City of London Corporation owns the Parliament Hill athletics track, it is financially responsible for any refurbishment.

The City Corporation protects over 11,000 acres of open space in London and south east England including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest and over 200 smaller sites in the Square Mile, investing over 38m a year.

Such news will be welcome to everyone who works at Night of the 10,000m PBs.

The event was first staged in Highgate in 2013 and has since become one of the most exciting athletics meets on the calendar. Every year, it showcases a mix of fast times and music, circus acts and entertainment.

This years edition will be one of five meets as part of the On Running Track Night series. The first event took place in Los Angeles last weekend (May 6) and others include Paris (June 10), Vienna (June 17) and Melbourne (date to TBC).

Night of 10,000m PBs Event Director Ben Pochee said: Highgate Harriers volunteer-powered event will offer the opportunity to get up close and personal to the fastest runners on the planet and headline circus acts for zero money.

Not much in life is free, and so Im proud of how the community have made this not-for-profit initiative socially accessible since 2013. The event puts on a pedestal and celebrates indefatigable goodwill and inspirational physical commitment and I hope as many people as possible can share the excitement with us.

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While many other athletes in other sports get a lot of glory for maintaining their physique in order to perform, it is often forgotten that marathon runners also have to spend many months building up their stamina. Since these distances are run outside, runners usually like to train outdoors(in rain or shine) in order to prepare themselves for the big day.

Individual participants are often challenging themselves within a race to move at a pace that bests their previous personal records. Some of the most intense battles an athlete can have are the ones with themselves. The momentum can ebb and flow, sometimes changing the live betting odds during a race.

Well take a look at three winners of the New York City Marathon who will be talked about for many years to come.

Shalane Flanagan

One of the most popular American-born winners of the New York City Marathon is Shalane Flanagan, who won the 2017 edition of the event. Flanagan finished the race in an astounding 2 hours and 26 minutes, and has continued to push her body in ways that most runners have never considered trying in the past. Its exactly the type of intense internal competitiveness that Flanagan displays, wanting to continue to improve her already peak performance.

It remains to be seen whether Flanagan will try to capture gold in New York City again in the future, but she will remain a fixture of the running community no matter what. She has shown an interest in helping other runners out when it comes to nutritional guidance about what to eat. This dedication towards giving back the sport is what makes her truly unique.

Ghirmay Ghebreslassie

He may not have the easiest name to say, but Eritreas Ghirmay Ghebreslassie has the potential to be a decorated runner when his career is said and done. He won the 2016 New York City Marathon, becoming the first Eritrean to do so. This is a wonderful thing about running and sports in general, as it shines a light on talent regardless of ethnicity.

Many competitors need several tries to claim victory at the marathon, but Ghebreslassie was victorious at the tender age of 21. This may put expectations for him moving forward at a higher level, but he seems like the type of person who will accept the challenge. Hes come so far (both literally and figuratively) that it seems like he will remain undaunted in his quest for future success.

Sharon Lokedi

Speaking of blazing-fast female competitors, Sharon Lokedi certainly fits into that category. She won the 2022 New York City marathon in a rapid 2 hours and 23 minutes. Lokedi also made history by becoming just the second woman to win the event in her first attempt.

Lokedi is originally from Kenya, but she is no stranger to the United States running circuit. She went to university in America, and set many Big 12 conference records on the track. She was also previously named 2019 Womens Indoor Track and Field Performer Of The Year.

Broadcaster on the 1000 mile run and cycle he will undertake between John OGroats to Lands End from June 5 to 23

Losing a good friend or close relative can have a profound effect on anyone and Im no different, writes Rob Walker.

Losing three of my mates and one of my nine-year-old sons best friends in the space of two years has left me with a heightened appreciation of life, love and the determination to focus on the beauty of the simplest pleasures of life. Like a run down a country lane with nothing but the sound of birds and bees on your ear.

Running, athletics and snooker have defined my life for more than 40 years and after losing Robin, Martyn, Stephen and little George, and speaking at all their funerals, I decided to set myself a challenge and raise a few quid for two brilliant charities.

.@WeAreWST Right. Massive undertaking. If you want to donate, join me enroute (June 5- 23,) or just tell me about your absent friends, get in touch. Grief takes many forms & Im determined to put some smiles on faces. Lets do this. #miles4mates https://t.co/ZF2wsHXoDH

Rob Walker (@robwalkertv) April 29, 2023

Thats why on June 5 I will set off from John OGroats to Lands End, covering more than 1,000 miles by cycling and running the length of this beautiful country in what I hope will be a thoroughly uplifting 19 days finishing in Cornwall on June 23.

Along the way I intend to spread some joy and encourage people to toast my friends whilst remembering  theirs, by giving out four bottles of champagne a day in memory of each of the four Im doing it for.

Im buying the bottles with my own money which people may think is a bit mad. But Ive started doing random acts of kindness over the last year or so and those no strings attached gestures really seem to resonate with people.

In part I think it must be my way of channelling the grief into something positive.

I am also a firm believer that if life has smiled on you, there is a moral obligation to act with humility and generosity.

Ever since watching the inaugural World Athletics Championships in Helsinki in 1983 I knew I wanted to either run the 1500m for Great Britain at the Olympics, or be the man in the stadium talking about it.

Thanks to a series of strokes of luck, some hard work and a lot of passion, four decades later I find myself as the lead international commentator at every World Championships and Olympic Games.

Even though Ive covered every Commonwealth Games since Manchester in 2002, every Olympics since Athens in 2004 and every World Championships since Helsinki in 2005, I still have to pinch myself sometimes. When Im on the microphone in those stadiums I feel an electricity of excitement which is hard to describe.

Commentating regularly to an international audience has led to some amazing friendships, connections and trips abroad, especially around East Africa. Its a part of the continent I love and the time Ive spent in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda has been incredible.

For the latter Im now an official sports tourism ambassador and as such everyone who donates to the Just Giving Absent Friends Tour will be entered into a prize draw to win an all expenses paid trip to Uganda to trek with mountain gorillas. An amazing experience I can tell you first hand after a recent trip there in February this year.

Its a trip my four friends would have loved. As is this Absent Friends Tour.

Robin had a heart attack at home 18 months before what would have been a brilliant 50th birthday. Martyn (45) and George (nine)  both died suddenly in their sleep with no warning and Stephen (53) fought a brain tumour for more than a decade with the heart of a lion.

Raising 25k for the Jessie May Childrens hospice at home and the Brain Tumour charity wont bring any of them back. Neither will giving away a free holiday to Uganda or handing out 76 bottles of champagne to strangers.

But it will put some smiles on faces including mine. And as Morgan Freeman so memorably puts it at the end of Shawshank Redemption. Get busy living or get busy dying. Thats goddamn right.

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Whether its a race, a tennis match, or team sports, competition is always filled with random events that you couldnt have predicted, and perhaps didnt want to have happened. Scientifically, there are typically three main ways that people respond to these situations fight, flight, or freeze.

Knowing how to respond correctly can help you thrive in the face of these situations, or at least have the ability to do your best. Heres what you should know about the randomness of competition, how it relates to life, and what you can do about it.

Randomness Is Life

The first thing you need to consider is that randomness is the norm and not the exception. As humans, we spend our entire lives attempting to bring order to chaos. This is to our benefit and allows us to be productive, but its important to recognise just how much of our lives we have no control over.

This doesnt have to be a doom and gloom situation. Your mind might go to car accidents or other misfortunes, but consider how many times youve run into an old friend or gotten some good news that you werent expecting.

Even when misfortune strikes, youll probably find that you handled things with grace or to the best of your ability at the time, more often than not. The key is to take the fear out of randomness and recognise that if its out of your control, its best not to worry about it.

We even reproduce randomness when creating things that we enjoy. People love card games because you dont know what you are going to draw from the deck. Having full knowledge in advance would take all of the fun out of the game.

Online casinos are a prime example. These slots are built on Random Number Generator (RNG) software that lets you get a different possibility for a spin each time. If you were playing the Eye of Horus slot game without randomness, thered be no point in getting free spins, youd know every time the Horus symbol was about to pop up, and nothing about the pay lines would intrigue you.

Whether you win or lose at a game you play, theres always a lesson to be learned. This applies whether youre playing a leisurely game of slots or running the biggest race of your life. Learning to see it as all the same thing detaches you from the fear of the outcome and lets you act accordingly.

Learn to clear your mind

Having a cluttered mind is the main reason that people cant deal with randomness. For instance, if the stress of a race is getting to you and youre already fatigued and dwelling on it, your willpower and focus will drop significantly if you start to feel sore or suffer an injury that youll have to power through. Its because instead of taking the event for what it is, you are not attaching it to the barrage of thoughts you had been focusing on.

Developing a practice for meditating or clearing your mind can help you whenever these events arise. Dedicate a portion of your daily athletic training to the mental aspect of the game. This can include visualization, breath work, and drilling worst-case scenarios.

Since life is filled with randomness, make it a part of your daily life to acknowledge and recognize this fact. The more you understand how common it is, the easier itll be for you to do something about it. Whether you need to play randomised games or simply acknowledge when randomness occurs so you can learn from it, develop this practice in your life so that you can grow. This will help you in competition and in life as a whole.