Many runners use the walk-run method when they start out, but seasoned runners can benefit from taking frequent walk breaks, too

Words Lisa Jackson

Ask many runners how they got started in running and chances are they’ll say the NHS’ amazing Couch to 5K app, which takes runners from sofa-sloth status to proud 5K finisher in just nine weeks. The fact the programme breaks a distance that’s daunting for nervous newbies into manageable chunks is the secret of its undeniable success. Whereas before most running books and experts used to assume simply everyone was capable of running for 20 to 30 minutes non-stop, this app took things back to basics and asked beginners to attempt just 60 seconds of running at a time, and intersperse those speedier sections with walk breaks.

Many former fitness-phobes who’ve been converted into keen-as-mustard runners tend to forget about walkrunning once they can comfortably run 5K. But that’s a mistake because this approach can actually help you run faster. Far from being a sign of weakness during a race, walk-running can be a sign that you’re running smarter, not harder, and even elite runners have benefited from this approach. The best known example of this is probably Caroline Wöstmann, who in 2015 became the first South African woman to win the 56-mile Comrades Marathon in 14 years.

Although Caroline was leading the pack, on the third major hill she took the first of what would be several pre-planned walk breaks. With the whole of South Africa holding its breath and willing her to get going again, she calmly carried on walking and smiled as two of her rivals sailed past. But Caroline wasn’t walking because she couldn’t run any longer. She was walking because it was all part of a clever strategy: “I followed a plan my coach and I had worked out”, she said afterwards.