Breaking the Tape

Happy New Year Everyone! Thanks to everyone who has subscribed as I started out telling the stories of our favourite athletes in 2025. With so many top races to look forward to at the start of 2026 - World Cross Country, Millrose Games, World Indoors - I can't wait to document it all and keep putting out the videos. Looking forward to having you all along for the ride in the new year!

10 hours ago | [YT] | 14

Breaking the Tape

On 29th October I posted the video below predicting that Alex Yee would run 2:06 at the Valencia Marathon. At the time, not even the man himself was talking about a time that fast, and most people didn't give him a chance. Turns out it was one of my better takes. Maybe I should give up the running videos and start doing triathlon ones instead...😆



https://youtu.be/nu5rtxYkvaI?si=2yYBE...



Looking forward to seeing what this means for Yee in future. The marathon at the 2029 World Champs as I suggested in the video, or maybe even a fun Triathlon / Marathon double at the next Olympics?🤞

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 25

Breaking the Tape

We are just over 24 hours away from the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and while we have some strong favourites for the individual races (see my video on Jane Hedengren linked below😊) the team titles are very much up for grabs! Who do you think will win on the women's side?

NC State

Won the difficult Southeast Region with three top 10 finishers (Hannah Gapes 2nd, Angelina Napoleon 6th, Bethany Michalak 8th) and a spread of 1:03, as they aim to get back to winning ways following their three-peat of Championship wins from 2021-2023.

BYU

The Cougars came up 2 points short of the Mountain Regional title, losing out to New Mexico despite Hedengren's heroics at the front of the race. They will need more out of their 4th and 5th runners if they are to triumph at Nationals.

Florida

Won the South Region title with a spread of just 46 seconds between their top five runners. Their consistency makes them a real threat, but will they have enough to challenge the top two?

Jane Hedengren vs Innes Fitzgerald video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZgcZ...

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Breaking the Tape

With the season close to finishing, who do you think the best male runner of 2025 has been? We had some notable thrills and upsets at the World Championships, but there was a lot that happened outside of that too - some crazy performances on the roads from Sebastian Sawe and Jacob Kiplimo, enthralling storylines that built through the Diamond Leagues, such as Noah Lyles vs the Jamaicans in the sprints, and even Indoor World Records from Grant Fisher, Yared Nuguse and Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Putting out a few top options below and in the poll, but you might have your own ideas!

BUSANG COLLEN KEBINATSHIPI
Quiet throughout the year, but exploded into life when it mattered, running a top ten fastest time ever in both the Semis and Final of the 400m to take the title with ease, before coming back to run an iconic anchor leg in the 4 x 400m, overhauling American rival Rai Benjamin on the line. At 21 years of age, 2025 will likely only be the beginning.

EMMANUEL WANYONYI
The men's 800m is the strongest it has ever been, with multiple 1:41 runners, yet Wanyonyi has dominated them all this season, winning 6/8 races over the distant, discounting Championship rounds and Grand Slam Track. But the way he has raced has been most impressive, leading from the front almost every time, most notably in his World Champs gold medal winning performance, where he somehow held off a charging Marco Arop and Djamel Sedjati.

JIMMY GRESSIER
One of the most likeable men in distance running, Gressier had a World Champs to remember, with gold in the 10,000m (making him the first non-African born runner to win since 1983) and bronze in the 5000m. While considered upsets, his form throughout the season was strong too, with PBs from the 1500m to the Half Marathon, and big wins at the European Road Running Championships and the Diamond League Final.

JACOB KIPLIMO
Started the year with a bang, with statistically the greatest distance running performance of all time in Barcelona, where his 56:42 Half Marathon World Record was worth 1323 points on the World Athletics scoring tables. Excitement reached fever-pitch for his marathon debut in London, and while he was beaten by Sawe, 2:03:37 for second place was still a very solid debut. Going one better to claim top spot on the podium at Chicago in 2:02:23, while running under world record pace until 35km, shows he has a lot more to give in the event.

NOTABLE MENTIONS
Oblique Seville and Noah Lyles made strong cases for their performances in the sprints, Cole Hocker's redemption tour to win the 5000m at the World Championships was a special moment with potentially far-reaching consequences for the future of Championships 5k running, and Sebastian Sawe ran arguably the best marathon performance of all-time with his 2:02:16 in temperatures that reached 25 degrees celsius in Berlin.

2 months ago | [YT] | 10

Breaking the Tape

Thanks so much to everyone who helped me reach 1,000 subscribers today! It really means so much to have found support from all of you - I never dreamed when I started this channel that in less than two months we would reach this point. The interest in the videos and insightful and fun comments you all post has really made it worthwhile🙏

3 months ago | [YT] | 68

Breaking the Tape

The World Championships are finally here! The first track finals will be the 10000m races - who do you think will win the men's race on Sunday? Preview videos of most of the distance events are already live on my channel, and I'll post race breakdowns once they happen.

Ahead of the 10ks, why not build the hype with my newest preview video comparing Faith Kipyegon and Beatrice Chebet's chances in the 5000m (link below)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAuXf...

3 months ago | [YT] | 7

Breaking the Tape

Which event are you looking forward to the most in Tokyo? Previews of the men's 1500m and 5000m are now live (link below)! These might be the races I am most looking forward to at the World Championships, but there are so many contenders. The sprints look amazing, the women's 400m could be one of the best showdowns in history over that distance, plus Beatrice Chebet, Faith Kipyegon and Anges Ngetich might just make up the strongest 5k team ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrtnz...

3 months ago | [YT] | 6

Breaking the Tape

The Diamond League season is in the books, and what a season it has been for the men’s 1500m! It feels like every week a new contender has been making a case as favourite for the World Championships. But in Niels Laros, we might just have found the real deal.

Watch out for a video previewing the event in Tokyo, coming soon on my channel, and get ready to give your ideas on who is the favourite for Tokyo😄

#1500m #diamondleague #nielslaros

4 months ago | [YT] | 7

Breaking the Tape

The Diamond League is back and the distance races in Silesia are looking AMAZING! We have Faith Kipyegon aiming to break the 22 year-old 3000m record, Keely Hodgkinson making her return from injury over 800m, and Americans Yared Nuguse, Hobbs Kessler and Josh Hoey looking for a backdoor into the World Championships labelled 'Diamond League Final' after missing out on the team at the US Champs.

But the most exciting race of the meet might just be the women's 1500m, and not because of the regular 1500m runners. Beatrice Chebet is racing the event for the first time outside of Kenya, and is a very different athlete to the one who ran 4:06 to win the Kenyan Championships in 2023. As the first woman to break 29 minutes in the 10k and 14 minutes in the 5k, can she transfer that form to the shorter distance and even give her friend Kipyegon's world record a scare? It's unlikely in her first attempt, but I expect something close to 3:50, and with Gudaf Tsegay in the race, who knows how fast it will go out?😂

How fast do you think Chebet can run?

4 months ago | [YT] | 4