Great stuff to ponder on your next run. A wrap up of this week’s articles on exercise science as tweeted by Amby Burfoot, Editor at Large of Runner’s World Magazine. You can follow Amby’s tweets at http://twitter.com/exerscience.

Kicking off a series about ultra running, here is a little glimpse of what many would consider one of the most famous ultra races of all, the Comrades Marathon. And guess who is running it! (No, not me.)

Jen Van Allen
Resides in: Bryn Mawr
Works at: Runner’s World
Years Running: 13
Links: Runnersworldchallenge.com, Runnersworld.com/vanallen, Jenvanallen.com
What are your favorite training foods?
Hammer products, sweet potatoes, and the spinach we grow in our backyard.

What is your biggest running accomplishment and why?
It’s four accomplishments strung together: The fact that I finished my first marathon in 4:51, my fastest in 3:08 (the top 1% of female Boston Marathon finishers), and won a national ultramarathon championship, and that 15 years ago, I couldn’t run around the block even if someone was chasing me. To me, …

A pacer’s duties are to get their runners to the finish in a certain time. People choose to follow a pacer in a race for many reasons; it relieves them from calculating paces while racing, adds an extra element of motivation during the race, combines an element of fun, helps get them across the finish line within their time goal, helps them reach new personal achievements. Read what Garmin’s 1:50 pacer from the St. Luke’s Lehigh Valley Half Marathon has to say about her very first pacing job.

This week in the Valley … half marathon race recaps, Girls on the Run, water fountains and trail map.

Coaches Corner is a new series on the website featuring local coaches sharing their knowledge. Read what our coaches have to say about training smart and staying injury-free.

A friend of mine ran 366 days in a row last year. He ended his streak on January 3, 2010. When I asked him why he decided to start this endeavor he replied, “I was pondering what goal I should set for myself running-wise for the year, and knew that with a toddler and a baby on the way, I wouldn’t have time to train for a marathon. I had seen the US Running Streak Association website and figured I could at the very least do the minimum requirement for …

What a whirlwind of a weekend that was! Thousands of runners descended on the city of Allentown over the weekend to run the St. Luke’s Lehigh Valley Half Marathon and the Physical Therapy at St. Luke’s 5k. For this year’s 25th running of the half marathon more than 3200 runners participated and the 5k race had 451 participants. I just love the energy and good running vibe that emanates from this event.
The weekend started off with an exceptional day of sunshine in center city Allentown. This year’s Expo was grade …