The highlight of the mountain running year was the WMRA World Mountain Running Championships, with 329 athletes coming from 39 nations competing in Krynica Zdroj, Poland on 8 September.

Hi everybody! I am glad to meet you all again, in order to give you some news before the New Year's celebrations with my family.

The first IAAF Gold Label Road Race of the year is the 12th Xiamen International Marathon in China and the famous race in Fuijan province with its coastal course promises to be a good one again on Thursday (2).

Statisticians A Lennart Julin and Mirko Jalava look back on the best long distance performances on the track this year with Julin covering the men s events and Jalava the women s.

The men s 10km race at the famous Bozen/Bolzano New Year s Eve event produced a thrilling finish with Ethiopia s Imane Merga just holding off Kenya s 2010 World Half Marathon Championships winner Wilson Kiprop to retain his crown on Tuesday (31).

Kenya s Leonard Komon and Linet Masai fulfilled their roles as favourites for the 49th edition of Madrid s San Silvestre Vallecana, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, with impressive wins over the 10km course on Tuesday (31).