Best Of 2018

IN THE LAST 71 MONTHS WE'VE BEEN AWED BY CHAMPIONS, AMAZED BY TECH, HUMBLED BY RACES AND INSPIRED BY ORDINARY RUNNERS. HERE'S OUR PICK OF THE BEST IN RUNNING THIS YEAR.

- Lisa Abdellah & Mike Finch

THE RUNNERS WHO INSPIRED US

BIGGEST LOSER

Taniko Gough Weight lost: 46kg (RW April 2018)

Not only is Taniko Gough the RW Run It Off Club’s biggest loser; her story also inspires us, because it has enough motivation for us to overcome just about any obstacle that stands in our way. In 2013, the 34-year-old from Kensington broke her back in a tragic cycling accident. The damage to her L2 and L3 vertebrae was so severe that she wasn’t able to walk around the supermarket, let alone exercise.

Gough also has Crohn’s disease (an inflammatory bowel disease), which limits the amount of healthy eating you can do purely because you’re unable to digest food such as raw fruit and vegetables. It’s also an autoimmune disease, which means her body attacks itself. She lost her gall bladder in October 2016, and had to have open stomach surgery. And yet, just two weeks after her surgery, when she still had 30 staples in her stomach, she started walking on the treadmill. She ran her first 5K in January 2017.

Gough describes every one of her races as a ‘massive achievement’ – and considering how far she’s had to come, we couldn’t agree more.

WINNING WEIGHT-LOSS TIPS... FROM THE RW RUN IT OFF CLUB

1. “There are no quick fixes in life; but putting in the graft makes the reward that much more worthwhile.” – Ronald Smith (RW November 2018)

2. “Lots of people ask me what my secret is, and they’re almost disappointed when I tell them it ’s ‘consistency’. Being consistent – as opposed to searching for the ideal – means it’s okay to fail every now and then.” – Bianca-Leigh Nagel (RW August 2018)