Start your weekend here, with a round-up of some of the best athletics, running and fitness-related stories from the past seven days.

Resistance to the clean slate that is January 1st is futile. It doesn’t matter how much you scoff that the date ticking over on the calendar is meaningless, that resolutions are made to be broken, or that giving up all the treats in life in January is adding insult to an injurious month of abstinence and empty pockets. Somehow, it gets you every time.

I can’t keep up. As I chug across the rolling grasslands of Ethiopia, it takes about 45 seconds before I’m painfully aware of my own absolute, overwhelming and slightly mortifying mediocrity.

There are no more loyal friends in the world than books. They have been a source of pleasure for me, allowed me to understand the world better and helped me grow as a person.