Some documentaries feel like you're sitting in on a spiritless first-year university lecture. Others use real life to take you on a journey, leaving you inspired and moved. 

100 Seconds--the story of 800m world record holder and London 2012 gold medalist David Rudisha—is most definitely one of the latter. 

This moving documentary follows, for 10 years, the unlikely duo of Rudisha and his coach Brother Colm (who leads a Batman-style double existence of being an Irish missionary and perhaps the most successful running coach in history). 

From humble beginnings at a teenaged training camp in Iten (Kenya), historical footage captures the beautiful humility of both these legends of running. 

Brother Colm has never run a race in his life, but understands the physche of the runner, and in particular the Kenyan runner, like few coaches on this planet. He openly explains that he has no training secrets, but that it is all about training the mind of the athlete. 

His techniques are a far cry from the multi-million dollar high performance centres we expect for our own athletes. Yet with his Olympic medal tally (of athletes he has coached at some stage) well into the dozens, it's hard to argue with his methods. 

The narrative arc of the doco starts with the rise of a young Rudisha as he claims the 800m world junior title but then runs into several years of injury and disappointment. At these times, the faith and stickability of both coach and athlete shine through, with the eventual happy ending of that incredible night two years ago at London's Olympic Park.

If you're a Londoner at all interested in running, no doubt you were glued to the screen (or at the stadium) while Rudisha lead from the gun at world record pace. He laid everything on the line and ended up holding on for the win and a new WR (the first man to go sub-1:41). In the process he dragged the rest of the field through for six either national records or PBs and one season's best. 

The race is arguably the greatest track race of all time, but what really makes it for me (and what makes this documentary so exceptional) was the sheer and uninhibited joy expressed by Rudisha in achieving his lifetime goal. No show-boating, no tough-guy poses, just pure, humble, uncontrollable joy. 

This brilliant BBC documentary captures the back story behind the two men that made that moment in athletics history happen. It celebrates running. It celebrates life. 

Book away 60 minutes to watch it this week. You'll be moved and inspired.  

Review by Hayden Shearman

By Hayden Shearman. 

I’ve run in cities all over the world, but none (so far) have come close to offering the teeming variety and abundance of London’s parks, woodlands and waterways. Here are five reasons why I feel so strongly:

1. The Empire Gives Back | Contrary to what you would assume, centuries of royalty and aristocracy are far more conducive to creating good running environments than nice, friendly egalitarian societies.

The reason for this is that, typically, the rich are the ones able to keep huge tracts of land and forest untouched by agriculture or industry in order to use the land simply for their own enjoyment. Whether they’re old hunting grounds (like Bushy and Richmond Parks) or private gardens for leisurely summer strolls (like the grounds of Chiswick Park), London is a patchwork of these incredibly old estate grounds.

In the last two centuries these private green spaces have been opened up to the public and, on the most part, borough councils and trusts have done an incredible job of maintaining and improving them.

2. People Actually Use the Parks | Victoria Park was created by Queen Victoria to help improve the life expectancy of East Londoners living in horrible conditions. And even today, it seems engrained in the psyche of Londoners to use the parks whether for eating, walking, relaxing or running.

For a runner, there is always something eerie about running in a city park with no one in it. You want this in the mountains and national parks, but not in the local woodland reserve. You like to see others out running and cycling. It makes the park feel safe and loved, and it reinforces your own sanity, that you’re not crazy going running everyday (even if that’s what the rest of the office calls you!).

3. Wooed by Water | The other great remnant left for London runners from the age of empire are waterways. Canals with their endless and flat towpaths, docklands with their expansive views, and the Thames with its many bridges, tunnels and riverside paths—they all provide the runner with a inviting running terrain and a welcome escape from traffic. 

And what is it about running next to a body of water that is so attractive anyway? Is the air more oxygen-rich? Or is it just the views? Or is it that mentally a body of water takes away the runner’s out-clause? What I mean is that when running between two bridges on the Thames you can’t just opt out and turn back early (that would involve doubling back). The only options are 1) keep running to the bridge or 2) swim across the Thames (the gravy-like nature of the river is obviously a good motivator to choose 1).

4. The Traffic | Above catching the Tube or bus or driving, the quickest way to get around the majority of London is to cycle. But cycling in any busy city inevitably places you at the bottom of the traffic food chain (a lorry is always waiting to cut you off). So this is where the running commute comes into its own.

And Londoners are catching on to this second-fastest and certainly much safer option of travel by their hundreds. In any rush hour you’ll see a solid stream of back-pack-laden joggers heading to or from work.

From my place (when I lived there) to Trafalgar Square was 3.2mi (5k) exactly. At rush hour I could expect to average 8min/mi, so a 25-minute total commute. TFL says that same journey at rush hour would take 42mins minimum using public transport and walking. Their cycling predicted time was 23mins (traffic light dependent of course). If I’m looking for ways to maximise my running training time and reduce the mind numbing commute, London is perfectly set up for running to work.

5. The Parks Themselves | Hampstead Heath has views and hills, Epping Forest has endless woodland trails, Bushy Park has wild deer, Hyde Park is ideal for pretending you’re Alastair Brownlee winning the Olympic Triathlon, Greenwich Park has history and sits on the longitudinal edge of the world, Richmond Park is just simply perfect, and I’m only getting started.

Soft under foot, easy on the eye, relatively fresh for the lungs, and as hard on the cardiovascular as you want to make them—London’s parks are second-to-none.