Neff, 31 and a father of two girls (with one more on the way), attended high school in Australia and Canada where he ran 3:54 in the 1500m. He now lives in the Houston area where he competed in the NCAA for cross country and track. He has represented Canada at the World Mountain Running Championships and recently broke the Guinness World Record pushing his little girl in a stroller at the Katy Half Marathon in 1 hour 11 minutes and the marathon record at the Toronto Marathon in 2 hours 31 minutes. This November he will also be competing at the World 50k championships in Doha, Qatar which he qualified as Canada's top ultra runner with a 3:08 at the national championships in May.

How much «specific» training is needed to complete such an outstanding performance? What kind of problems might occur during the race?

My training for the stroller marathon race has really been no different than a regular marathon training buildup, except of course I'm pushing a stroller with my kids as much as I can. Its been different to have some company now on my long runs, I did a couple 30 to 35km runs with my girls and they were great company. The training was as much for them as it was for me, I know Alessandra can enjoy 2.5 hours in a stroller but obviously if the weather is poor than keeping her comfortable will be the biggest issue to face.

You achieve times with stroller, runners just dream of. In your eyes, what are the three most important factors that lead to success?

Enjoyment, Consistency and Patience. You have to love what you are doing, continue to build over a long period of time without much downtime, and be patient with your training and especially your recovery.

You are not only a runner but also a coach. You work for the Swiss training scheduler running.COACH. Which of its training principles apply to athletes of all performance levels?

Recovery is the most important part of any training program, you have to do the workouts but you also need to recover between them to actually get the benefit. Fortunately the running.COACH programs have not only some great workouts but the training scheduling and one-on-one Gold and Silver Coaching is where we really differentiate ourselves with allowing for customization of training to ensure recovery. By the way: These days there is actually a sales campaign running where you can buy a silver subscription for the price of bronze.

Many runners have the goal to run a marathon once in a lifetime. What are your tips for all those for a successful «project»?

Be patient. I see a lot of athletes catch the running bug later in life, and that's fantastic. But too often I see someone go right from 5k to marathon, is it doable - yes. But the risk for injury and not enjoying yourself is too high, you won't be able to remain consistent. You can see this is all coming in circle with my factors for success. Continue to build up to the marathon over a long period of time, years are not to short to measure your training! There are a lot of fun distances on route to completing your marathon, the half marathon has recently become a very popular distance to have fun with.

Foto: ZVG