Sam chats with Tim Manuel, a huge part of the KJ’s community. Tim rediscovered his love of running during the Covid lockdowns after first lacing up in his junior years—and he’s been flying ever since.

From a 2:11 PB over 800m through to an agonisingly close sub-3 marathon attempt at last year’s Sydney Marathon (3:00:50 ), Tim’s range is seriously impressive. A standout Masters athlete, he’s won multiple Cross Country and Track titles for KJ’s and played a key role in numerous podium finishes throughout the season.

Originally a middle-distance runner, Tim tackled the marathon with guidance from those around him, plenty of reading, and jumping into long runs with the WTC group as part of his Sydney build.

Training Weeks

Sam

• 
  

  Another solid week of training

  
  


• 
  

  Yasso 800s

  
  


• 
  

  Friday session: 5-4-3-2-1 off a one-minute jog

  
  


• 
  

  Sunday long run: 2 hours

  
  


• 
  

  Total volume: 80km

  
  

Tim

• 
  

  Running purely for enjoyment through the end of the year

  
  


• 
  

  Mixing in swimming ahead of the Australia Day Aquathon/Duathlon

  
  


• 
  

  Around 60km of running, including some pool-to-run transition practice

  
  

Café Kit of the Week

• 
  

  T8 Sherpa Shorts (order a size up)

  
  


• 
  

  ASICS Metaspeed Edge – Ekiden colourway

  
  


• 
  

  Milo cereal

  
  

Shoutouts

Tim gives a shoutout to Joe Crawford, who does a mountain of work behind the scenes for KJ’s while also running some seriously impressive times across the marathon and beyond.