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Because the BTEC 1st is awarded at three levels, pass (bronze), merit (silver) and distinction (gold), assessment materials must reflect the distinctions between the three. Generally, for a pass, you just need to ‘describe’, say, how the heart works (eg as a pump to supply oxygenated blood to working muscles). For a merit, however, you may be asked to go on to ‘explain’ the blood flow through the heart and its distribution throughout the vascular system. Finally, for a distinction, you will often be asked to ‘evaluate’ or ‘analyse’ something, for example, the effects of aerobic and anaerobic exercise on the heart.

This makes sense in terms of learning theory as it provides a hierarchy of competences for assessors to recognize and evaluate. But in practice, for you as the learner, the boundaries between the three can appear blurred. For example, as second nature, many of you will ‘explain’ as part of your description and therefore achieve two tasks in one. Please don’t hesitate to contact your assessor if you have any questions about assessments. S/he is there specifically to help you. And it’s better to do this than to ask the forum – like ‘phoning a friend, they might know . . . but then again they might not!

Probably the most common mistake people make is to do too much too soon so our first piece of advice would be to walk before you run. Start by walking briskly enough to work up a sweat and get your heart pumping - for about half an hour at a time. (If you’re using a treadmill, you can walk on an incline.) When you’re used to this, start to add in a few minutes of jogging.

At first, the time you spend walking will be greater than your jogging time. Your aim will be to reverse this position. First, work up to the point where your exercising time is split 50:50 between brisk walking and jogging/running and then increase your jogging until you can keep it up for the half hour session.

How long should this process take? That depends on your starting fitness level. Ideally, you should always be able to talk as you go so you should use this as a guide to pacing yourself. It’s the challenge to your body’s systems that increases your fitness so you do need to push yourself – though not to the point of pain or sickness. And in early days, it’s wise to increase your distance rather than your pace. So once you’re up and running for 30 minutes, try to increase it to 35 or 40.

There are loads . . .

Safe, regular jogging or running means that you will:

• Reduce the risk of premature death (by as much as 40%!)
• Reduce the risk of developing and/or dying from heart disease
• Reduce high blood pressure and the chances of developing it
• Reduce high cholesterol or the risk of developing high cholesterol
• Reduce the risk of developing colon cancer and breast cancer
• Reduce or maintain body weight
• Reduce the risk of developing diabetes and other weight-related conditions
• Build and maintain healthy muscles, bones, and joints
• Reduce depression and anxiety
• Feel good about yourself and generally enjoy life more.

We can’t think of any more at the moment but we think there are enough reasons here to give it a go!

None – but we use the two terms because people often think ‘running’ isn’t for them but that they might be able to manage to jog. Generally speaking, we understand ‘jogging’ to be running but at a slower pace.

Some people say that the difference can be found in attitude. If you go out with a couple of friends, around the local park, chatting without even looking at/thinking about the time then you’re definitely a jogger. If, on the other hand, you’re serious enough about things to set your watch as you leave the house, to time your efforts, then you’re a runner.

But really, who cares?

It’s true that runners do, from time to time suffer injuries because of their passion – torn muscles, sprained tendons and ligaments. Some even trip as they’re putting on their shorts and injure their backs tying their shoelaces, ROSPA reports.

You have to weigh against this, however, the accidents and conditions that are less likely to occur as a result of your participation in running. As a fit runner, your balance will improve (especially if you run on a variety of surfaces including uneven ones such as tracks and grassland). You’re therefore less likely to fall in general terms. And if you do, your stronger bones and connective tissue will hold up better to the stress of it, resulting in less injury. You’ll be able to manage the stresses and strains of everyday life with less chance of, for example, getting a bad back. And of course none of this includes the added benefits in terms of reduced ill health (see ‘What are the Benefits of Running?’)

Think about it like this. As with any other sport, running has its hazards. But the risk of any of those hazards resulting in accidents can be vastly reduced by some simple measure you can take:

ALWAYS warm up before going for a run. Start by walking.
Although arguments about pre-exercise stretching continue, no-one has shown that it’s bad for you! ALWAYS stretch before going out or on the treadmill.
Follow the beginners’s guidelines (see ‘Where do I start?’) and don’t be tempted to do too much too soon (one of the commonest causes of injury and VERY frustrating).
Increase your distance by no more than 10% per week
Rest on at least two days per week
Don’t be tempted to run if you have pain in a muscle or joint. Rest and seek medical advice if necessary. It’s unlikely to go away if you continue to run on it and most probably it’ll get worse, resulting in rest and a big gap in your training.

Try to run with someone else. If you run alone, vary your route and the time of day you run. It’s a good idea, too, to carry some ID (go to http://www.coco.org.uk and help a charity while keeping yourself safe).

With a distance learning course, academic expectations are the same as for a classroom-based course in that you are still expected to work through the course, do additional research/reading, and tackle exercises and assessments. It can be a disadvantage that you’re working alone rather than in a group but at Great2Run we’ve tried to minimise any feelings of isolation by providing the website and discussion forum. The College, too, is a key partner in your programme, and you should contact your tutor with any queries or comments you may have. The advantages are that you can work in the comfort of your own home and at times to suit yourself. And, although we present this as a 20/30 week programme, you can work through the learning zone at a pace that suits you.

At any time. Just call a Great2Run consortium college or download the application form from this site and send it off to your college. You should allow the full 20 weeks to do the course (30 if you are training for a marathon), and 2-3 weeks for enrolment to take place. It’s ideal (but not essential to the course) if you finish your training plans in preparation for your event.

If there’s anything in the learning zone that isn’t clear to you, or if you’re not sure about any of the assessment tasks, you should contact your tutor at your Great2Run consortium college.

Because the learning is designed to complement your training, you should try to find the time to work your way through the 10 sessions in the learning zone. The booklet in your pack gives some idea of the time it should take you to work your way through the sessions on your computer. However, these will vary, and the time it will take to do this programme is likely to depend on:

1. How much you know already about health and fitness
2. Your prior experience of the formal learning environment
3. Your familiarity with your computer
4. Your organisational skills.

You may also wish to do some further research, either by reading the texts suggested on your log off pages or by using the internet. This is a good idea because it can both consolidate and add to your learning.

The additional time it takes you to do the assessments largely depends on the level at which you aim. Tasks for a Pass (a bronze award) require only moderate input. If you decide to go for Merit or Distinction, you will find there is more work to do and you have to commit further hours to your learning. Because the assessments are designed to help you to maximise your training, you should find the extra work is worth it.

No, all enrolment can be done by post and you can register your DVD by going online or by ‘phone. You will not need to go to the College at all. When you need to speak to your tutor, you can contact her/him by ‘phone or email.

Only Sessions 5 and 10 don’t have formal assessment tasks attached to them. All other sessions end with the presentation of 3 tasks. Assessments are set at 3 levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold, and these equate to Pass, Merit and Distinction respectively in the BTEC First Certificate in Sport (validated by Edexcel). If you want to get a Bronze medal (a Pass) then you need to complete Task One for each assessment. If you’re aiming for a Silver medal (a Merit) then you need to complete Tasks One and Two for each assessment. If you’re going for Gold (Distinction) then you need to complete all tasks for all assessments. The programme prompts you to send off your work for assessment at 3 points – after session 2, session 4 and session 9. You should follow the instructions from your College and send off assessment materials as soon as you’ve done them. It’s a quick and simple process and one that you can write into your routine.

Yes. There are a number of reasons why:

1. It is the only way that you can get recognition of your learning and achievement.
2. Lifelong learning is viewed very positively by employers. Your studying and qualification will look good on your CV, and you can speak to your current employers about your participation in the programme.
3. You can get a national, level 2 vocational award in sport that gives you access to education at a higher level.
4. It is the only way that you can get access to the special offers on this site.
5. As a registered student, it is part of your contractual obligation.

This is no problem as you don’t have to meet a tight schedule on a weekly basis. You can therefore ‘catch up’ in your own time. If, however, you find you’re unable to keep up over a number of weeks, you should call your tutor and arrange to extend the time you have to complete your studies.

As the course is DVD-based, much of the learning appears on screen. However, we’ve included a number of additional notes that you can print out to read later in greater comfort. And, if you have a DVD player with your TV, you can watch the longer videos on your TV from the comfort of your armchair.

When you are doing computer-based sessions, you should take regular rest breaks, stretching your legs and resting your eyes. And you should take care with your posture when sitting, ensuring your legs aren’t crossed, your feet are flat on the floor, and your abdominal muscles are contracted, supporting your back.

It’s difficult to fail the Great2Run programme because it’s possible to get recognition of your achievement at each of the three points at which you submit work.

On each occasion, a college assessor will mark your work and return it to you with written feedback. If you have not met the assessment criteria at a first attempt, the written feedback will include additional help so that you can re-work your assignment and resubmit it to achieve a pass at a second attempt.

If you’re a relative beginner, or attempting longer distances for the first time then it may be a good idea to join a club if you can find one that caters for your level. It’s good for your motivation and you might be able to get some good coaching tips too. You’re also likely to meet potential training partners.

The College will contact you with your results. Although you submit work at two intermediate points during your studies, you need to complete (and pass) all three sections in order to achieve the BTEC First Certificate in Sport. You should therefore make sure that you remember to send off your work for assessment after Sessions 2, 4 and 9.

It may take a few weeks for your results to come through.

We’d say ‘yes’ to this one. You don’t need to chat constantly - you might run together in total silence - but it’s a really good idea to find a training partner/s at about the same level as you. It helps with motivation, it means you can’t skip a run because you’d be letting someone else down, and it means you can run routes that might be off limits to the lone runner.

Because the BTEC First Certificate in Sport is a nationally-recognised and listed qualification, learners can currently access this free-of-charge via their local further education college. However, future plans for the funding of further education are likely to see a change to fee structures, and future programmes may carry a learner contribution. So now is the time to do it!

You should seek professional help with an injury that doesn’t heal with the help of the RICE regime (see Session Two in the Learning Zone). If you have to take time out of your training, you can’t expect to return to it at the point at which you left off. You may need to go back and repeat earlier weeks’ training or you can select a less demanding plan for the first couple of weeks when you return to your training. It is unwise to try to do too much too soon after suffering from injury because of the chances of it recurring and worsening.

Ideally, yes. If you do this, you can progress smoothly through the 20 weeks, complementing your training as you go. But you can access the contents of any session at any time so if you’ve more spare time in one week than another, and you want to plan ahead, you can do your learning at a time that suits you. And if you want to learn about nutrition first, or think you need to do the session on motivation, then do these. In this way, you can model the course content to suit your needs.

There are lots of reasons why this might be the case: lack of time, illness, injury, too demanding a plan . . . You should simply use the button on your training page that takes you back to ‘Getting Started’ and pick a less demanding set of training plans.

The Great2Run programme provides sets of 20-week programmes but these may be insufficient for some people, particularly if they are unaccustomed to exercise. You can extend your training simply by repeating any week’s training before progressing to the next. If you are training for a marathon using this programme, it is recommended that you follow weeks 1-10 of the half marathon programme before embarking on your 20-week marathon training. The training programme is not a finite challenge so if 20 weeks doesn’t get you to where you want to be, do the race anyway (without putting too much pressure on yourself) and then continue with your training with a new target and challenge.

Yes. The programme is designed to be used time and again. The objective is not to train for a particular event, do it, then return to a state of ‘unfitness’! Once you have met your first aim, you should use this as a foundation from which to work towards your next goal – and event. In this way, you enjoy the benefits that your new physical fitness and lifestyle have brought you.

You can reset the disk by going to the ‘timeout’ button. Thereafter, you can input your new data – diet, fitness, BMI, mile time – and get a new set of training plans for distances from 5k to a marathon.

Lots of people are eligible to take this qualification but partner colleges must be sure that all learners enrolling on the programme will be able to benefit from their studies.

We are, howeer, no longer able to offer the programme free of charge anywhere in the UK. if you are prepared to fund your own learning, please contact us and let us know how much you are prepared to pay. This will help us to find a partner college and to offer the programme again by the end of the year.

You can run in anything you like as long as it’s comfortable. A number of thin layers of clothes is better than one thick layer as sweat can move more freely away from the skin’s surface. There are some really good running vests around (referred to as ‘base layer technology’) that wick sweat away from your body so that you don’t feel cold and wet while you’re running. These new textiles really do work. A breathable, wind-proof outer shell is a good idea too. For women, a good, comfortable sports bra is also a wise investment.

Shoes are the most important running accessory and, as advised in the ‘Getting Started’ video at the beginning of your Great2Run programme, you should go to a good sports shoe shop where you will be able to get advice on your needs. Preferably, go somewhere where there’s an in store treadmill so that you can have your running style (your gait) analysed. Once you know your needs, you can buy by mail order. This can be cheaper. Try searching on the internet for specialist running shops or contact the national headquarters of large running store brands for advice on your local specialist store with trained staff.

This depends on: your personal preferences (some of us are ‘morning’ people, some of us are not!); the demands of your work/domestic routine; time of year; climate; and a trainng partner's timetable. Whatever time you run, take care to eat in preparation for training (see The Good Food Guide). Don’t try to run on a full stomach. Running on an empty stomach isn’t a good idea either but this is largely down to personal preference.

Not really – the great appeal of running is its simplicity. If you bought everything thrust at you in magazines or at trade shows, you’d need a back pack to carry it all! However, an uncomplicated digital watch with simple stopwatch/sportstimer facilities will be useful – and if you don’t already have one, choose one with large, easy-to-read digits. It doesn’t have to be expensive.

Ideally, we would all run in scenic or interesting surroundings so parks and open countryside are good places to run, and they generally avoid traffic too. Soft, even surfaces are best. If you’re running in built up areas, tarmac road surfaces are better than concrete footpaths but traffic is a problem so you should wear something that makes you highly visible and run facing oncoming traffic. As suggested in Session One in the Learning Zone, get a map of the locality in which you’ll be running. You may be surprised at the number of footpaths there are near you and you can use these to link up longer routes as your training progresses.

It’s a good idea to plan circular routes unless you can be taken to the end of a linear one so that you can run home. If you’re a beginner, a flat(ish) route is ideal. You can introduce hills (following your training plans) as you progress.

Finally, remember that if you’re running in the dark, some routes may not be suitable for the lone runner. Quiet, poorly-lit footpaths may have to be kept for a Saturday morning.

Ironically, and contrary to popular belief, large cities area usually better serviced with open spaces, parks, canal towpaths and playing fields etc whilst rural locations sometimes present difficulties with regard to access and poorly maintained footpaths. If you drive to a running location, don’t forget to take a set of clean, dry clothes for the journey home.

You should follow your training plan and not be tempted to do too much too soon. However, you may not have chosen the right plan for you at the outset. If you find that you consistently rate yourself better or worse than your plan suggests you should be, you can change to something either more or less demanding. You can do this at any time during your training.

As a beginner, the speed at which you run will largely be dictated by your aerobic capacity. If you run too fast, you will quickly become breathless and have to slow to a manageable pace.

As you progress through your training programme, you will be able to alter your pace to suit your training needs.

A jog is a slow pace that you use to warm up, cool down, and as a beginner at the start of your training.

An easy run is slightly faster than a jog, with a longer stride and resulting in a working heart rate at the lower end of your training zone (see ‘Getting Started’ in the programme to find out what your working heart rate should be).

A tempo run is a faster pace that you should be able to hold for about 10 minutes. This results in a working heart rate at the top end of your training zone where you are at the top end of your oxygen uptake levels.

A sprint is a very fast pace and as it is anaerobic (you don’t use oxygen at this pace) you’ll only be able to keep it up for about 30 seconds.

You should try a tempo run once a week to improve your fitness level and increase your running speed. Otherwise, you can develop a range of paces between easy run and tempo so that you can follow your training plans. Interval training – running at different paces in the same training session – isn’t necessarily about sprinting; it’s about using different paces (between easy and tempo) to improve your capacity to run at higher levels over longer periods.

Always remember that the object of the exercise is to improve steadily so you need to increase both duration and intensity gradually in order to achieve your aims. It’s really not complicated – it’s just about steady progression.

There’s no doubt that this programme could take up a lot of your time (and time you probably feel you don’t have!) but you have chosen to run and you should try not to lose sight of the reasons for this. You should explore possibilities for fitting your training in by combining it with other things you already do. Can you run to and/or from work? Could you run in your lunch hour? What about getting up an hour earlier in the mornings? (If you do run in the mornings, take care to warm up properly.) It’s hard to get others to change to accommodate your needs, but it’s worth thinking about simple changes you could make to domestic or work routines that would accommodate your training and learning. Remember, too, that the learning complements your training and helps you to get the most out of all of the effort you're investing in getting fit and healthy.

You are advised to do this if you’re new to exercise and to running. It’s a good idea to discuss your training plans with a healthcare professional so that, if they think it necessary, you can have a full medical examination before you start. If you have a sedentary lifestyle and/or any predisposing risk factors (eg are a smoker or have a family history of heart disease), a health check is a very good idea.

The prolonged deep breathing induced by exercise dries up throat tissue more used to a gentle flow of air and opens up ‘nooks and crannies’ in your lungs that haven’t been operational for years. After the first 3 or 4 runs this kind of discomfort should disappear as your body adjusts to exercise.

If this condition persists you should seek professional help from a chartered physiotherapist to establish the precise cause. It may be Achilles tendonitis - inflammation of the Achilles tendon, the large tendon connecting the major calf muscles to the back of the heel bone. Sometimes, under the stress caused by running, the tendon tightens and is forced to work harder than usual. This causes it to become inflamed. If you continue to train on it, it can tear or rupture. You should apply the four rules of self treatment - rest, the application of ice, compression and elevation.

The pain may be dull or sharp, and anywhere along the back of the tendon, but usually close to the heel.

Treatment will include a stretching programme for calf muscles. It may be worth checking to see that you have the right shoes for your gait.

No, but it will help if you know how and where your computer saves work. And you may need to check that the drive in your computer is for a DVD rather than CD only.

The Great2Run DVD is self-contained. It should load automatically as soon as you put it into the DVD drive in your computer. Once this has happened, the onscreen instructions and the HELP menu are all you need to get by. Even the internet links are automatic (if you’re online).

It’s really important that you back up your saved data regularly so that, if something does go wrong, you don’t lose a record of your progress. If you aren’t familiar with computers, you may need help from someone who is to show you how to back up your data for safety reasons. Clear instructions are given in the TIMEOUT section of the DVD and explained in HELP.

Your great2Run programme should load automatically when you put it into the drive. If it doesn’t, you will need to load it manually by clicking START, RUN, BROWSE and, using the ‘look in’ drop-down menu at the top of the window, selecting the location of your DVD drive. The file you should open to run the programme is ‘start.exe’.

You should try to locate the start.exe file and loading manually before contacting us.

If your DVD does not load manually, please let us know by using the 'contact us' facility. Over 99% of DVDs have been registered and loaded successfully and, to date no disks have been found to be faulty. Problems have been encountered with networked machines and with older programmes that are unable to support the disk. Please check the settings on your machine before contacting us.

Possibly not! It depends on whether or not you have backed up your data as recommended and where you have saved your back up file. You can anticipate such problems with your computer by backing up your data each week via the TIMEOUT button in the Great2Run programme. Select ‘Back Up’ from the ‘Back Up File Management’ section on the left of the screen. Save your data to another location on the hard drive or to an external disk or removable device and you will minimise the impacts of any loss of function on your computer.

In many cases, a system crash will not delete a backup file on the hard drive, and data saved to an external device can always be reinstalled. When you next try to load your disk and it can’t find any G2R data, the DVD will open a window asking you to locate it. Once you have identified the location of your backup file and accessed the disk again, the DVD will remember where to look next time, so you will be able to continue using the DVD as you did before the problem arose.

This may happen for a number of reasons:

1 Your computer is equipped with a CD but not a DVD reader
2 Your operating system is not Windows 98, 2000 or XP
3 Existing software on your computer prevents loading of the DVD
4 You’re using a works computer and you need administrative rights to run it.

The DVD has a file on it called START.exe. To identify it on your disk, click START, RUN, BROWSE and, using the ‘look in’ drop-down menu at the top of the window, selecting the location of your DVD drive. The file you should open to run the programme is ‘start.exe’ and can be found in the folder named ‘G2R data’ or ‘Shared Data’. If START.exe is on the DVD then the problem lies with your computer set up and is not a DVD fault.

Restrictions on the use of software are often set by employers. If you are using a computer that belongs to your employer then you may need a technician to alter the settings on your machine to enable you to use it. If the machine you’re using is your own, you may wish to seek the advice of a PC clinic or explore a help site. Two good sites to go to for help are www.helpwithwindows.com and www.annoyances.com. Both will offer solutions for your particular operating system.

Changes to installed hardware, software, and/or settings may modify or corrupt existing files. If an application stops working or won’t open there may be something wrong with supporting system files.

We hope you will understand that, although we will try to do our best to help you, without access to your computer, we may not be able to do so! If this happens, it’s not that something has gone wrong with the DVD but with its operation on your particular machine.

There is some software (the Registry Tool) at the foot of this page. As a first step, you can download and run the tool, and insert your username and password. The whereabouts of your data should be identified and you may be able to find it and move it to another location. Using this tool will reveal the usernames and passwords of all G2R users on the computer. YOU SHOULD THEREFORE ONLY USE THIS BUTTON IF YOU HAVE THE PERMISSION OF OTHER USERS TO ACCESS THEIR DATA. If the filepath is given but you still can’t find it, you can email us the details, via the ‘contact us’ button, and we will try to help you.

Two good sites to go to for help are www.helpwithwindows.com and www.annoyances.org. Both will offer solutions for your particular operating system. You may wish to seek help from a PC clinic.

In cases where no solution to the problem can be found, (this has only happened on two occasions in three years) you will have to delete all records from your computer. You will then be in a position to re-register your DVD. Doing this means that ALL details of progress (on the DVD only) will be lost. YOU WILL ALSO BE DELETING THE DETAILS OF ANY OTHER G2R USER USING THE SAME COMPUTER. You will, however, get access to your Great2run programme again! To do this, click on the shoe in the top left-hand corner of the registry tool screen and follow the instructions printed in red at the foot. All users will then be able to re-register on the programme as before. You can re-use your original usernames and passwords.

Because the BTEC 1st is awarded at three levels, pass (bronze), merit (silver) and distinction (gold), assessment materials must reflect the distinctions between the three. Generally, for a pass, you just need to ‘describe’, say, how the heart works (eg as a pump to supply oxygenated blood to working muscles). For a merit, however, you may be asked to go on to ‘explain’ the blood flow through the heart and its distribution throughout the vascular system. Finally, for a distinction, you will often be asked to ‘evaluate’ or ‘analyse’ something, for example, the effects of aerobic and anaerobic exercise on the heart.

This makes sense in terms of learning theory as it provides a hierarchy of competences for assessors to recognize and evaluate. But in practice, for you as the learner, the boundaries between the three can appear blurred. For example, as second nature, many of you will ‘explain’ as part of your description and therefore achieve two tasks in one. Please don’t hesitate to contact your assessor if you have any questions about assessments. S/he is there specifically to help you. And it’s better to do this than to ask the forum – like ‘phoning a friend, they might know . . . but then again they might not!