There are a lot of people online who will tell you they know how to run fast. Then there are people who actually do it, on the biggest stages, when it matters, in races where one bad decision in the first 200 metres can haunt you for the next 600.

Keely Hodgkinson is in that second group. An 800m runner lives in a specific kind of world. It's speed, but it's not a pure sprint. It's strength, but not the slow, steady kind. It's control, judgment, and a relationship with discomfort that most of us only visit occasionally. So when she talks about getting quicker, I'm less interested in "top five tips" as a format and more interested in what's underneath it. What does a proper fast runner actually prioritise?

The good news is, it's not complicated. The bad news is, it's still work. Keely's advice lands because it's the stuff that tends to get skipped, rushed, or overcooked by people who want results yesterday. If you want to run faster, whether that's shaving seconds off your parkrun or simply feeling more in control when the pace lifts, these are the five levers worth pulling.

1. Do speed sessions, but keep them controlled

The obvious truth is that you don't get faster by only running easy. You need to touch speed. Your body has to feel it, practise it, and get comfortable operating there. The mistake most runners make is turning every speed session into a trial. You go too hard, too early, and you spend the rest of the week clinging on.

Keely keeps it simple with 200m reps. There's a reason that distance shows up everywhere from club sessions to elite programmes. It's long enough that you have to run properly, not just blast and hope. But it's short enough that your form can stay clean and you can repeat it with purpose.

A session Keely likes is this:
200m, 60 seconds rest, 200m, 5 minutes rest. Repeat the whole sequence 3 times.

It looks almost too simple on paper, which is usually a sign it's been tested by people who don't have time for nonsense. The short rest keeps you honest. The longer rest lets you reset and hit the next set well. If you're newer to speed work, don't obsess over the exact pace. Focus on consistency. Can you run your 200s within a tight range without falling apart? That's where the improvement starts.

2. Use hill sprints to build speed the hard way

If you want a session that delivers a lot of benefit in a short amount of time, hills are hard to beat. They recruit more muscle fibres, they force you into better mechanics, and they build strength in a way that transfers really nicely back onto the flat.

They're also humbling. Which, honestly, is part of why they work.

Keely's approach is straightforward:
4 to 6 x 200m uphill reps, with 2 to 3 minutes of active recovery.

The key word there is active. Walk down, jog down, keep moving. Let your breathing come back without turning the session into a full stop. Keely builds these in roughly every 10 days, which is a nice reminder that you don't need hills every week for them to be effective. They're potent. Give them space, and you'll get more out of them.

If you're choosing a hill, look for "steep but runnable." If it's so steep that your stride turns into a scramble, you're not getting the same running benefits. You're just suffering in a different costume.

3. Rest days are training, not time off

This is the one that separates runners who improve steadily from runners who keep repeating the same fitness year after year. You don't get fitter during the hard work. You get fitter when your body has time to absorb it.

Keely has a full active rest day every Friday. That doesn't mean lying on the sofa like you've been injured by a mild breeze, but it does mean stepping away from the idea that more is always better.

For most of us, one proper rest day per week is the minimum. Two isn't outrageous if you're building back up, juggling work stress, or you've got a history of niggles. The point is to arrive at your quality sessions ready to hit them properly, rather than dragging yourself into them half-recovered and calling it mental toughness.

A good test is this: if your easy runs keep getting harder, you probably don't need more grit. You need more recovery.

4. Strength training keeps your running durable

Running is simple. It's also repetitive. If your body isn't robust enough to handle the repetition, eventually something complains. Usually not dramatically, but in that annoying way where your knee is "fine" until you pick up the pace, or your calf is "fine" until the long run goes past 70 minutes.

Keely strength trains one to two times per week. It's not optional at that level, but it's not just for elites either. Strength work is one of the best ways to make running feel easier, because you're asking your muscles and tendons to handle the load better.

She also puts particular focus on the core. Not in a six-pack way, in a posture way. When the legs fatigue, your core is what keeps you tall, stable, and efficient. That's the difference between "holding form" and "surviving."

If you're not a gym person, you can still do this at home. A simple routine done consistently beats a perfect plan done once a month.

5. Your kit matters, but only when it supports the work

There's a certain type of running advice that becomes a shopping list. That's not the point here. The point is that different runs ask different things of your body, and the right kit can make those runs feel smoother, more comfortable, and sometimes safer.

Keely does most of her easy running in Nike React Infinity 3 or the Nike Pegasus 39. For faster track sessions, she moves into spikes like the Nike Dragonfly or Nike Maxfly, depending on what she's doing.

You don't need Keely's exact rotation. Most runners don't need spikes at all unless they're genuinely training on the track for speed. But the principle is solid: a comfortable shoe for easy miles, and something quicker and more responsive when the session demands it. A simple two-shoe rotation can change how your week feels, especially if you're mixing steady runs with faster work.

And kit, in the broader sense, matters too. Breathable clothing that doesn't rub, socks you trust, layers that work for the weather. If you feel good, you're more likely to run well. Not because the kit is magic, but because friction, discomfort, and faff add up. Strip those away, and training gets easier to repeat.

The bit to steal and use this week

If you want to apply Keely's tips without overhauling your entire routine, start here: keep your easy runs easy, add one controlled speed session, and protect your rest day like it's part of the plan, not a compromise. Then, in ten days, do the hills.

That's how you build speed that sticks. Not with one heroic week, but with a month of good decisions stacked on top of each other.