You’re away from home and having running withdrawal. Yes you’ve run but you miss your running buddy, your club or even those strangers on the Internet that you talk about running with all day. Fear not, I’ve become somewhat of an expert at identifying people to run with or just talk about running with. From talking marathons in the shadow of Uluru to sharing training tips with an ironman in Greece and finding someone to run with at 7am in the Australian Grampians, I’ve no trouble picking up runners. Read on and soon your ‘run-dar’ will be as finely tuned as mine.

Gentlemen, you may not be as practiced in immediately checking out people’s footwear, but if you want to spot a fellow runner you’ll need to start from the ground up. We won’t be packing walking/hiking shoes as well as running shoes so runners are conspicuous by wearing the sort of Brooks, Mizunos, New Balance or Asics that nobody would wear for purely aesthetics.

Next up check out their thighs, not for muscle tone or anything like that but to see if they’re struggling to shift that tell-tale joggers tan line gained from running in shorts all year round. For your Capri-wearer this will be around mid-calf instead.

Other running clothes and accessories that may give a runner away to those with a keen eye include running-backpacks, waterproof jackets, shades or race t-shirts – although you might want to avoid anyone wearing the latter as civvies.

Food and drink is important to your holiday runner, and I’m not talking about sangria and paella. Is anyone round the pool popping a rehydration sachet into their water bottle? Or chomping on a Cliff Bar after a trek? That’s your man.

Finally, if you go on any group treks look out for the person picking their way through the group, weaving round the other walkers (possibly even offering the occasional elbow to the ribs) as they make their way to the front. That racing instinct doesn’t stop, even on holidays. If you can’t spot them, they may just be that heavy breathing you can hear on your shoulder.