? This is the afternoon. You don’t go running in the afternoon. In fact, you shouldn’t be here. You’re an optical illusion. Bugger off!”He’s probably right. With the London Marathon 10 days away, I’m fighting off a cold. I woke in the night and felt as if I was trying

this week I decided to secure a bit of moral support: I called up my old Marathon de Sade crew and tried talking them into joining me on the Jordan caper. Eadie, a veteran of the Himalayan 100, was cheerfully apologetic. “Sorry, sport, I’m doing a 200-miler

.And yet the intense feeling of relief that overwhelmed me on that occasion was nothing compared to the all-suffusing ecstasy I experienced as I tottered off Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan at Mile 16 of the New York City Marathon.It was the contrast, I

Given that I dislike New York and loathe marathons, I enjoyed the New York City Marathon immensely.It started well – I managed to avoid getting peed on from the upper deck of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. I’ve always maintained that during

In the last 20 years, running has become inextricably entangled with fund-raising.Correct me if I’m wrong, but until the first London Marathon we ran only for ourselves. When we turned up in the rain to plod round the Cabbage Patch 10, the last

of the Marathon Of Britain in shorts and a T-shirt that had seen me though six days and 175 miles. Having forgotten about the evening’s Gala Dinner, I had to go straight into town to buy something to wear. Anything would do, provided it didn’t smell like condemned

lake for the 200m Skinny Dip and you got arrested for frightening the Muscovy Ducks?”“Yes, but…”“And what about the time we did the Midsummer Madness race and Roger had six pints of Tanglefoot and a cream tea and we had to carry him over the finish line

ascetic I secretly aspire to be.Second, I’d love to run a sub-3:00 marathon before I drop. And I feel I’d stand a better chance if I didn’t have to drag my liver behind me in a dog cart.Lastly, I’m interested in what makes us happy. What is happiness

in case I had hypochondria. I get it when I’m meditating, too. I’m supposed to count out 10 breaths while concentrating wholly on my breathing. If my mind strays to anything else – Ducati motorcycles, the size of mangoes, the Shania Twain video – then I

, and my field of vision is restricted to a 15° arc on either side of my nose.Until I wrecked my suspension during last year’s Swiss Alpine Sad Old Nutters’ 78K Marathon, my only serious running injury had been incurred while stretching. But now I was a