Why I should have imagined that a 14-mile run along the Cleveland Way in August might be good training for the 105-mile Jordan Desert Cup, remains a mystery. Perhaps I reasoned, not unreasonably, that August = Summer = Heat

As the Trans 333 looms ever closer, a frisson of pure terror is rippling through our little band of British ‘disties’ – we who are either too old, too fat, too lame or generally too congenitally useless to run anything under 100 miles in a time

.Finally, the dog wriggled free of its collar, barged through the swing doors and launched himself at me in a frenzy of unconfined joy. We’re running the Canine 9K.

, on an empty stomach, quickly renders you insensible. By the time you regain consciousness, you’ve missed dinner.The effect on one’s running is dramatic. You feel as if someone’s lifted a hundredweight keg of lard from your back and grafted wings to your shoes