will sink forever beneath the timeless sands of Niger.”And so it was with a cruel hangover that I stumbled last Sunday from The Old Slaughterhouse with the World’s Fittest Dog. My legs seemed to operate independently of my torso, like those of Barbie

-coloured waistcoat while I hold forth upon the agonies of running up and down sand dunes and the dangers posed by scorpions.Why do I do it? Well, partly because I have an unquenchable curiosity as to the extent of my own folly. Am I really about to embark upon a 333

of Venice Beach. The henna-tattoo merchants were setting out their stalls, the restaurateurs were brushing the night’s accumulation of sand from the boardwalk. I would soon catch up with the runner in front of me – a tall, broad-shouldered type in shades

beach race. Starting at Margate and run over sand, paths, promenades, mud and too many steps to count, this out and back course is only for the masochistic Tough Guy wannabies with a penchant for punishing courses. Due to the tides there's a four

that was once the River Dollis; wouldn’t wind my way between the pits on the Heath Extension, where once was mined the sand that soaked up the spit on the floors of Victorian boozers. So much romance, so much history.The boys were kind. They pretended to listen

was the perfect training for the MDS – which is really about trudging up endless down escalators of sand with half a ton of useless junk on your back. And now I’ve discovered that, in terms of running fitness, 20 minutes of boxing achieves as much as an hour

Way.-->Grin and bear it if you can at the GRIMJersey Half-Marathon, Channel Islands, Nov 21 Known for its dramatic north cliffs and golden sand, Jersery now has a cracking half-marathon to shout about, too. Starting and finishing at St. Clement

, flat country roads and through pretty Leicestershire villages. Blackpool Sand National 4.5 (Lancs, April 3) From the organisers of the Blackpool Beach 10K comes another beach race run over the classic Aintree distance of 4.5 miles. It consists of two

.More than 60 races made the grade, based on everything from “the sheer joy of running in a famous city" (Anne McGrane on the magic of the Paris Marathon) to this: “It was 10pm and a new moon was rising. The dune was awe-inspiring, a long ridge of sand

Closing Soon Closing soon: The Cardiff 10K Blackpool Beach 10K (Lancs, Sept 3) This one's entirely run on sand, so have your buckets and spades at the ready!City of Cardiff 10K (Cardiff, September 3) This giant 10K starts and finishes in Cardiff