Insectember

[El Gordo]

Congratulations again! I'll toast with a glass of Ribera del Duero to your first marathon.

At first I thought that was 'Ribena del Duero', and thought nothing of it. Then the double-take. Wow! Antonio reaching for the corkscrew? Surely the greatest achievement of the lot?

Just pulling your leg, Antonio. But seriously, the only greater earthquake possible in RC-land than MLCMM's 42 kms would be Antonio's 1:59:59 medio maraton. I'm sure that after you've polished off the second bottle of red you'll be banging the table and proclaiming that 2013 will be your year. Well, that's my usual race-planning method anyway. And as you can see, it's been highly successful for me in recent years...

Talking of which, I've mentioned elsewhere that this weekend's Greifenseelauf has given way to a double whammy -- the more pleasant of which is the compulsion to attend the Guardian Screenwriting weekend in London.

But partial compensation, I hope, is the paid-up entry for this year's Silvesterlauf in the streets of Zurich on December 16. Hadn't thought about it until the bloodstained telegram arrived from Sydney. After that I was hunting for some other modest first hurdle, and remembered the panting bandit experience of last year. Thought I'd go legit this time. A modest distance, at 8.6 km, but it will do. If anyone fancies a festive tramp through central Zurich, complete with candles and kids chirruping carols from the Singing Christmas Tree and the cathedral bell tolling across the Limmat blah blah, you know what to do....

Anyway. No hijack intended.