Quote of the day, from an article in The Guardian newspaper about Sunday’s London marathon:
One of the plodders on Sunday will be Michael Ward, a 46-year-old antique dealer from Bromley, Kent. Ward is unusual in that he has done absolutely no training for the event. "I haven’t even tried on a pair of shorts yet," he says. "I just haven’t had any time to train. I start work at three or four in the morning, have a young family, there just aren’t enough hours in the day. All I’ve done is to make sure I eat a fried breakfast every day."
So why bother? "It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do," says Ward, "a bit like climbing a mountain because it’s there. I’ll also raise a bit of money for the local school, where I’m a parent governor." But surely training is essential? "I’m not looking to win it," he says incontrovertibly. "Training just wears your body out. I’d rather save my energy for the day."
On a related subject, I’ve developed a theory about the person who broke into my garden shed earlier this week and stole a spade. Of course! It was someone carbo-loading for the big day, who needed a bigger implement than a fork to shovel all that pasta in. I’ve left a message at the local police station, summarising my idea, and recommending that they compile a list of all people in the village who are due to run on Sunday. Unaccountably, they haven’t yet returned my call.
