The Integrity of the Marathon

Note by KC: The next posting is on Monday evening, 5 December. Running a marathon is something very "kaw" (as in coffee kaw, meaning potent). This is another "kaw" article on marathon before we plunge into the coming Singapore marathon on 4 December 2005.

This interesting article below was forwarded to me by Peck Yah, a Pacesetters Club member who will be running in Singapore full marathon. She ran the New York Marathon in November 2004 with Pai Choo, another Pacesetters Club member.

I remembered both were invited to give a special briefing at Bukit Aman volleyball court during the Pacesetters breakfast session in February 2005. I was most impressed to know that not everyone can run the New York Marathon; their applications were balloted and picked! Another interesting point was that the hotel fee was a whopping RM 1,000 per night and they spent five nights there.
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This article is about dishonest runners who cheat when running a marathon by getting around the course without having to run the full 26.2 miles (equivalent of 42 km).

I once thought that it is very difficult to cheat with the computerized Champion Chip timing method. Looks like the race officers have to consider reinforcing with the manual system – runners are garlanded with ribbons around their necks as certification for passing by specific milestones.

We, the marathoners, must up hold the dignity and live up to the name. I like this part written by the author: that marathon has become an ultimate test of human endurance that society recognizes it as an incredible feat and that achievement is only attainable by a very small percentage of the human race.

Read on ...

Special Editorial
by Rick Nealis, Race Director, Marine Corps Marathon


The Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) is The People's Marathon and this event historically showcases the Marine Corps organization skills, promotes community goodwill and highlights the need for a healthy lifestyle.

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On October 30, 2005 the community goodwill that is the running community was tarnished as some participants in the MCM, about 325 runners were removed from the database as potential finishers. These cheaters were discovered through systematic research utilizing the Champion Chip timing mats and analyzing the data of runners pace time.

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On a much more serious level that has come to light is the assistance provided by the organizers of Jean's Marines, who were a 2005 Marine Corps Marathon charity partner. The founder and coach of Jean's Marines assisted runners to circumvent a portion of the course thereby not completing the requisite 26.2-mile course. This organization will be banned from being a partner in 2006 for their lack of professionalism and unethical conduct.

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Another charity partner, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training, is being investigated for potential improprieties by one of their coaches on race day. The facts on that inquiry are still being researched.

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Overall, charity organizations are great for the sport. They bring new blood into our running ranks, they bring color and lots of human-interest stories and they bring funding for causes that are pursuing a better tomorrow. All of this is outstanding and should be commended.

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The reality is that our sport, the marathon, is for the people: runners, walkers, joggers, athletes, and competitors. The stories of human interest are generated from the people. The successes and glory are accomplished by the people.

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For the sport it's about distance 26.2 miles...plain and simple. For the training it is about moral and physical courage and dedication. For the rules and regulations, it is about running the distance, staying on course, and receiving no assistance from outside sources.

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For the reward it is a dream come true. A finisher's medal is a visual display of your achievement. Self-satisfaction that weeks, months, and even years of hard training have paid off with the fruits of victory.

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The marathon distance has become one of those ultimate challenges in life that society has recognized as an incredible feat. A very, very, small percentage of the human race will ever say they have achieved this plateau of being a "marathon finisher".

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The human element of runner, walker, competitor, organizer and coach will come and go, and the record books are filled with their great accomplishments for all of us to witness and remember.

But it will always be the sport – the Marathon – that we protect and defend. For without the integrity of our sport, our labor/training is fruitless, our rewards and recognitions are successless, our dreams are meaningless.

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Cheating at any level, even by those back in the pack, is not a "victim-less crime" as some might have you believe. We all suffer in some form or fashion. It shouldn't be our focus to zero in on the winners of awards but to focus on the entire field. Any cancer, and in our case any cheaters, need to be removed from our finishers files.

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I, for one, say "enough." Runners, event organizers, sponsors, media outlets and businesses involved with the sport must stand up and be counted. The almighty dollar cannot be what drives us in our quest. Product sales, entry fees, sponsorship dollars and charity pledges can't be the path to justify our actions.

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Core values of integrity and honesty are a must. We respect all involved in our sport whenever they are giving 100% effort. Competition is good and makes us better. We strive harder to accomplish more. And in the end, if we are courteous, and do to others what we want done to us, then compassion and fairness and truthfulness and good sportsmanship will be our anchor, keeping us fixed on achieving our daily goals.

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The Marine Corps motto is Semper Fidelis, "Always Faithful". The Marine Corps Marathon believes in the meaning of those two simple but oh so powerful words. We must always, always be faithful to our selves, to our fellow competitors, and to our sport. For whenever we sacrifice anyone of those pillars, then the integrity of what we believe in will crumble. And in the end we will be no better off then if we didn't even try.

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Mistaken Identity - Revisiting Ipoh KRI

Do you still remember this photo when I first posted it in this weblog last Monday? Chee Wee was transmitting the Ipoh KRI photos to me using email via Internet broadband connection on Monday, 21 November. Due to errors in transmission, I only managed to receive nine photos in the earlier batches.

When I first saw the photo where Chantelle was standing next to a mat salleh (foreigner), I was very excited because I thought that she managed to take a group photo with Ron Hill, the legendary runner from Britain who was there to grace the occasion. Happily, I posted it in the weblog together with another photo showing medals and trophies.

When I received all the photos later, I saw one photo where a much older gentleman was holding a pen signing autograph on the chest of a runner – that must be Ron Hill. Then only I realized that the gentleman standing next to Chantelle was a different person.

Later, Chantelle told me that the gentleman standing next to her was actually her friend, Dan, who came to Ipoh to support the run. He is an expatriate working in Malaysia.

We hope that Dan would get used to our Malaysian’s way of life and hospitality. Dan is most welcome to join us in training runs at Bukit Aman.

This is definitely Ron Hill. Viewing the photo where he signed autograph on the chest of one runner, that reminded me of a comedy movie which I saw while I was a teenager. A guy was attracted to a beautiful and voluptuous journalist in tight-fitting T-shirt. On her chest was a badge that says: The Press. So this guy fixed his gaze at the badge with index finger in pointing position and walked towards her. He was pulled back nervously by his friends just in the nick of time before irreversible consequence could happen.

By KC ... :-)

All Set For Singapore Marathon (SIM)

All systems go! Here is line-up for the Singapore full marathon:

Pacesetters friends (whom I come to know running this marathon):
PK Chan
Lawrence Leong
Miss Tan
Yoke Peng
Peck Yah
Lim Fang Woei
Jamie Pang
Jason Lim
Amelia
Chooi Lin
Siok Bee
Ang Chee Kiang
Tan AB

Penguin and Sunshine Runners:

KC – yours truly
Chee Wee
Eric Teo
Tony
Chiam
Marvin Lau
Weng
Chantelle

In two days’ time, I will be going down to Singapore for the Singapore International Marathon (SIM) race with other runners. I am a little excited yet nervous because the last marathon that I ran was on 6 March 2005 in Kuala Lumpur International Marathon – almost nine months ago. This will be my fifth marathon challenge: three last year and two this year.

My personal best timing – surprisingly or strangely – was achieved in last year’s SIM. With a timing of 3 hours 51 minutes, it put me in the sub-4 hours of moderate elite runners group. Many of the runners friends were not able to achieve their personal best there due to the heat and humidity coupled with the hotness of those beautiful pom-poms cheering girls, presumably too hot to handle.

Both the above factors are not found in Malaysian marathons. My runner friends asked me what motivated me to achieve my personal best timing. After some serious soul searching, I answered: it must be the screams from the cheering girls that propelled me to surge faster and harder.

Training Distance

What I have done so far was just barely meeting requirement; the training programme specified it and I followed it dutifully, much less mileages and intensity.

One of my most active moments was in September 2005. I did three races in three consecutive weeks: starting with Putrajaya Half Marathon on 11 September 05; continued with PJ Half Marathon the following week; followed by Powerman (run 10km, cycle 60km, run another 10km) another week later.

I have been running 20km training runs every Sunday morning since then until last Sunday, 27 November 2005. Amidst the 20km training runs, there were two 30km runs also. With a total of 12 weeks, I have clocked in 260km.

Training runs during weekdays are a must. Assuming 20km per week, that would be another 240km. Which means I have done a total of 500km in training runs. Training becomes life: the moment I reached home after work, I would put on running shoes and hit the road for running. With the final draw of a full marathon, effectively, I would have run 542km for this event – quite an amazing feat for my standard.

The Race

Running a marathon is a serious matter that requires extraordinary conviction – don’t play play. Though my training distance is commendable but the longest single training distance is still 12km fall short of a full marathon. Again, what could happen beyond the 30km markers on race day is another realisation of unfamiliar ground. I am still nervous.

It is true that the first 30km of the marathon is run with the body and the remaining distance is run with the mind. Beyond 30km marker, the body and legs get tired. Deeper into the race, the muscle in the body or legs would scream in agony, and pain would be the dominant sensation. The human body has limitations; the human spirit is boundless. It is the minds that motivate us to continue surging forward and never give up in time of adversity.

And finally, when we approach the finishing line where fans lining the course, clapping, cheering and jeering, the victory would be the proudest and euphoric moment of our lives.

Wish us best of luck, will ya?

By KC

Quarter Marathon ?!

Well, we are all set to challenge the Singapore International Marathon this Sunday, 4 December. Just in case that you are new in this sport and are not aware of the distance in running a marathon – it is 42 km. To be exact, it is 42.195 km! It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to run that far in a single race.

I need to clarify the situation just in case a few of the readers may think that a marathon is 10km in distance. I have a rude awakening experience when I conversed with a few of my office colleagues recently; they thought that the distance for a marathon is only 5km!

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With that bad experience, nowadays, when I talk to non-runners, I always say, "Yeah, I am running marathon, and the distance is 42km ... you know?" To add impact to the conversation and to bring home the point, I would always highlight the equivalent of distance in relation to a location where the friends are familiar with. In admiration, they would say, "Wah! You Superman, how come you can run that far?" That would really make my day.

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In 2003, we participated in a 10km run in Klang, Selangor. I was shock to see the banner hanging high up at the starting line that read: KLANG QUARTER MARATHON 2003. That was really "spoiling the market". Imagine some runners would drop the word "quarter" conveniently, and said they have run a marathon in Klang.

I was trying to analyze why the organizer would promote the run by quoting that attention-grabbing phrase – Quarter Marathon. On the positive note, I think the organizer was using the prestigious word "marathon" to entice or attract more runners to participate. After all, Quarter Marathon – the equivalent distance of about 10km – sounded better than a mere 10km race.

On the other hand, it was possible that the organizing committee was working through lunch in the midst of a serious brainstorming session on the logistical nightmare of staging the event. Each member would have been dished out a quarter chickens because with full stomach, it affected clarity in thinking. Obviously, they wanted more chickens and it sparked a brilliant idea that Quarter Marathon would soon lead to Full Marathon.

Let us hope that in future, the word “marathon” is only used to refer to Half or Full marathon – according to standard procedure and usage. Nevertheless, it is always welcome to refer to something tougher like ULTRA-MARATHON, which is in fashion nowadays. We hope that our organizers, with the creative minds, do not proudly call the 7km race the Bolehland One-Sixth Marathon.

By KC..... :-)

The Final 20km Fling

To view things happening at Bukit Aman car park, please click here.

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This Sunday morning training run will be the final fling before we go to Singapore for Singapore International Marathon on 4 December.

At 6am, we gathered a few runners to the Hartamas way for the 20km training run. It was just like taxis when they round up the all the passengers for the same destination. The runners were: Weng, Steven, Meng, PK Chan, TanAB, Lim FW and I. All are moderately fast runners.

While running, Meng said, “Since there is no girl runner in the pack, we are running at quite a fast pace.” PK then said, “At least we do not have to do loop-back.” I had a good laugh at it. When a slow runner is running in the same pack, the faster runner would have to surge forward and run backward in order to accompany the slower runner. And we all knew very well that was the technique when we used when accompanying Princes Leia to Hartamas long, long time ago.

While having pit stop at the Petronas station at Hartamas, the huge signage caught my attention:

Petrol Original Price= RM 2.797
Government Subsidize= RM 1.177
Retail Price= RM 1.620

One runner commented that the information was useful for people to understand the current situation before we complain about soar in petrol price.

There was not much talking this time as everyone was fairly serious in the training run. After the pit stop at Hartamas, there was none at all. We were very focus and ran with real competition mood.

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Meantime, back at Bukit Aman car park: I had a brief conversation with Carmen, the triathlete, that she would not be running the Singapore marathon due to leg injury sustained recently. I wished her speedy recovery.

There was hype of activities at the Bukit Aman car park this morning.

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I was surprised that the Mizuno Wave Run bibs and T-shirts were ready for collection. I was worried as my friends are asking me to register for them. Do they still accept application for the Mizuno Wave Run?

When I approached Lisa who was in-charged of the registration, she showed me a stack of forms which have not been processed. Good response.

I was most impressed to see a mat salleh lady runner completing the Mizuno form on the ground. Why wouldn’t she just rest on the car around her? I finally got the answer myself: would you want your car to be used as the platform for completing forms?

I think the most sought after person was Francis. Before he could open his booth for business, the runners were gathering around him. That reminded me of those popular stall in Pasar Malam where we actually waited for the stall to open.

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Hafidz Fikri requirs a photo to go with his article in the next edition of Footloose magazine. So I asked him to run slowly while I took his photos. He has to NG (no good; term uses by movie directors) once in order to get the good shots.

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To view things happening at Bukit Aman car park, please click here.

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By KC

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Ipoh ING-KRI 10km Run 2005

To view photos by courtesy of Eric Teo, please click here.

To view photos by courtesy of Chee Chee, please click here.

Written by Chee Wee

The highly anticipated annual 10km road race organized by the Ipoh KRI (Road Runners' Club) was held on Sunday, 20 November 2005. Most of the runners were looking forward to participating in this well-known event. This year's race was sponsored by a few sponsors that attracted higher turn ups. Hundreds of strong & fast runners indulged in the friendly & scenic route, making it the highly competitive 10km road race I had ever attended. This is my first participation in this so called "5-star" road race in the North of Malaysia.

From the records, a total of 854 participants were taking part in this competitive race. Out of 854 participants, there was a merely 17% of female runners. I wondered why there are so few female runners. We should encourage more female runners to take up this sport.

Journey to Ipoh's Polo Ground

Khee Meng arrived at Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur at 3.05am on 20 November Sunday morning as planned. We were supposed to have the delicious dim sum breakfast at one of the restaurants there. In the restaurant, we encountered many youngsters having morning breakfast too. I wondered whether they were having their breakfast or supper after Saturday night’s outing.

After having the delicious dim sum for our light breakfast, we were heading North to Rawang to fetch Terence. Right after we exited at the Bukit Berungtung's toll, we were stopped by the stationed Polices who demanded to inspect the driver's license. While Khee Meng was winding down the car's window, I saw another policeman who was standing at the back of police car. We told the policeman that we are going to Ipoh for the 10km race; he responded that "very bagus" (good). Well! He might think that these two crazy fellows who woke up in such an early morning for the participation in a 10km race, furthermore it is outstation? Anyway, it didn't take out a lot of our time to clear the road-block.

With Terence's presence in the car, we chatted a lot & talked about the late happenings (on Khee Meng's recent success & adventure in the most toughest marathon run in Phuket, Thailand in this year, etc), in a way to keep the driver fully awaked at all times under the misty weather condition. The thick mist really affected visibility and made driving difficult. We had to drive very slowly at certain stretches. Hence, we took turn to drive.

After struggling for nearly three hours of driving, we reached Ipoh's toll at 7:05am. Immediately we called Tony to give us the direction to the Polo Ground; but couldn't get hold of Tony. A bit of panic situation as we weren't sure which way to go at a traffic junction. All the sudden, I thought of Madam Chia who helps us on our registrations. I called her to seek her immediate assistance on the direction. She was so helpful to give a specific & quick way for us to reach the venue within 10 minutes. After the race, I thanked her personally on all the helps.

At the Starting Point

So hard to find a parking lot nearby; we got no choice to park Khee Meng's car at the far end of the road. We got out from the car & quickly changed into our running attires at that spot. After that, we eagerly looked for Eric for the bibs numbers at the starting area. Without much troubles, we spotted Eric who was carrying three goodie begs and ran towards us. We thanked him for the great helps. So now, we were having the items which we needed to detour back to the car for safe keeping. We walked back & pinned the bibs numbers on our running vests at the car park.

Having walking back & forth, I was feeling a bit of stomach ache & I must head to the public toilet. Khee Meng told me it is located at the other end of the park. Damn! it is really far from the starting point. I was feeling a bit of regret that I didn't do "the big business" at the highway's rest area. I decided to go to the public toilet for the quick release & it was very nice of Khee Meng who accompanied & waited for me there, just in case that I might get lost. We had only less than 8 minutes to jog back to the starting point.

Jogging along the road leading back to the starting point, we met many Pacesetters, Pacemakers & other friends. I told them that we came here with our own style. Someone asked: "What style?" We responded, "Commando Style". Hahaha! It was certainly an experience for me as I was having a bit of “runner’s high” even before the run.

Upon reaching the starting area, I met my colleagues who were there to support the race. We greeted each other & they asked me to win the race. I was puzzling with that remark as I am truly a 100% social runner. My weekly training is so minimal; furthermore, I don't do any speed work training. Personally, I always find that a short distance run is tenser & pressure especially if I am aiming for a personal best timing.

Nevertheless, I have two unspoken objectives to accomplish in this drizzling Sunday morning. One was to run the race as a Sunday morning training run for the upcoming Singapore full marathon which is just around the corner – 14 days to countdown. The next one was to compete the 10km race with my own capability & to see how I performed under the drizzling weather condition.

Race officiated by VVIP

We didn't manage to hear the loud music played nearby the playground because it is situated too far from the starting point. Anyway, it didn't bother me as they were so many familiars faces taking part in this race, resulting in a cheerful atmosphere. Furthermore, I was coming here to enjoy the run & cheerful atmosphere. Ipoh Township is well known as a place with a lot of shades & cooling weather due to its geological layout. I heard that this year's race route is different from the pervious year. We were running on a delightful through some nice scenic of Ipoh & we also passed by some cemeteries...but didn't to be scared off as it is bright morning & with a big group people.

At 7:30am, the race was officially started. It was officiated by Y.A.B. Dato' Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali, Mentri Besar of Perak. It was a bit late to kick off the race at such time as the morning Sun already rose up in the sky & started to rain; we could feel the warm sunshine was shining on us.

Khee Meng & I were running together for the first 3km; we encountered many regular strong & fast runners; we met many Pacesetters members & friends. We didn't do much of warm-up exercise because we were so busy meeting friends. Anyway, in my mind, I was trying to comfort myself that I had done the slow running from the public toilet to the starting area. It is about a 1km distance & considered a warm-up already. Anyway, we intended to start the race with a slow pace. But, guess what? In spite of the thought, we were actually running with an increase pace from one km to next km. Feeling was great when we were showing with the fine drizzling. Water was gently splashing on my hair, face & shoulder. Cool, man!

Drizzling...

From the first 3km, we were passing by the Hotel Heritage & Taman Budaya along Jalan Tambun. I was still running with Khee Meng & everybody was looking quit seriously to achieve their personal best timing. We were eventually spreading out ourselves.

Traffic was well controlled at this point. The volunteers strived to control the traffic in the well manner. I got to praise the Organizers for their well thoughtfulness by setting up so many volunteers to control the traffics along the route but not the last 1km.

U-turn (check-point)

We were required to make a u-turn after 5km distance. Along Jalan Thompson, the road was leading to the u-turn or check point, I was constantly looking at the opposite side to count those fast runners in my category. Feeling a bit excited that so many runners have passed me; but it didn't affect my run as I have different objectives to be here.

I didn't shout to those runners whom I recognized at the opposite side as I didn't want to disturb them. Usually, I would call up their names & cheer for them. But, this time, I gave them a high thumb up. Nevertheless, it was fun as we could see who were running ahead of us before making the u-turn & those at the back right after our u-turn.

After the 6km distance run, going out to the main road, Jalan Gopeng, stride by stride, I started seriously overtaking some runners before reaching the water station. Of course, it gave me a sense of achievement. Hahaha! In fact, I was trying to keep up with my consistent pace & secure the current position, but failed to do so. So, ended I have to fight for my own battle. I just wanted to complete the race within 50 minutes.

For the whole race, I was really enjoying the run & meeting some friends along the way. The route was quit flat & mostly run at the outskirts of the town which was good for runners to see the residential areas of Ipoh. In certain stretches, I was running side-by-side with a car & breathing in the carbon monoxide. But, I could feel some cooling fresh air especially in the cool morning weather. We were getting wet but luckily it wasn't such a heavy rain as my shoes didn't wet. Fearing that if the shoes got wet, it might cause some blisters at my toes.

At the finishing line, I was queuing up to receive the finisher medal, it was a long queue. Ronnie was walking by the finishing area & I called him immediately to ask him about the finishing time; then I met Eric who was there to cheer for the runners.

Right that getting the medal, I rushed to meet Khee Meng for changing my attires & getting my camera from his car. Certain part of field was full of water & it was difficult to walk around the field. My shoes were full of mud. Muddy shoes!

At the starting/ending area, I walked around greeting and talking to Pacemakers & other Pacesetters members. At the same time, I was busy taking photos of "scenery" & friends. Overall, the race was quit well-organized; everyone went home with the unique finisher medals & treated with a wonderful breakfast & refreshment.

Ron Hill's Autograph

At 10:30am, we were lucky to meet Ron Hill, the winner of Boston Marathon in 1970 and the first Briton to run a marathon under 2 hours & 10 minutes, nearby the podium. We took some photos with him. He is a friendly person but I didn't have chance to talk to him. I felt a bit sad that didn't attend his talk on Saturday afternoon. Too bad, otherwise, I could learn some running tips from him. Nevertheless, his signed his autograph on my KLIM 05's finisher t-shirt. While he was signing on my chest (I meant the t-shirt), I told him that I took part in this year's KLIM. He responded that was it under the hot & weather condition. I answered "yes, it was, but we started the race early". Ha! I forgot to invite him to join us in next year's KLIM.

Conclusion Will I be coming back for the race next year? Why not...as the events organized by KRI are always maintained with high standards and professionalism.

Cheers,

Chee Wee (Penguin-11)

The Effect of Running Marathon

Note by KC: It is true that running in marathons has profound effects on every runner. Running a marathon is not about standing at the starting line and competes in that 42 km race. It is about commitment and constant training in order to cross the finishing line unscratched – without any injuries.

According to the training schedule which I am adhering to, I would have run 500km before I step foot at the marathon race if I were to follow the 3-month plan dutifully. The distance of 500km is equivalent to traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Kedah near the Thailand border!

The long hours of endurance training run actually generate tremendous chemical reaction in our bodies due to constant secretion of feel-good endorphin and super-charge adrenaline – good hormones for a lingering euphoria. Obviously, we are stronger in all aspects – physically and mentally. We would have lesser illness too due to stronger resistance in warding off virus attack.

One running friend told me that the duration for sex is also longer, much like endurance running. This could be bad new for the pharmaceutical company that produce Viagra pills. Another running friend has the most unusual discovery that the “brother” is also bigger due to the stimulation of hormones to certain organs of the body. Well, in order to testify both claims, we need more factual findings on those observations.


Below are excerpts from the book How to Run a Marathon
By Tony Benyon and Kevin Macey’s

Your Sex Life

Without a doubt running can alter your sex life drastically. The early days of training reduce you to a mound of aching jelly barely able to crawl unassisted upstairs let alone indulge in any nocturnal naughties. Quite naturally, this can cause distress in the marriage partner, speeding up an impending divorce.

Partners may jump to the conclusion you are tired because you have another lover or they may think you may have lost interest in them because running has turned you gay. After training for some while, many people find all they think about is sex, and running starts to make them hot for action, resulting in them speeding up the homeward half of their training route. Alas, the mind may be sexually rampant but the body isn't and they soon find they are falling asleep during love-making which is a step forward from falling asleep before it.

Don't be concerned; as time passes you will soon begin to feel the benefit from running. Your stamina will increase and so will the sensation of physical well-being. At last you will have the hots but be in top physical condition and so be able to do something about it. Alas, this is also the time when you realise you have no partner; they have long since lost interest and gone off with someone else.


Running Together

The couple who run together stay together as long as they both keep to the same schedule so their fantasies and capabilities coincide. If your partner misses a week's training, then so should you, otherwise you find your stamina is unequal to their fantasies.

Training together does have its problems. For example, running on a hot day in clothes that leave little to the imagination may give you an urge to lose yourselves in the long grass. Try to resist such temptations for the sake of your pulse rate and the laws of the land.

You will find that the experience of training together brings you closer to each other than ever before, not only sexually but mentally. You will be spending more time in each other's company and many more evenings at home. This is because you are both as boring as hell and no one wants to hang out with guys who just prattle on about running every waking moment. So make an effort to get out and about.

Go to parties and meet people but try to avoid the swapping parties, the nude cocktail parties and the 'Hey, let's all throw our car keys into the centre of the room' parties. Otherwise neither of you will have the strength left for training.

Your Social Life

The main effect running has on your social life is to make it vanish altogether. Without realising it, you can become a bore if all you want to do is talk about your P.B. (personal best), jogger's nipple and stabilizers. Even old friends will start to avoid you like the plague.

They will cross you off guest lists because you are always tired in the evening with the result that you are no longer invited out to dinner. No one wants a guest who falls asleep face down in the first course, or lies with his head on the table snoring during the coffee. It somewhat diminishes your reputation as a live wire and raconteur.

Running also leads to deterioration in your appearance, as you no longer get asked out you cease to buy new clothes. Instead, you shamble about wearing a track suit, muttering about health food and sneering at people who smoke.

More serious is the damage that can be done to your career. If you run to work or in the lunch hour no one wants to share an office with someone dripping with sweat and whose steaming feet burn holes into the carpet. Promotion will also elude you because the higher you climb in the business, the more often you are obliged to have long, large lunches and nights out with dignitaries. Falling asleep on them or scowling when they light their cigars are not attributes that will make you popular.


Becoming Thin

Marathon running is much talked about as being the ultimate challenge. For some people this may be true but for many others they only run to be thin, because fat is unhip. Looking thin is looking good, preferably with a suntan. Surplus mounds of white lard begin to vanish soon after taking up running, not only because exercise burns off unwanted calories but also through the worry caused by your marriage breaking up and your work prospects being wrecked.

Thinness also comes about because of a change in your eating habits. Now that you live on your own you tend to eat less because it really isn't much fun cooking for yourself. Restaurants are out too, as eating in them on your own isn't much fun and no one will eat in them with you.

Initially, you may find that running makes you hungry and so you eat more. But after a while you start to fit in eating around your training. The truth is you don't like returning to an empty home. So you stay out training for longer, which in turn means you have less time for eating. Even those rare couples still living together change their eating habits. They no longer have the huge meals they used to because they are too busy endlessly bonking.

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