Voted Man Least Likely to Reach 30 while at Oxford, Blackford decided at 29 that running was the answer - even though he’d come second-to-last in the annual school cross country race, saved only from the ultimate humiliation by a classmate with rickets.
Yet he persevered, jogging nightly around London’s squalid South Circular Road in a pair of exhausted Green Flash plimsolls.
A year later, he was persuaded to enter the Hambledon Hill Race in Dorset, which involved the vertical ascent of an Iron Age fort after two pints of scrumpy.
He came last, slightly rupturing a lung. But the seed was sown.
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Running Sore
Fancy Dress
Running for Children
Marathon of Britain
Weight Loss
Injuries
Getting Real
Women
Trail Running
Guest, 8/14/2007 10:42:38 PM
That picture of you in running gear looks eerily like the drawings of 'The Famous Eccles' you used to draw in the Den.
I would be very careful what you draw in the future.
Brian London
Guest, 9/4/2007 5:36:35 PM
Dear Andy
Having foolishly agreed to enter my god daughter's 3-legged race at her school, I realise that I am far shorter than my partner. Can you offer me any advise on how to overcome this?
Many thanks
Lori
Guest, 9/17/2007 12:01:18 AM
dear andy
are you the dude i used to see chasing horses up the welsh mountains?
Guest, 10/1/2007 1:16:41 PM
Dear Andy
I think your advice to Lucy of Royston is ill considered.
I have found that weather proofing your body prevents fluids escaping and saves buying all those vile energy drinks.
Ron Seal
Guest, 2/13/2008 4:43:51 PM
Andy, I''m not sure whether this is for the ''running sore'' or for the ''womens'' section.
When out on my runs I find that my G-string rides up in, well, the moist delicate of places. I find it quite distracting. I was wondering if you or a Member could be of any assistance.
Geri Lyn
Guest, 2/18/2008 9:47:58 PM
Geri I would suggest you try wearing it the other way round. If I can be of any further assistance.......
Rod
• Write your own comments |
Dear Andy,
I’m running the Marathon des Sables in March. What sort of mileage should I be putting in?
Malcolm, Middlesbrough
The MDS is run over six days and is around 150 miles long – although it’s difficult to measure the course accurately since much of it involves slithering backwards down sand dunes as big as alps.
So to be on the safe side, I’d recommend a bare minimum of 150 miles per week with an anvil strapped on your back and a 3 kilowatt fan heater mounted directly in front of your face.
Dear Andy,
Which is the most effective energy drink?
Lucy, Royston
It depends what you mean by ‘effective’. Many specialised energy drinks make wonderful emetics and are indispensable if you’re competing in a projectile vomiting contest.
Others, thanks to their colour and consistency, are ideal for weatherproofing the exteriors of buildings.
As for the rest, it’s really down to personal taste. I find that water-flavoured water takes a lot of beating
Dear Andy,
I need to lose a stone and a half in the next three months. Can you suggest a suitable running schedule?
Jayanthi, Tooting Bec
The trouble is, at the end of a 20 mile training run, you want to eat your own weight in pies.
During the Cape Wrath Ultra Marathon, I watched one competitor wrestle a small horse to the ground and… Well, I won’t go on.
So if your only reason for running is to lose weight, I recommend locking yourself in a food-free room and jogging on the spot for no more than thirty seconds a day.
Dear Andy,
Is it worth joining a running club?
Laura, Macclesfield |
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 August 2007
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