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don’t think of it as a race but a long training run, but with more people around. Just enjoy the first one to see what it’s like.’

      Allan Rumble (130 marathons)

      ‘Follow your training plan to the letter, Vaseline between your toes and smile for the camera when you cross the line.’

      Jerry Forde (180 marathons)

      ‘Allow 12 months before you do a marathon and build up to as high mileage as you can.’

      David King (201 marathons)

      ‘Don’t try to run too fast at the start. If, during the course of the marathon you run a PB [Personal Best] at 10K, try to make it the last 10K rather than the first! Don’t get swept along at other people’s paces.’

      Dave and Linda Major (436 and 291 marathons respectively)

      ‘Don’t run before you can walk; set yourself goals that are attainable and get to know your limitations.’

      Kio Vejdani (140 marathons)

      ‘Don’t stop running until you have finished, don’t walk (keep running to the end, no matter how slowly); hold back until you get near to home then you can pick up the pace because you know you will finish. Do your first marathon somewhere special with good atmosphere and lots going on, such as London. Then do the next one somewhere with a lower profile.’

      Jim Manford (154 marathons)

      ‘Treat the distance with respect. Be realistic in the time you want to run and follow a recognised training plan based on your previous performances. Use your first marathon as a learning experience, just enjoy the day and don’t be disheartened if you don’t get the time you intended – there’s always another one in which to get it right!’

      Sid Wheeler (203 marathons)

      ‘Learn pace judgement – don’t go off too fast!’

      Chris Monsey (130 marathons)

      ‘Respect the distance but don’t be overawed by it. If you have an inclination to stop and walk, just try to keep jogging no matter how slowly you feel you are going: you will eventually run through the wall and feel better. Envisage the finish and remember pain is temporary, achievement is permanent.’

      Steve Price (197 marathons)

      ‘Go slow for the first few miles, or suffer the last six!’

      John Dawson (383 marathons)

      ‘Make sure your body is balanced and that you get good advice when buying shoes – and don’t wear them until they wear out.’

      Kay O’Regan (102 marathons)

      ‘Forget about the time, enjoy the experience.’

      David Phillips (393 marathons)

      ‘Get your body and mind ready for running; run every day.’

      Liz Tunna (wannabe –84 marathons)

      ‘Cherish the experience and the atmosphere. Wear comfy kit and trainers, and make sure you’re well hydrated and fuelled. Don’t put pressure on yourself to get an amazing time, just enjoy the day and feel proud upon crossing that finish line.’

      Peter Dennett (wannabe – 81 marathons)

      ‘Try a half marathon race before a full one to get the experience of racing, as opposed to just training.’

      SUMMER SHORTS

      Taper (reduce) your training about 2–3 weeks before the race (i.e. run shorter distances the nearer you get to race day). Rest more or risk running tired. Forget the time, but do remember the Vaseline.

       MILE 3

       VITAL STATISTICS, CONTACT LENSES AND A HANDKERCHIEF

      For Roger Biggs, chairman of the 100 Marathon Club, running marathons is a way of life.

      ROGER BIGGS

      Born: 1948

      635 marathons:

      • 1st marathon: 1984 – Stevenage

      • 100th marathon: 1996 – Boston

      Records:

      • UK record for the longest set of sequence marathons (111)

      • Only Brit to have run a marathon on all seven continents and in all 50 American states

      • Most counties of UK/Ireland (58)

      • Most countries (50 = with the late Ted Lancucki)

      • Most continents in the same year (7)

      • Most northerly and most southerly.

      Roger Biggs, current chairman of the 100 Marathon Club and self-confessed statistics anorak, does not have the appearance of a man who has run over 600 marathons. Of average height and build, with greying hair and reactor-light glasses, he looks as though he’d be as much at home in a suit and loafers as tracksuit and trainers.

      But, as we all know, appearances can be deceptive. For this is a man who describes running marathons as ‘a way of life’; the tracksuit and trainers as much a part of him as his teeth – which are all his own. I have checked. Not by sticking my hand in his mouth and waggling each tooth around to see if it will come free on a plate, obviously, but by asking, politely.

      Nobody gets to do 635 marathons by good dental hygiene alone, though. No, indeed, there is only one way to increase the numbers of marathons run and that is to run them. Which is just what Roger did.

      ‘I did 65 in 2010, 58 in 2009 and around 45 for the previous five years to that. I need to peg it back a bit, maybe to 45 again,’ Roger says.

      Forty-five is pegging back?

      ‘It’s all relative,’ he insists.

      Yes, sure, of course it is – to the number of hundreds and thousands in a packet, perhaps.

      ‘It happened really because of the sequence running…’

      Sequence running?

      ‘Running a marathon or ultra-marathon at least once a week, every week,’ he explains.

      Until…? Death, perhaps, or the cows come home? Or, dare I suggest, until the return of sanity?

      In Roger’s case it was none of those things; instead it was that impudent Snow Fairy arriving at Gatwick Airport only to dump an entire year’s supply of the white stuff on the ground at once, thus preventing him or anyone else flying anywhere.

      ‘I managed 111 before the snow grounded me and stopped me continuing the sequence,’ he continues and there’s no mistaking the rumble of annoyance in his voice.

      ‘That must have been very frustrating,’ I tentatively suggest. (Personally I’d have found it something of a relief and given thanks to the Snow Fairy before showering her with suitable gifts.)

      ‘It was, very,’ Roger readily agrees, letting out a long sigh as if to relieve all that pent-up frustration.

      Despite this, and despite being prevented from breaking the World Record, Roger’s 111 marathons did set a new British record – as far as he is aware.

      As far as he’s aware? If I were to put myself through something like that, I would definitely want to know for sure. I guess that’s what he means about running being a way of life. I mean, you don’t consider whether brushing your teeth an extra time each day makes you a World Record holder in teeth cleaning, do you? You just

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