So, last year, I took part in a running race against a train. A friend, Dan, who organises outdoor adventure races, was scoping out a course for a new event called Steaming to the Coast [external link], and I was part of a small group that had volunteered to be his crash test dummies. Several among us had missed out on an entry to the London Marathon, which was taking place on the same day, but we were soon treated to a 26-mile challenge that (in my humble) knocked the spots off that overcrowded pavement-pounding sufferfest.
