Sunday, July 3

Sunday, July 3
Imagine having a park knockabout and Diego Armando turns up asking to play. Or how about seeing Big Mig pass you, waving, during a leisurely bike ride, or maybe comparing scorecards with Sugar Ray at ringside.
It was a bit like that today.
For I ran, or rather jogged, with no less than Haile Gabresellasie -- double Olympic gold medal winner, multiple world-record breaker and arguably the greatest long distance runner ever.
He even cheered me on -- well, he applauded in my general direction just I happened to pass by with a few hundred others, having won in 28 minutes, done his interviews, shaken hands, had a cup of tea, checked out the Wimbledon results ... You get the picture.
Frankly, it was a privilege to see him whizz off at the start and fly by on the way in.
It was my second 10k -- the British 10k -- and there were thousands upon thousands there.
My preparation the night before was typical: a few fags and a few glasses of wine while watching Live8.
I'm not proud of it and I know I have to stop smoking and cut down on my drinking.
I'm just stating it as a fact. Anyway, the wife seemed in the mood, so I didn't want to do anything that might discourage her (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more).
Still, the boy done good. My time was just under an hour -- 59 minutes 58 seconds in fact.
Get in there!