Fifty-five not out by Nick

Training today - I trotted twice around my two mile route around the village.  With my legs still being in a delicate condition, I prefer not to venture too far from home.  I wouldn't want to be several miles away and then tear a muscle!  I also prefer to stay on the road for the time being as the smooth surface is better for my legs.

This is an auspicious date in that the Olympic Games will open in exactly six months time.  It is also three months to the weekend when we'll all be lining up for the London Marathon.  As to whether I will be lining up alongside you for that race, at the moment it looks unlikely.  I don't mind too much - I've run the event umpteen times before and I was planning on having a year off, when I would just enjoy the race as a spectator.  I had though wanted to take part in 2012, seeing as it it Olympic year, but then I've got the Bupa 10K in May, which is over the Olympic marathon course, so maybe I'll plan ahead with that race in mind.

Still on the subject of races - for many people completing the London Marathon will be the pinnacle of their ambitions.  But for others it will be only the start of greater challenges.  They might want to run even longer distances - 40 miles, 50 miles, before they know it, they're planning a John O'Groats to Land's End jaunt.  Or they might want to do as many marathons as they possibly can - 50 in a year, a hundred in a year, 365 in a year (it has been done).   Or they might want to try out some other more demanding races with various natural or man made obstacles - events like the Grizzly or the Hell Runner.

I was thinking of this myself, while I was doing the New Year's Day Park Run around Bushy Park.  I was thinking, "this is all very nice, but it would be so much better if they included lots of obstacles to make it more like an army assault course"  And then I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if they employed a load of people to dress up as flesh eating zombies and leap out and terrify people as they went around!"

All right, maybe I wasn't thinking that, but somebody in the United States evidently was!  There is a whole series of 5K races, in which the runners have to do precisely that!  The Zombies don't actually kill and eat the competitors (that would be silly) - I think the idea is to grab a flag attached to the runner's belt and then ... I don't know what.  If you are interested, then there is a website at this link,  http://runforyourlives.com/  There's a Facebook page as well.  https://www.facebook.com/run.for.your.lives

What I particularly liked are the answers to some of the questions in the FAQ section.  "Will there be any real zombies there?"  (Errr ......no!)  "Can I bring some weapons to defend myself against the walking dead?"  (Yeah sure ... why not slaughter a few people as you're going round!)  "Can I bring my child with me to defend me against Zombie attack?"  (Why not - use the kid as a decoy!)

So will I be flying across the Atlantic to take part?  Well ... no.  Would I pay the $77 entry fee, if there was a race near me.  Again no.  Would I take part, if they gave me a place for free.  Nope, I think they'd have to pay me .... a lot!  But don't let me stop any of you!  have a look at the video and decide for yourself.