School sports day circa 1993….

I wasn’t sport phobic by any means – I enjoyed most games and being rather lean gave me a speed advantage when required. I enjoyed football, but was (still am) utterly crap at it. But I digress…

In the weeks leading up to the sports day, I had a cold or something so decided a few days r&r at home would sort me out. Upon returning to school I leant that the entries to the sporting events had been decided by ‘the boys at the back of the class’. I was a bit disappointed as I would have liked to have tried one or 2 events, but I soon learned that I needn’t have worried, as I had been entered in pretty much all the track events. The ‘boys’ had covered themselves by entering themselves in the 5 a side and throwing events, then knowing that the fat kids wouldn’t stand a chance on the track, my name kept coming forward as each of the events was ticked off.

So yes, I did the 100m, 200m, 400m & 1500m one after the other.

I still have it etched in my minds eye as the gun went for the start of the 400m, the other 4 runners went off like greyhounds, I started like I was at the back of the London Marathon. They had finished as I was nearing the 200m mark. I was exhausted. I limped across the finish line in the same way that people run when they’ve just missed their bus – not that anyone had noticed as people had started to get ready for the long jump.
(Pat mustard, Fri 20 Apr 2012, 10:55, Reply)