Running Man

There doesn't seem to be a connection tying these missives together. Jimmy Joyce would approve.

I have returned to running in earnest. My body revolted at first and the treadmill was penance for the sin of inactivity. My torso is gradually remembering the rhythm and my stamina and speed are improving . Very gradually. I would like to run a half marathon at some juncture but that is months away.

I am hesitant to return to road running in London and prefer the treadmill and the gym. I do not have the natural build of a distance runner and I don't want to risk joints and arthritic tweaks .The treadmill is kinder to limbs. I do miss running on the underpopulated roads of N Ireland though. The slow unfurling of an empty road was a pleasure.

I read that this years Badwater Ultramarathon has been relocated from its usual route through Death Valley in California. For the past 27 years participants have run 135 miles of asphalt, a 13,000-foot elevation gain and through late July temperatures of 120 degrees and above. This years race has been relocated due to a safety assessment. This is understandable given human nature - extreme sports are becoming more extreme . Some participants had wanted to run dressed as Darth Vader and other characters from the space opera.

I have driven through Death Valley in autumn. It is a wonderful place but intolerant of fools. You are advised to gas up ( American slang for a full tank of petrol ) and take a gallon of water for each person.I cannot imagine what is must be like to run an ultra marathon in summer. It seems an act of lunacy.

And yet I look at the photos of the roads that stretch to infinity and I half understand it.