When I ran a marathon...

It was 1983. I was studying for my A-levels at Cricklade College in Andover. I was young, fit and healthy but I wasn't a runner.

During the summer holidays after the exams, the Performing Arts faculty were going in a month long tour of North East USA, taking music, drama and dance shows with us. We'd been fundraising for months and, in a moment of madness, I had agreed to run the Basingstoke Marathon to raise more sponsorship.

I did very little to prepare for the race. As I say, I was young and fit but, since leaving secondary school two years before, I wasn't doing any regular sporting activity. I did a couple of jogs around the fields near my parents' house but that was it.

The race began at Basingstoke Rugby Club where, as a little 'un, I'd been taught how to play rugby by Reg Hurley, Kiz Hurley's father.

I was nervous but excited. I can't remember how many competitors there were but this was the height of jogging mania. The London Marathon had begun a couple of years earlier and every medium-sized town now had its own marathon.

I started well and did the first five miles in about 45 minutes. Yes, that was way too fast.

I remember being cheered on by various mates along the route and each time it gave md a huge burst, but it got harder and harder and my legs got heavier and heavier. After a while I could have probably walked faster - but I kept going.

I was just about at the back of all the runners. I was in agony, and there were still miles to go. The ambulance sweeping up the strugglers drive along just behind me, but I kept going.

I arrived back at the rugby club to find virtually nobody there. Most people had gone home.

I decided to sprint to the finish. Summoning up my final burst of energy, I began a 385 yards sprint to the finish line...

I didn't finish last, but in that that final sprint I was overtaken by a man running with a dog (I'm not sure whether the dog had run the whole 26 miles) AND a blind man being lead around by someone else.

5 hours 23 minutes 49 seconds

Absolutely knackered.

My parents had gone home - they assumed I'd stopped somewhere out on the course.

I spent most of the evening in a hot bath soaking my aching legs. The following morning, a Monday, I had an exam. It took me 20 minutes to walk to the bus stop - normally it took 3 or 4 minutes.

The following Saturdat I played my friend Steve at tennis but, even a week later, I had to stand and stretch to reach balls as I was still in a lot of pain!

One day it would be great to run another marathon but I suspect that now my 1983 time would be just a dream!

OPINION: Bronze is for losers

In a magazine interview, British long distance runner Paula Radcliffe has said that she'd be "happy" if she won a bronze medal at this summer's Olympic Games in London.

Really? Happy with a bronze?

To me, that's an appalling attitude for any sportsperson to have. Nobody should EVER be "happy" with a bronze. Bronze is for losers.

Ok, Paula Radcliffe, despite having won a number of gold medals during her career, and having broken various world records, has always managed to balls-up her push for medals when it comes to the Olympics. In both Athens and Beijing she failed to get close to winning a medal, gaining herself a bit of a reputation as a choker. With medals won at World and European championships, Commonwealth Games, and, of course, various stand alone marathons in many of the world's great cities, the noticeable gap is for any sort of Olympic gong, and so, perhaps, on those grounds, an athlete who is almost certainly now past her best might just be happy with a bronze but, really, what sort of attitude is that to have when going into the greatest sporting arena in the world?

If you're not aiming for gold, why bother?

If you don't believe you can win gold, why bother?

Bronze, and for that matter silver, medals are for losers. They shouldn't be celebrated. Those who get silver and bronze may well have come close to winning gold, but they didn't win gold - that's the point, they lost. They are losers.

I think that, because of her negative and defeatist attitude which may rub off on others, Paula Radcliffe should be dropped from the British Olympic team for this summer's games. Taking part isn't good enough, and, let's be honest, a bronze is little more than taking part.