15 October 2011 Amsterdam Marathon

This was a very nice day for being a running coach, as the texts confirming new PBs trickled through. First up was Will coming home in 2.28. He had actually been looking for a couple of minutes quicker, but will now look to make further progress in spring 2012. Then, slightly more elatedly, came Marco and Emma, 40, both taking big chunks of their previous bests to clock low 2.58, with negative splits for both. It was one of those rare coaching days –for this coach at least – when someone runs just that bit quicker than we hd thought was an uppermost realistic target on the day. Of course, I fell somewhat guilty and slothful as these runners pound away at the last gruelling miles on the road, whilst I lounge around at the laptop, but I stop short of lighting a cigar and pouring a brandy as a sign of respect to the runners. And indeed because I don’t touch cigars or brandy anyway