In 1999 I ran the Marathon to Athens marathon. I thought of this the other day when I admitted I don’t really run any more (not good for my back). I took a cheap hotel room in Plaka and the evening before the race I ate a big pasta meal as I had heard I should. I also bought some bananas to eat for breakfast. I was sitting on a bench outdoors when a man came up to me and started a conversation (English). He invited me for a drink in his brother’s bar (it was just round the corner). We sat at the bar and when my back was slightly turned the man disappeared and was replaced by a woman. She fluttered her eyelids at me and asked me if I would buy her a drink. I saw the scenario and left the bar to go back to my hotel room. The next morning we all got into buses that transported us to Marathon (26 miles away) where the race was to start. The race ended in the old Olympic stadium in Athens. After the race when I was in bed in the hotel, my sister rang downstairs in the lobby. I told the hotel receptionist that I’d ring her another time. I was too sore to get up. My aim had been to run a marathon before it was too late and the Athens marathon was probably the best one. Indeed I have not run another marathon since. They are not good for my back.

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