The Grumpy bar has been pushed back to 4 hours which means, I think, that anyone running UNDER 4 hours is safe from bashing by the new elite. If you extrapolate out it won’t be long before the 5-hour marathoners will be the new elite and they will complain about the slow marathoners.

Where will it end? It won’t. As long as there are people who need to use others to feel good about themselves it won’t end. As long as there are people for whom excellence is relative it won’t end. So, I’m not going to worry about it.…

Standing at the start line of a marathon – or any race – or any training run – you only have to answer one question; am I prepared to do my best today?

And that’s all I have to say about that.