I became a marathon runner in my 50s — here are the 7 things I learnt
My lips desert dry, a steady trickle of sweat running into my left eye and my right hip feeling decidedly stiff, I still punched the air with both fists as I crossed the finish line at the Brighton Marathon this month. I was disappointed that my time was a tiny bit over five hours — I'd been hoping to achieve a new personal best and come in between 4hr 30min and 4hr 45min — but I knew my next chance to do so was coming soon. Tomorrow I have a place in the TCS London Marathon and, with that, another shot at breaking my personal record. Not that any of my times date back very far — until a few years ago the furthest I'd
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
10 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Football transfer rumours: Grealish to Everton? Chelsea to make second Gittens bid?
Gianni Infantino's not-at-all-confusing first transfer window of the summer slams shut at the end of Tuesday, so teams involved in his cherished new Club World Cup are scrambling to complete deals ahead of a tournament they're not sure they care about. Chelsea are reportedly in talks with Borussia Dortmund over the signing of Jamie Gittens. The German club, said to be looking for a fee of upwards of £40m for the winger, have rejected an opening bid from Chelsea of just short of £30m. Bit of a gap to bridge there, then. Gittens, 20, is an England youth international and – as is often the case – spent a period in the Chelsea academy. Chelsea are thought to be delving into their reserves to make a second cash offer. As they aim to close deals for Wolves' Rayan Aït-Nouri and Milan's Tijjani Reijnders, Manchester City are trying their best to offload Jack Grealish before jetting off to the States this week. Everton are said to be interested in the winger, with the club's new owners keen to bring in a stellar name to play alongside other superstars like James Tarkowski, James Garner and Beto when David Moyes' side move into their new stadium this summer. Grealish scored a whopping three goals in 32 appearances in all competitions for City last season, so you get the feeling that he'd fit right in at the prestigious Hill Dickinson Stadium. In the north east, Newcastle are reportedly turning their attention to Brighton's João Pedro in order to bolster their squad to make a better fist of the Champions League this coming campaign. Another of Eddie Howe's attacking targets, Bryan Mbeumo, appears unable to resist the lure of Manchester United, which has left João Pedro as a top target at St James' Park. Surely the clearest evidence that the Brazilian could be on his way is the bid that Brighton are said to have made for Charalampos Kostoulas. Yes, that Charalampos Kostoulas. The 18-year-old Olympiakos striker, who scored six goals in 21 league games last season, has been the subject of a bid worth £34m from the Seagulls. He would be the second teenage Greek forward to move to Brighton this year after Stefanos Tzimas was signed from PAOK in January. Do they know something we don't? Harvey Elliott, who is heading off to the Under-21 European Championship this summer despite being, what, 28 by now, appears to be angling for some more playing time at Liverpool and/or an exit. Elliott made just two league starts for the Premier League champions last season and has said: 'I don't really want to be wasting years on my career because it's a short career. You don't know what's going to happen.' After apparently rejecting a move to Nottingham Forest recently, the midfielder could be more likely to seek his fortune abroad. Let's call it the Scott McTominay effect. Or Jude Bellingham – whatever. Arsenal have spent much of the first window working on tying up a deal for Martín Zubimendi. Real Madrid, as they are wont to do sometimes, are apparently trying to muscle in on these negotiations. The Real Sociedad midfielder has already rejected one move to England, turning down Liverpool last summer. Maybe it's the food. And who can blame him? Cristiano Ronaldo is one player who will not be featuring at the Club World Cup. The now two-time Nations League winner has all but confirmed that he will be staying at Al-Nassr. 'Basically nothing is going to change,' the 40-year-old said after Portugal's penalty shootout win against Spain in Munich, once he'd stopped crying obviously. Joining Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia this summer could be Jadon Sancho. Al-Hilal, whose current wide options include the former Barcelona icon Malcom and Saudi Arabia's World Cup hero against Argentina Salem Al-Dawsari, are reportedly pursuing Sancho as well as Liverpool's Luis Díaz, Tottenham's Son Heung-min and Sporting's Viktor Gyökeres. Perhaps these players can be enticed by the prospect of being comfortably beaten but not humiliated by Real Madrid in their Club World Cup opener in Miami. Who knows, maybe they'd even get to meet Gianni.
The Sun
38 minutes ago
- The Sun
Leicester and England wonderkid Jeremy Monga, 15, snubs Man City interest to stay at King Power Stadium
LEICESTER CITY have signed 15-year-old starlet Jeremy Monga on a bumper new contract in a major coup for the Championship club. The news will come as a blow to Manchester City and a string of other Premier League and top continental clubs who were desperate to snap up the teenage prodigy. 1 The winger became the second youngest player ever to appear in the Premier League earlier this season when he came on as a substitute against Newcastle. And he went on to make seven Premier League appearances for Ruud van Nistelrooy 's relegated Foxes. That sparked interest from Euro giants Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich as well as interest closer to home, led by Man City. Foxes fans feared Monga would be snapped up before he fulfilled his potential at the King Power. City could have swooped before he was old enough to sign his first professional contract aged 17 and Leicester would only have received a nominal fee as compensation for developing the young talent. However that would have been worth a fraction of the kid's true value. Now Leicester have protected their investment by convincing the 15-year-old winger to sign a new scholarship contract with a professional clause that kicks in when he reaches his 17th birthday in July next year. Monga, who joined Leicester's Academy as a nine-year-old, will now begin his Academy scholarship this summer with his first pro contract kicking in by the summer of 2026. Despite being just 15 years old, Monga has already featured for the Foxes first team during the 2024/25 season. It means the teenager will be around next season to try and help Leicester return to the Premier League at the first attempt and comes as a huge boost to the relegated Foxes. £67M Real Madrid Star Rodrygo on Gunners Hit List | From The Sports Desk | Sun Sport Leicester are also on the brink of signing fellow teenager Jake Evans on a similar deal. 'It's important to have these players for the future for a longer time. I think he will be very good for the club,' said Van Nistelrooy at the end of last season. Polish goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk has seen his contract extended by the Club to 2027 after an impressive campaign that saw the 24-year-old Academy graduate collect 10 Premier League appearances. In total Leicester signed up nine Academy graduates as they prepare for life back in the Championship. But Monga's deal is by far the most significant as it keeps him out of the clutches of Europe's leading clubs. Following a 16-minute debut off the bench against Newcastle in the Premier League, Monga went on to make a further six league appearances for the club under Van Nistelrooy. A club statement said: "Nine exciting young talents from our Academy will extend their stays with Leicester City after a combination of new contracts, extension options and scholarship agreements were confirmed... "Meanwhile, Jeremy Monga has committed to commencing his professional career as a Leicester City player, with an agreement now in place to secure the talented teenager's future at King Power Stadium. "Jeremy will begin his Academy scholarship this summer with his first professional contract scheduled to commence in summer 2026. "Our second-youngest appearance maker and the second-youngest player in Premier League history, having made the first of his seven Premier League appearances against Newcastle United in April, aged 15 years and 271 days, Jeremy is among an exciting group currently progressing on our Academy pathway, which he joined as an Under-9." The versatile winger has been captain of England 's Under-16s too and trained with City's U-21s squad as a result of his potential. But that only helped to catch the eye of some of Europe's top clubs, with City among those who were hoping to tie up a move this summer. Monga almost made history by becoming the youngest ever Premier League goalscorer against Nottingham Forest, only to be denied by Matz Sels. Van Nistelrooy was boisterous on his future and said at the time: "That would have been some story if Jeremy could have topped his exam week with a winner away at Forest. "If he stays here and this is his future we can build more minutes into his pathway. "I've had many conversations with him and his family. And so hopefully he can sign soon - it's up to him. "It's a joy to work with him and sometimes we speak about GCSEs and mathematics. I even have to help him with his studies sometimes! "But if he had scored the winner against Forest that would have been a real fairytale."
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Transfer news LIVE: Ronaldo to STAY at Al-Nassr, Liverpool ‘to make FINAL Wirtz offer', Chelsea's Gittens bid rejected
THE thrills and spills of the summer transfer window are finally here - with some huge deals already in the pipeline. Liverpool are set to make their final offer for Florian Wirtz after Bayer Leverkusen rejected a mammoth £113m bid. In other news, Chelsea 's £29.5m offer for Jamie Gittens has been turned down by Borussia Dortmund. Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo is set to stay at Al-Nassr and is expected to sign a new deal with the club.
