CHARIOTS OF FIRE THEME NIGHT

Tonight 8 of us met at Highbury Pool and welcomed first-time GoodGymmer, Kliment, all the way from Москва. Kliment had been out of action for a few months, but still managed an overall 9 kilometres plus drills with the rest of us. Nice stuff. Great to see other regulars including Billy and Alex beaming from their recent coach runs.

After a quick briefing and a reminder about drinks this Thursday we set off to the leaflet distribution point to the sounds of our theme tune for the evening.

The Good Bit

We met near Caxton House and split up into a pairs to quickly get the word out about activities happening at the community centre via leaflets. We finished really quickly with a warm glow that let us know the residents of North Islington were a bit more informed and that we had the opportunity to eat a few custard creams. Interestingly, although Custard Creams won the recent biscuit debate, they were not as popular as the usual chocolate digestives.

Then off we jogged as a group down to The Emirates Stadium. It was time to emulate the Great Court Run from the movie. Could any of us complete a circuit of the Emirates Stadium before the clock struck twelve? Given the absence of a clock and the fact it was about 20.10, yes we all could.

The Teams

We split up into three teams, each named after a Chariots athlete. Each team's goal was to guess the time that the fastest time-trialler would finish in. Sam Mussabini was on hand to give some useful pointers and the teams and predictions were:

Team Abrahams "If I can't win, I won't run"

• Laura and Alex. They estimated a time of 3 minutes 40 seconds for the fastest runner

Team Liddel "Many of us are missing something in life because we are after the second best"

• Billy, Julia and Kliment reckoned that the winner would bring it home in 2:01.91 Very precise thinking

Team Lindsay "If I shed a drop I want to know"

• Steve and David were confident that the quickest time would be 2 minutes 25 seconds.

Preparation

In the film Sam Mussabini, coach to Abrahams, pointed out "Remember, over striding. Death for the sprinter". Then he did some stuff with coins to illustrate the point. We didn't have any coins to hand, but didn't want to scupper our chances of the best time trial possible, so did a few drills to get our legs turning over quickly.

The Games

Simon got his stopwatch ready and off they ran like the wind into the wind.

First in was David in a time of 2 minutes 25. Closely followed by Julia, in 2 minutes 36, chased by Billy in a time of 2 minutes 42

Other times available on request, but great job from everybody. The idea is to head back next month and see if we can improve.

Medal Ceremony

But the award tonight goes not to the fastest runner, but to the team who most closely predicted the faster runner's time. So well done to David and Steve who were just 1 second out.

The prize was a CHARIOT OF FIRE. Four wagon wheels supporting a fiery bar of Chilli-flavoured Chocolate.

We had a gentle jog back to the pool and cooled down with a few stretches.

The Debate

In the film, they debate whether Liddell, devoutly religious, should compete on a Sunday. We decided last week that we should never ever debate religion, so we turned our attention to something running-related. "What is the toughest race distance?" Debaters were told to not just consider the event itself, but also the training and psychological elements of having to compete.

• 100 metres: 2 votes. Tough to train for and psychologically demanding
• 400 metres: 3 votes. It's painful down the home straight.
• 800 metres: 1 vote. OK, 400 hurts a little more, but not for as long.
• Marathon: 1 vote. It's loooooooooooong
• But, the greatest answer was from Kliment. The toughest distance is of course 641 metres around Emirates

Good night, Chariots. See you next week for more fun, games and good-doing

Simon

P.S. hehehe