30^th September 2012 was the date when I completed my first half marathon. I said ‘completed’, not ‘ran’, because I’d mixed running with walking like one dilutes scotch with soda, where the proportion of latter keeps increasing as the hours progress.

Nonetheless, it was no mean achievement – freaking 21kms is no evening stroll! More so when you consider that my preparation for the race was nothing more than Justin Bieber’s vocal training before a song recording.