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Paris in the Spring.

This photo of a fine physique (if I do say so myself) was taken back in 1988 in Paris. The story goes...

The great and the good at Liverpool Uni X-C wanted to go to a cross-relay race in the grounds of some chateau in Paris against other Universities from across Europe. An excellent team of 4 lads and 2 girls (Lucy Elliot is still a first class runner to this day) set off for Paris with a javelin thrower for moral support (and to share costs).

Ten minutes after our arrival "Brown Bottle" (Rob Jeffries) sprains his ankle getting off the bus.

Five pairs of eyes turn longingly to the javelin thrower.

"NO, no 'kin way. If there's two things I don't do, running is both of them. Do I ask you to put my shot ?"

"But we've only got 5 now, if you run the last leg we'ed have a fair idea of where we might have finished."

"You'd be better off getting Colin to run two legs."

Pregnant awkward pause, "We did think of that; but they won't let us."

Being rather stupid I actually start to consider this; I mean two-and-a-half miles, how hard can it be ? And there'll be hundreds of other runners to hide in the middle of.

Well for the sake of the team etc. etc.

So there I stand, last leg, terrified and in comes our 5th runner..........in THIRD place !!!!!

The next 16 minutes or so consist of a couple of dozen blurs streaking past me much the same way a Porsche does up the outside lane of the M6.

We finished thirty-something-or-other.

Sue Robson and Lucy Elliot were the fastest girls over the course.

Some bloke from Andorra was slower than me.

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Dave Brown