Preface
5.45 a.m. Race Day

Part 1 Beginning: Miles 1-13
1 November. Five months before the marathon. A conversation with Richard
2 Scarborough 1981. The First run
London Marathon. Mile 1
3 2 January. Flat white orgy
4 4 January. In da club
5 Two days later. Bryony Gordan drags us south of the river
6 Mid February. McIntyre Mayr madness
7 10 February. This is a journey into time.
Mile 10. Rotherhithe. Observations from the pack.
8 Scarborough 1982, 5:30 a.m. Teenage kicks for free
9 Crouch End. Dirty Burger. Richard gets behind the sub-3 goal
10 Late February. Tuesday track. The voices, the voices
Mile 13 Wapping. Halfway but NOT

Part 2 The Monster: Miles 13-20
11 What's that coming over the hill?
12 Why this is not a misery memoir
13 Happy talking, talking happy talk
14 Early March. You are my hero
Mile 16. Isle of Dogs. Peaking
15 Six weeks to go. The life of the hero
16 Five weeks before the marathon in Cuba
17 The hardest week. 26 March - 2 April. 58 1/2 miles
18 Pantsgate
Mile 18. Isle of Dogs to Canary Wharf. Crossing over
19 York marathon. There are things we don't know we don't know
20 Meaningful mantras. Rudeness
21 The juice

Part 3: The Battle: Miles 20-24
Mile 20. Poplar. Here we go again
22 Super Mario Catch-Up
Miles 21, 22. Limehouse to Shadwell. Knocked out
23 Black Tuesdays, 7 p.m. Three weeks before the marathon
Mile 23 1/2. Approaching the Embankment. A bearded intervention
24 Two weeks before the marathon. Owning Richard

Part 4 Tipping Point
Mile 24. Blackfriars. The magical possibility

Part 5 Better
25 Mile 25. The final corner
26 Finished
26.2 Bonita

Acknowledgements