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EXCESS BAGGAGE
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 Listen to Excess Baggage for
23ÌýJuneÌý2007
In 490 BC a Greek soldier was commissioned to carry the surprise news to Athens that the Persians had been defeated at the battle of Marathon.Ìý He did this by running more than twenty miles as fast as he could and, having delivered the message, promptly died.
The Marathon race was a feature of the first Olympics in 1896 but since then it has become an event that is not restricted to the highly trained athlete.Ìý In 1970 New York started an all comers marathon that proved immensely popular.Ìý The London marathon was founded in 1981 and is claimed to be the biggest charity fundraiser in the world.
Sandi Toksvig hears experiences of long distance running and some cases cycling in ever more remote and challenging places.Ìý She is joined by sports reporter Chris Dennis, who not only enters official long distance races but also regards a holiday as an opportunity to run; Joe and Lizzie Evangelista, who as a couple have competed in many of the big urban marathons all over the world, whileÌýLizzie has also taken part in ‘ultra marathons’ in more challenging settings such as the Amazon; Marc Johnson–Hall and Peter Matthews are members of this year’s winning team of the Prince’s Trust Sahara Challenge which expands the notion of distance running to include mountain bikes.
Presented by Sandi Toksvig
Photo:Ìý Marathon
This week’s guests:
Chris Dennis is a sports reporter and runs on a regular basis, two or three times a week.Ìý He has run in Canada, Vietnam, Chile as well as many countries in Europe.Ìý In Chamonix, France he would ski during the day and then in the evening run back up the ski runs in the snow.Ìý Chris has done the London marathon three times, as well as various other UK races like the Great North Run.Ìý One of his achievements was the 10 kilometre run in Addis Ababa in 2004.
TheÌý was founded in 2001 and is Ethiopia’s first-ever international mass-participation road race.
Joe and Lizzie Evangelista started running long distances when Lizzie’s mother was ill and they wanted to raise money for Trinity Hospice in Clapham.Ìý They entered the London Marathon in 2002 never looked back.Ìý The following year Joe and Lizzie did their first marathon abroad in Paris.Ìý A completely different experience with Beaujolais on offer at the water stops.Ìý Since then they have participated in marathons in Dublin, Prague, New York, Toronto and Berlin.
Joe and Lizzie usually train for about five months before the event.Ìý They usually don’t have much time for acclimatisation only flying in a day or so beforehand.Ìý Lizzie has also done ultra marathons in the UK, taking part in the Thames Meander from Reading to London along the riverside paths; it takes 12 ½ hours and participants have to take their own kit, water, food.
Marc Johnson-Hall and Peter Matthews are two members of a four man team from Allianz Insurance who won this year’s Prince’s Trust Sahara Challenge.Ìý Its aim is to raise money for charities and is a competition between teams from insurance companies round the country.Ìý The Challenge took place in Morocco this year; it consisted of 100 kilometres over three days.Ìý The course is over rough desert terrain, with two days of cycling and the last day running about eighteen miles.
Peter had done a fair amount of running. For example, he did the High Peaks Race at 42 miles which takes two days.Ìý After getting injured, he took up mountain biking to keep fit and that’s how he got his place on the Sahara Challenge team.Ìý Marc had done little sport at all until he took up jogging last year.Ìý He heard about the company looking for participants in the Sahara challenge and decided to have a go.Ìý He didn’t mind the cycling but found the running the most dauntingÌý
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| PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES |
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 Sandi Toksvig:
The daughter of a foreign correspondent, Sandi has been travelling all her life more info |
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