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.