Yesterday I came across an article about an open touch rugby player named James Heptonstall who raced a Tube train in London.
He got off the train at Mansion House and ran 380m to Cannon Street to get back onto the same train. According to this article there have been a number of similar challenges throughout Europe.
Well I'm afraid this is nothing new. As a youngster (13 years old) I lived in Denton Burn on the west side of Newcastle upon Tyne and went to school in Benton on the east side. This necessitated a daily bus journey across Newcastle which could become quite tedious.
One of the activities a group of us had to relieve the boredom (apart from doing your homework) was to get off the bus outside what used to be Binns (now Start Fitness' Tri shop) on Market Street and run to see how far you could get and still get back on the same bus.
Initially it was just the next stop, we then graduated to reaching Newcastle Central Station and then to the stop outside the model shop on what used to be, I think called, Blenheim Street (now St James Boulevard). I remember that I claimed the record though by reaching what was then the Newcastle General Hospital about a mile or so away and anyone who knows Newcastle will also know that it is also quite a climb up to 'the General'.
This must have provided a good base for my future running efforts.
If you wish to see a video of James Heptonstall's (videos didn't exist in the days when we raced the bus) race against the Tube you can find it here
He got off the train at Mansion House and ran 380m to Cannon Street to get back onto the same train. According to this article there have been a number of similar challenges throughout Europe.
Well I'm afraid this is nothing new. As a youngster (13 years old) I lived in Denton Burn on the west side of Newcastle upon Tyne and went to school in Benton on the east side. This necessitated a daily bus journey across Newcastle which could become quite tedious.
One of the activities a group of us had to relieve the boredom (apart from doing your homework) was to get off the bus outside what used to be Binns (now Start Fitness' Tri shop) on Market Street and run to see how far you could get and still get back on the same bus.
Initially it was just the next stop, we then graduated to reaching Newcastle Central Station and then to the stop outside the model shop on what used to be, I think called, Blenheim Street (now St James Boulevard). I remember that I claimed the record though by reaching what was then the Newcastle General Hospital about a mile or so away and anyone who knows Newcastle will also know that it is also quite a climb up to 'the General'.
This must have provided a good base for my future running efforts.
If you wish to see a video of James Heptonstall's (videos didn't exist in the days when we raced the bus) race against the Tube you can find it here
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