It might have been all smiles at the start, but it was certainly all grimaces at the finish line.

I have to say 87.5 per cent of Sunday’s 8.2-mile Breakfast Run was very enjoyable – the last 12.5 per cent was the problem.

Having settled in to a steady nine-and-a-half-minute-mile pace at the start, it proved a lovely morning to chat with fellow athletes on the way down the River Thames towpath.

I even had the time and energy to chat with former London Wasps rugby player and current Old Blues rugby coach Buster White on the way round, as he prepared for a crack at the London marathon.

Turning back towards Kingston from Hampton Court bridge was an altogether different prospect.

By mile six I was clock watching and by the seventh it was simply a case of making sure I got over the finish line.

A time of one hour 19 minutes 59 seconds meant I was not lapped by 16.2-mile race winner Michael Skinner and secured a finishing position of 749th out of more than 1,000 athletes who took on the shorter distance – a respectable effort given the lack of training.

This Human Race event is in my diary for next year and the sub-one hour mark is there for the taking.