Outside Edge: Straight home on home straight

Andrew Tong
Sunday 24 April 2011 00:00 BST
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Louise Thomas

Louise Thomas

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Running your first marathon can be a daunting task but Sam Robson took his mind off the 26.2-mile challenge in London last Sunday by pledging to run all the way home after he crossed the finish line – a further 99 miles to St Ives in Cambridgeshire.

The 28-year-old biologist recorded a time of three hours and 45 minutes in the capital, then carried on for another 25 hours and 15 minutes, getting home at 2.45pm after 29 hours on the road and raising £3,000 for the Epilepsy Society.

Steve Chalke has smashed the record for most funds raised. The 55-year-old philanthropist raised £2.3m for his charity Oasis, beating the previous best of £1.84m, and has raised £5m in three London marathons.

And Nineties daredevil Eddie Kidd is still going. Walking for the first time since a motorbike stunt left him in a coma 15 years ago, he expects to take four weeks at a mile each day and hopes to raise £50,000 for Children with Leukaemia.

16.11

Speed in miles per hour achieved by Robert Green, West Ham's goalkeeper, making him the Premier League's slowest player according to a study by EA Sports. He's a good stopper. Tottenham's Sandro was slowest outfield player on 16.28mph while 12 players managed the top speed, 22.37mph.

Don't get off your trolley dollies

It puts the flying kick in a whole new light. Cabin crew on Hong Kong Airlines must now attend compulsory kung-fu courses as part of their training in order to deal with unruly passengers.

They are being taught wing chun, a martial art which is ideal for close-quarter combat because, according to a spokesperson: "Normally a female cabin crew can't handle a fat guy, especially if he's drunk."

At last the ladies won't have to do battle with fat guys on a level playing field after it was announced that for the first time women will have their own race at the International Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island in New York.

Male competitors have won the title every year since its inception in 1916. But they haven't gone the whole hog yet, since women will only receive a $5,000 prize while the men get $20,000. First they must show they can cut the mustard.

Good week

Mike Conway, the British driver who crashed at 230mph in the Indianapolis 500 last May, recorded his first IndyCar win in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, California, in his third race back...

Spanish nudists, who can attend East, the country's first naturist gym for naked work-outs in Arrigorriaga in the Basque region...

Walking With The Wounded, the four Army veteran amputees trying to raise £2 million for charity, reached the North Pole after trekking for 13 days.

Bad week

Renato Adriano Jaco Morais, the Brazilian footballer, was fined £40,000 and given a three-game ban by Chinese club Guangzhou Hengda after he failed to shake the hand of his coach after he was substituted...

The Warehouse Gym in Leicester has had to ban bodybuilding after their floor caved in on an office below because of weights being dropped...

KM United Under-16s were beaten 46-0 by Buckland Athletic in the Pioneer League at Newton Abbot – it was only 12-0 at half-time.

Easter bunny who didn't earn his crust

As a nation eats its way through a record amount of chocolate, it might be a good idea to get some exercise. Fortunately, Easter Monday is a great day for weird sports.

So kindle some enthusiasm for the World Coal-Carrying Championship in Gawthorpe, Yorkshire, in which you run almost a mile with a 50kg sack of coal on your back – the record is just 4min 6sec. Come out of your shell at the World Egg-Yarping Championships in Peterlee, County Durham, where hard-boiled eggs are used like conkers. Or unclog your arteries at the World Clog-Cobbing Championships in Whitewell Bottom, Lancashire, a variant on welly-tossing.

Or there's a Bottle Kicking and Hare Pie Scramble in Hallaton, Leicestershire, which began after two ladies were saved from a bull when it was distracted by a hare. To give thanks, the vicar gives a hare pie and two barrels of beer to the poor, who fight over the booty. Sadly, the hare doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

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