THE BIG QUESTIONS

Q. I recently ran my fastest ever 5K time. This is all well and good, you might think, but I wasn’t even wearing my lucky running top at the time. What's going on?

A. You have learned a crucial lesson: a good run or race never depends on lucky pieces of kit, tying your shoes in a particular order, having the same pre-run meal every time, always using the same safety pins on your bib or turning around three times and spitting. Touch wood.