This morning, together with some 30,000 other enthusiasts, I ran the Brussels 20 k, getting around in a respectable two hours. There were a number of changes in the organisation of the race this year. Thankfully, the first of them was that we started at ten in the morning rather than three in the afternoon. I write ‘thankfully’ because it was a glorious day – and already very hot at the start. The second change was that the runners began not on the esplanade behind the cinquantenaire arch but on the lawns between it and the Rond Point Schuman. The third change was that the start was staggered into six different boxes and the boxes were allowed to empty completely before the next box was allowed to start. All of these made good sense. This was my fourth year in a row and I now know the course well enough to adapt my strategy to the conditions. Still, in cooler conditions I am sure everybody would have been several minutes faster. In the end, though, it doesn’t matter. I would do it every year if only for the wonderful scenes in the rue de la Loi. The picture is ‘after’, with medals!