We previously wrote about the London Marathon. Particular mention was made of the number of records that were broken. Someone for instance became the fastest competitor ever in a tiger suit, thus earning the respect and admiration of the world. Another record was broken by 69-year-old Anthony Gaskell.

The record that Mr. Gaskell broke was that of fastest pensioner to complete the London Marathon. Not only did the venerable West Midlands resident break the record, he smashed it. So fast was he in fact that to have completed the second half of the marathon in te time  that he would have needed to be travelling at elite pace. Or cheating.

Breaking the rules, gaining an illicit edge, cheating was exactly what the seemingly shameless sneaky sexagenarian was up to. Unimpressed with the marathon”s gruelling 26 mile duration he cunningly knocked 10 miles off. What a rotter.

Oh well, he shouldn’t feel too bad. Apparently running endurance races is bad for your health. Admittedly is more about the gratuitously masochistic ultra-marathons, but it does highlight the importance of maintaining proper nutrition and hydration, as well as the need to ease off during training to allow the body to recover.

On the other end of the exercise spectrum are pro-gamers. These guys might be the envy of their gaming clans, but these guys are chronically unfit according to science. Despite having excellent reaction speeds the sedentary pursuit to which they devote their lives often wrecks their bodies. One of the gamers tested in the survey was found to have had the cardiovascular profile of a 60-year-old. A 60-year-old chain smoker.

Ah if only Nintendo had made the Wii (with all its supposed health and fitness benefits) with a decent specification (like being more powerful than an iPhone) perhaps that lost generation of joystick jockeys would not be in such poor shape. Chin(s) up though lads – you have until you are forty to shift that spare tire  because our friend science has shown that up until that point being over you”re recommended BMI won”t have an impact on your health.