posted on 16th April 2014

Every year, on Easter Monday, the village of Gawthorpe hosts the World Coal Carrying Contest in which competitors carry a 50 kilogram bag of coal for 1,000 metres, from the Royal Oak pub to a maypole which marks the finish line.

After twelve miles on the treadmill, at this point I would have pulled into Gawthorpe just a few days early. So, I’ll be spending the next week here and, on Monday, I’ll be taking part in the contest myself. You might wonder how I’ll manage to heft a 50 kilogram bag of coal onto a treadmill in the prison gym. Well, I won’t. But I’ll get as close to it as possible, using two 25 kilogram weights instead. I’m not even going to try to get close to the world record (which I think is about four minutes), since carrying weights on a treadmill is tricky at even low speeds, but I’ll push it as hard as feels safe. Just to see if I can.

I’ll let you know how I do.