The office recently headed up country en masse for the annual two-day retreat. A time for important reflection, but also a bit of fun – and centre stage was the sports afternoon. In the 4x100m mixed relay I was at second base. We already had the lead when the baton was passed, but it was such good fun sprinting down the side of the football field. The exhilaration was to accelerate for the first 30m and then find that there were still more in the tank, so it felt like I was getting faster and faster almost all the way through.

I’ve never done any proper sprinting, though on my now occasional jogs I like to finish with a sprint. There’s something primeval about it though – just running as fast as you can over a short distance. It makes you feel young and athletic as you push your body to do something it’s intricate autonomy is put together to accomplish. In a couple of decades sprinting will be something I dream about rather than do, but how many of us give-up prematurely on these youthful and simple pleasures?