NINJA SANTA....

...is deadly, as you can see. This was after the Santa Race in London's Battersea Park. Yes, there were hundreds of running Santas, Yvonne and me among 'em.

Afterwards, I stretched out and messed around a bit, as you can see. In the background is the running track of the park's athletics club. Yvonne and I went in there to chill out (actually to warm up with some hot chocolate) and came across Olympic gold medallist Daley Thompson, there to coach some of the young athletes. Blimey.

At some point, before the race began, this cry went up: "There's a naked Santa!" The lady runners flocked to see the guy: red hat, white beard, furry thong and running shoes... And yes, he ran the whole race like that. Yvonne has photographic evidence, but this is a family blog, or might be, so I'll leave the images unposted.

Early Boxing Day morning (the morning after Christmas, for the US readers) Yvonne and I ran a windy five-miler along the Welsh coast, at Porthcawl. It was bracing. Yvonne wore her Santa hat but otherwise normal running gear.

Yes, we're perfectly normal...