Kart beat

Aching hands, aching arms, aching legs - I'd forgotten that karting could be quite so gruelling on the body.

The occasion was my brother's 30th, and despite initial trepidation and a crippling hangover I surprised myself in the heat, finishing a creditable fourth out of ten over 40 laps of an indoor circuit featuring several hairpin bends and one flyover section. But in the subsequent winners' race I span twice, got nudged into the tyres on several occasions and generally drove like a drunk granny, finishing dead last by more than two laps. A red shell and a few mushrooms really would have come in handy...

Still, no shame in being beaten by the eventual winner, who in his day was once ranked tenth in the country.