The Radcliffe Test

Talking of the media in Britain, they've never been exactly modest, but the latest witch hunt comes hot from the ancient African Kingdom of Ugorrabkiddin. People who were this way and that over whether Myra Hindley was really evil are piling onto La Paula for the heinous crime of not completing a marathon - this from folks whose only form of exercise is running up their expenses (in the sense of "waiter - another round of 'laundry' with extra ice").

I hoping this at least will wake a few folks up. After all, the proverbial man on the Clapham omnibus can be forgiven for being fooled when the media bather about space exploration or urban combat, but surely no one on the Sceptic Isle will really buy that Paula Radcliffe - world record holder Paula Radcliffe - is a bum and a loser. The public has enough imagination to understand that running 26+ miles - in any weather, let alone the "someone's left the oven on" weather of Athens - is a hellish undertaking. Paula may have collapsed on the pavement but it's the media's credibility that's looking really sick.