A fit of competitive enthusiasm resulted in Justine, Caspar and Simon signing up for a langlauf race on Sunday, having been persuaded it was 'only for fun' and it 'didn't matter at all' that Justine had never tried it before and Simon only once. When Simon was otherwise detained, Kate drew the short straw and stepped in to find herself at the starting line with 20 lycra clad muscle-men. She then embarked on a torturous lap of extreme physical pain, endurance and humiliation. The humiliation part got progressively worse until Tom, who raced third in the relay-team, found himself some considerable distance behind the second to last competitor, cheered on with hup, hup, hups from well-meaning supporters. Each team bearing an English competitor came most definitely last. So we know better now, even though they say it is just for fun, the Austrian's take langlauf quite seriously, which explains their very distinctive body shape - enormous thighs and buttocks. And where was Simon? Teaching a private ski lesson in the pouring rain in Russian. Infinitely preferable.
