TPR forced me to cross all six lanes of the M6 as heavy traffic curved its way through the mountains of the Lake District.

At the other side we encountered DJ and FB, also on foot, returning from a race. To save his modesty, I looked away as DJ changed out of his red shorts and into his jeans.

‘We must stop meeting like this’, said TPR, as if it were perfectly normal to bump into old friends on the hard shoulder of the motorway.