David Smyth

this paragraph starts and ends as you might expect, deep into the Wikipedia biography of Christmas's favourite glam rockers Slade, but the bit in the middle is a definite curveball
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slade

most of the musicians I've interviewed have been lovely, but the experience is clearly very high on their list of least favourite things about their job. In contrast, when interviewing the non-famous about running, it's a total joy to get a response like this: www.instagram.com/p/DGVPi3RtEY...

105 laps of a prison yard: inside the San Quentin prison marathon Running a marathon is life-changing for many, but for those who make it to the finish of the San Quentin Marathon – 105 laps around the yard of the Californian prison immortalised by Johnny Cash – the...

the documentary about the San Quentin Prison Marathon, which I wrote about in 2023, is finally on UK television for the first time tonight, BBC4 at 10pm
www.runnersworld.com/uk/news/a453...

I Walk on Guilded Splinters — Dr John’s track sounded like nothing else The 1968 song summoned the spirit of voodoo and lives on in covers and samples

had a spooky old time writing about Dr John in the FT at the weekend (paywall) www.ft.com/content/78fb...

cow hide

Ekiden: How the century-old race spread from Japan to the UK David Smyth joined team RW to experience the first UK Ekiden and delves into the history, culture and significance of the long-distance relay race format, which is the centrepiece of Japanese running

I did the inaugural UK Ekiden - a Japanese relay race - along the banks of the Thames, and told the tale at some length here: www.runnersworld.com/uk/events/a6...

Easier Said Than Done Thee Sacred Souls · Thee Sacred Souls · Song · 2022

what a song: open.spotify.com/track/4zIeRc...

1. Thee Sacred Souls - Thee Sacred Souls
2. Clairo - Charm
3. Oracle Sisters - Hydranism
4. Fontaines DC - Romance
5. Leon Vynehall - Nothing is Still
6. Pale Jay - The Celestial Suite
7. Whitney - Spark
8. Neil Young - Silver & Gold
9. Jungle - Volcano
10. Fred Again - Ten Days

Albums of the year: for the first time in about two decades I didn't spend the entire year listening to music I was obliged to play for work, so here's a list of the 10 albums I genuinely played and loved the most in 2024, most of which didn't actually come out in 2024...

cow I met this morning

feels like an opportunity to broaden the range of things I have historically posted about, so here is a photo of a cow I met this morning:

all right, I'll bite