The significance of numbers...

My official race number arrived in the post this morning, prompting a mixed feeling of excitement and nervousness at Camp Jepson - the adopted name for my official 10k training base.

After opening the envelope, I looked at the number 9,000 (the final race number available) and started to think about the significance of race numbers.

There are numbers that people would surely not want and numbers that people will have no doubt requested. Here is a selection:

007 - I can't imagine for one minute that I will come across any runners dressed as James Bond, but hey, what a great number? Surely a fantastic opportunity to impress fellow competitors with an array of Bond quotes during the race.

0013 - A surefire recipe for disaster. If I had opened the envelope this morning and found this, I would have sealed it back up and marked it 'return to sender'.

0180 - The rise of darts as a sport will give whoever is wearing this number a great chance to scream 'ONE-HUNDRED-AND-EIGHTEEEEEEEEE' at the top of their voice when they cross the finish line. If you have the breath to do it, of course.

0999 - For some reason, I just can't get the image of someone running while wearing a flashing blue light out of my head...

9000 - The number that I will be wearing. The final race number available, which is quite fitting as I imagine I will be finishing somewhere near to the back.

For having the audacity to sign up for the Derby 10k so late, Sporting Futures thought it would be funny to give me the last possible race number.

As for the training, well last week I set out on a five-and-a-half mile run and felt pretty tired by the end but at the same time was quite happy that I completed it without any major problems.

There's only a few days before the big race. If I'm not ready now, I never will be...