Race distance seen as pinnacle of human achievement since time of ancient Greece is no longer the finishing line for what the body can endure
The scene is a team meeting at the Hazelwood training facility in Sunbury-upon-Thames, last autumn. England’s Red Roses had returned from their victorious WXV campaign in New Zealand where they beat the reigning world champions 33-12 to exact revenge – of sorts – for their World Cup final defeat a year earlier.
Bolton Wanderers have crunched numbers which suggest they have are 13 points behind where their performances should have put them this season.