Delayed until October due to the Covid pandemic, last year’s MDS was in fact even more brutal than usual, with temperatures reaching 56 degrees and the death of one runner taking the tally to three whose lives have been lost during the event’s history. Almost half the competitors failed to finish, when the dropout race usually stays below 10 per cent.

Frenchman Pierre Meslet, who finished ninth, told me there was only one answer to overheating: “I had to slow down. I would feel warning signs like pins and needles and have to drop the pace. There’s hardly any shade out there apart from one or two acacia trees.”

Between my two runs, I had undergone sweat testing (look away now, Prince Andrew) through Precision Fuel & Hydration, who work with various Premier League teams and endurance athletes. The results showed my sweat rate was above average and my sodium concentration was high enough to officially put me in the category of “salty sweater”. An appetising prospect; form an orderly queue please, ladies.