Never mind the shambles in the race to become US president. We hear that another race in America ­ the New York marathon ­ has been as equally chaotic. And, bizarrely, it involved red London buses. The posse from the grocery industry, including Grocery Aid's Will Rayner, the ACS's Mike Bowen and William Reed's Tony Hawkes, were among 100 runners who weren't picked up at the start of the race. In desperation, some turned to New York yellow cabs, but the more enterprising resorted to commandeering a London red bus. In the end, three London buses, all full of British marathon runners, sped through New York until they reached a bridge road block ("don't you know there's a marathon on!") A cop on a Silver Harley Davidson said "no way" but after a bit of sweet talking, the London bus convoy rode the bridge with an NYPD escort to make it to the starting line. After that shambolic start, running the five hour plus race must have been a doddle! {{COUNTERPOINT }}