It was 2002 or 2003 and I was at the airport with Gary and Gerard, my physiotherapist. He came back with a plate of salmon and broccoli, but when you’ve run a marathon you want something satisfying – I wanted steak and chips! I was beckoned over by Muhammad Ali in Chicago When I finished in 2008, I was starving, but I had to do a press conference, so I asked Gary to grab me something.

We thought there must be an event, but they said: “No, it’s just a typical Sunday.” There’s a cool café called Tavern on the Green, where we’ve gone for food after the New York City Marathon. There were people on rollerblades and bikes, and so many runners. I went for a run in Central Park and thought it was the most amazing place. I went there for the first time in 1995, when Gary and I were in New York to run the 5th Avenue Mile. There’d be one thing on the menu, so I’d have that – with a glass of red wine, if someone else was driving! I always took people there, and if there were eight to 10 of us, we’d fill the restaurant. They do all the cooking and serving, and you book in advance because they only cater for the numbers they’re expecting. It’s run by this farmer and his wife, who make fantastic sheep’s cheese. It’s a tiny restaurant, tucked away in the Puig mountains, on the border between France and Spain.

I’ve had a training apartment there since 1998, and when I first went out there, the locals and the other athletes introduced me to the Puig. I used to spend a lot of time training in altitude, in Font Romeu, up in the French Pyrenees. A sheep farmer served me amazing food in the mountains When I told SJP I was choosing a bag, she was like: “Have that one!” I bought it, and I still use it so much now. I heard this voice saying: “Oh my God, what a cute baby!” I looked round, and there’s Sarah Jessica Parker talking about my baby! Gary, in probably the most embarrassing moment of his life, blurted out: “My sister loves you!” Then SJP said to me: “Wait a minute, I know who you are! I live on the edge of Central Park and my husband loves the marathon, so we’re out there every year, cheering it on!” For me, that was rock ’n’ roll – especially because Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is Gary’s favourite movie, and it’s now the kids’ favourite too. It was after my son Raphael was born, and my husband Gary wanted to get me a bag, so we went into Louis Vuitton. Sarah Jessica Parker picked a bag for me in Monaco

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