A waylaid bag recently forced an athlete to run an ultramarathon in smart shoes – but he is not the first person to be caught short at the carousel

The UK needs heroes amid its Brexit nightmare. It has found one in Peter Messervy-Gross, who has managed one of those feats of pointless derring-do beloved of the British.

Messervy-Gross, a 47-year-old UK-New Zealand citizen, recently competed in a 100-mile ultramarathon across a frozen lake in Mongolia. It’s the sort of thing done by crazed 47-year-olds who may be enduring a midlife crisis, but circumstances put Messervy-Gross’s feat (and feet) under particular strain when the airline lost his endurance kit and special footwear en route to Ulan Bator. Unable to find replacement hiking boots or even trainers for his size-13 feet, he did the whole thing wearing brogues and jeans. (He got his gear back in the end, but not before it was too late.)

Admirable, of course – his competitors named him “the rogue in brogues” – but this incident highlights the dangers of lost luggage. These are familiar to many golfers, as losing sets of clubs on flights is a common occurrence. Rory McIlroy’s went awol in 2014 on a flight from Newark to Dublin. He was due to play in the Irish Open a few days later, so he tweeted: “Hey @united landed in Dublin yesterday morning from Newark and still no golf clubs ... Sort of need them this week ... Can someone help!?” Someone did: they arrived in time for him to play in the tournament.

Losing equipment on flights is an occupational hazard of musicians, too. A cello belonging to San Antonio Symphony’s Lachezar Kostov was lost on a flight from Houston to Sofia in 2014 – clearly a bad year for lost luggage. Kostov had to give a televised concert on an inferior borrowed instrument. Luckily, the critics were merciful and the cello subsequently showed up.

There are so many horror stories about lost luggage that it’s a wonder anyone flies: lost presents, lost pets, whole teams’ lost sports kits, Giorgio Gucci’s loss of family heirlooms worth $50,000 on a flight from Madrid to Philadelphia in 2010. You can panic every time you head for the carousel or just be cool about it: never pack anything you really don’t want to lose and, like Messervy-Gross, make sure you are willing to do whatever you plan to do in the clothes you are wearing.