The London marathon

 Subject: The London marathon

What a refreshing change to listen to ordinary people describe their personal journey into marathon running, the causes they run for and the camaraderie it generates between them. In a world distorted by conflict this microcosm of diligence over, in some cases, great adversity in the wheelchair race for example, to simply dressing up in crazy costumes to highlight their fundraising effort. It’s a sort of collaboration of the best in human collective endeavour, from the steely determination of the elite runners who do this as a living to the thousands who flood into London from all over the country each with their personal story some even nursing an incurable disease.

It’s a lovely day for running, if a little chilly and as the elite ladies set off, almost immediately the African contingent move away from the Caucasian girls signalling the gap in the ethnic division between black and white, both male and female. It’s strange that ethnicity rules the competition at long distant racing, it’s not even close as the gap between the runners increases to divide the race by what appears to be an act of genetics. I suppose if’s the same as that between men and women but I myself who balks at running for a bus, even for me the enthusiasm is infectious and whilst I feel well past it now I wish I had not been so sceptical toward gifting time to my body in training. I used to see people out in all weathers running along London road as I drove off to work and thought it had become more like a fetish than athleticism. It was the time given over to training which I balked about although, in my teens, I was out most nights in the cold and wet, after work and at the weekend training or simply cycling on my bike

through the winding lanes in Yorkshire.

Once the elites were off it was the turn of the ordinary runner, each determined to get close to a time they felt capable of and yet at the same time each carried along by the occasion. There were plenty of improbable contraptions under which to hide the runner but the most memorable in 2002 was a guy named Scott who ran (stumbled) around the course in a deep sea diving suit in 5days 8 hours. Mr Scott was no stranger to the unusual having run through Jordan dressed as Indiana Jones, climbed Everest and pulled a sled to the South Pole all in the aid of raising money to combat cancer.

Tonight with aching limbs they will relive their race and on Monday morning no doubt feel somewhat supercilious of those who had stayed in bed.