Not the London marathon...but life goes on

In normal times, last Sunday would have been one of the happiest and hardest days of the year for many Heathsiders, when they would have put their months of training in all weather to the test by running in the London marathon, cheered on by huge crowds and loyal and admiring clubmates. 

Sadly, this – and the post-marathon muscle agony -  was put on hold for another day, as we continue to social distance ourselves and help save lives…However, life goes on, and so this report is different from the traditional race report.  Instead, club marathon record holder, Sara Black, shares her favourite memories from the London marathon, we bring you some of the things that Heathsiders did instead of the London marathon and we see how both young and young-at-heart Heathsiders have put their running energy into being creative. 

Memories of the London marathon by Sara Black

So many of us had high hopes for this year's London Marathon.  Obviously it wasn't meant to be and as long as we're healthy and safe during this pandemic then that's all that matters.

The one memory that always fills me with warmth is the journey in the morning from home to the start line.  I love getting to Highgate Station and seeing familiar and unfamiliar faces all heading to the same place "The Start Line".  People looking at one another, a little smile, an acknowledgement of the feelings of anticipation.  Thousands of people with the same goal in mind - to cross the finish line at Pall Mall.  I love the chatter, hearing people's stories of the why's, how's and meeting people from across the globe.

Recently there's been a lot of negative press regarding runners during the pandemic - we appear to be a social pariah - obviously I disagree with this!!  As far as I'm concerned we're one big global community, embracing people from all walks of life from all over the world, we raise millions every year for charities, we support one another and for the most part, we're a considerate bunch.

Stay safe, stay well and stay wonderful!

What we did instead of the London marathon

Samantha Taylor reports:

“I was supposed to do the London Marathon, it was my third instalment for completing the London Classics for Macmillan Cancer Support, but like many of runners, couldn't complete on Sunday. So me and my brother teamed up, social distancing from London to Oxford, and did a half marathon each, so between us completed a marathon distance  NHS blue top & Macmillan pin badge.

I had gone down the Mall - which was so quiet, as was the rest of central London. I have attached a picture of what that looked like.  It was a great run from Harringey to the Mall and back to Harringey, would have been another hot marathon! I look forward to hopefully completing in October - hopefully!”

Philip McDermott was up at the crack of dawn last Thursday to crunch his muesli and, instead of doing the Manchester marathon a few weeks ago, did a little 45k social-distancing solo tour of London, when there was no traffic and no people around.  He reports that “it was wonderfully quiet :)”.

Finally, in case any of you missed this, Filipe Cardoso ran a marathon in his back garden a week ago, taking 6 hours to complete the 1510 laps, also raising money for the NHS.  His fundraising page can be found on Virginmoneygiving.  Well done Filipe!

Heathsiders get creative

Ruth Miller reports:

“Thanks to all the juniors ( Greg, Sam, Kiara, Elkie, Mia, Max and Anna) who sent in their home  exercise ideas - some were very creative. Greg ‘climbed Mount Everest’ up his stairs over a few days and Sam ran 3000m in his garden! Anna devised a great squats circuit to 'First Burn'. You can watch the best bits in the London Heathside Juniors 'Exercising in Isolation' video on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/5ur4jPVeatQ”

Finally, a few Heathsiders got together over Whatsapp to form a boy-girl (or girl-boy) band in lockdown.  Musical genius and ultra marathon runner Amy Cruickshank steered them in the right direction and worked wonders with their contributions to put together a video of their performance of Leonard Cohen’s Halleluja, which you can see here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RmHId3JiZQ.  Amy herself appears at about 2:34. The group currently has no name but has already discussed a world tour once lockdown eases 😊

Credits

Thanks to Sara Black, Samantha Taylor, Philip Hewett, Ruth Miller, the Heathside juniors, and Amy Cruickshank.