Runners are Awesome Human beings

This weekend thousand of runners across the world are running in honour of a woman they never met, and dedicating their miles to her memory.  This woman was not a politician, a pop star, Hollywood actress, or a self-made celebrity.  She was a loved wife, and mother to three children, and was tragically hit by a drunk driver when out running.  Sadly this doesn't appear to be an unusual story, but what is extraordinary is how the running community have reacted: a Facebook event was set up by Meg's running club (the Richmond Road Runners) to encourage the running community to dedicate their miles on Saturday 18th January 2014 to the memory of a fellow pavement pounder.  Watching the news feed of this event today is a moving experience, not only are there posts from all over the world, there are posts from people of all abilities, and coming in thick and fast as the day goes on.  Like myself, many of these people want to make a point that we are a community, who support each other, and who grieve over every member of our community who loses their life doing the thing they love.  The organisers have planned to consolidate this in a map on a dedicated website when they have collated all the miles, and it will be fascinating to see the final total.

However, this is not the only story of support from the running community.  A few months ago, when finishing my PhD, I sat in my University Library desperately waiting for news from a member of my Facebook Running club (the awesome Good Run Wall), who had completed the Boston Marathon - thankfully in time to be safe from the awful events that occurred later in the race.  A matter of weeks later, I was stood on the start line of the London Marathon, wearing an armband with the Boston logo on and taking part in a minute's silence for those runners who lost their lives.  Many people who passed me that day were wearing Boston t-shirts, or caps, or other clothing to show their support both for the running community but also for the city as a whole. When you hurt one of us, we all stand up to be counted.

Finally for this blog (but certainly not for the running community), an article appeared this year on the Runner's World website that never fails to bring a tear to my eye. Sadly, it is the story of yet another runner struck by a car when out doing his favourite thing - this runner (Jim Kelley) was well known in his running club for helping others and being selfless in helping others achieve their goals, while often sacrificing his own chances of a PB.  At the funeral his widow asked his friends to turn up in their running gear, as Jim would be buried in his own running kit as a final tribute to his passion.  The funeral director then had a fantastic idea - and asked the runners present to accompany the hearse in the mile  journey from the service to the cemetery - and this resulted in the most fantastic photograph entitled "Jim's final group run" ... people involved in this final run commented on the camaraderie and the chatting that reflected Jim's own attitude to running.  A smaller but no less powerful tribute from a group whose main commonality is simply that they strap trainers to their feet and go out in silly clothing in all weather.

Three small examples of how a group of crazy people in lycra actually form the most awesome community in the world. And however many breaks I take from running (and however long it takes me to really get to love it truly) I am proud to be a member.  Whether you run marathons, 10ks, 5ks, or just a slow run-walk mile around the block, you are a runner and therefore amazing.

Obligatory terrible photo for Meg's Miles ...