R is for Running (And Running Late)

(Altered due to late finishing and publication)

Turn the clock back a little under thirty years ago and my Sunday morning would have been spent pounding  the pavement.  Don’t get me wrong it was not by choice, I did long jump and did not go happily to to the conditioning session intended to build up stamina I did 15 steps in my run up and could not appreciate the need to run a couple of miles.

The thing is once you have the option taken away from you it becomes more appealing.  Since my spinal problems I no longer take my health for granted and I now know just how precious it is.  I tried finding some picturess from the athletics club I belonged to but like many things it is long gone.

As I write this the world has been rocked by the events at the Boston Marathon and the London one is due to be run tomorrow (was run yesterday) thousands of people line up with one aim, not to win medals or break records but to achieve something while representing those who no longer can represent themselves and raising thousands of pounds/dollars for charities.  I know both causes close to my heart will be represented on not only the London start line but that of other races throughout the year.  Hours spent pounding the pavement in wind and rain to do those precious angels proud, and I know the families of those helped by both charities The Joseph Salmon Trust and Charlie’s charity Cords4lifeUK will continue to contribute to helping these charities help more people.  I wish neither of these charities had to exist, I wish that both boys were playing in a school playground right now not looking down on their families and smiling at the legacies created in their name, but both not only exist but are needed and do great work.  I don’t know if I will be fit enough by next year to join either of the teams on the starting lines but I do know that I want to be and that before I turn fifty I intend to run at least one 10k race for each charity.

Maybe I will even get fit enough that I will experience the thrill of lining up one Sunday morning to begin those 26 miles that are not about the Elite runners they are about the masses saying we just want to give something back and make a difference.