The most exciting thing that has happened today is that I signed up for a race I have been wanting to do for a few weeks, and the best part is that it's only ten days away. It seems crazy that it is that soon, but at the same time, it's kind of cool. It's a short distance, nothing more than a parkrun, and there's not a huge amount of time to pick up injury beforehand that would stop me from being able to do it. I'm ecstatic, and not just because it's an excuse to be back in one of my favourite parts of London. The main reason I am so excited is because this race is unlike any other race I have ever done before and that is because at it's heart, it's not a race - it's a science experiment. Well, it's a data collection exercise.
At the moment, the government and events industry are trying to get people back to large scale events, but the paramount concern is safety. Can we safely run concerts? Can we safely run sporting events? Can we safely run mass participation sporting events like London Marathon? Is it possible to run them and have the participants behave in the way that they're familiar, or do we need to ask runners, people who are used to being shoulder to shoulder, who are used to carrying others over finish lines, hugging each other in celebration, to keep to social distancing? Can we really ask kids spectating at the event not to come along with signs that say High Five for a Power Up? Can we create an atmosphere of encouraging sport if the crowds aren't actually crowds but small pockets of people, who can't pass out sweets to the runners, who can't hug their family member or friend as they're on the last leg of the race? If we want to get back to the mass participation events of the past, and I have a feeling that's where most runners would prefer to be, we need to prove that it is safe. We need to prove it to runners, we need to prove it to be public, and probably most important of all, we need to prove it to insurance companies, because we need them to back races, or races can't go ahead.
So this race, it's only like a parkrun, but I've not been able to parkrun for over a year, so even that would sound amazing right now, but this race is potentially key to getting every other race I want to do this year green lit and back on track. This race, and the data that comes from it, could be the difference between waiting weeks and months for the whole of parkrun to come back, or having that data to back parkrun making it's comeback now, and if we can prove that it's safe, everyone who started running during the lockdown, everyone who realised that they needed to do something to support their heart health and their lungs' health or needed to do something to support their mental health, all of those people who realised that the second you lace your shoes up and go, you are a runner, they automatically have a home, and they have a community and they have their people, and they know where and when to find them.
Across the globe, parkrun is already making its comeback. Junior parkrun is back, and we're getting to the point where particularly the smaller events can get back to going, and whilst I get a little flutter of happiness every time I see a Tweet or a Facebook post to say another team is getting ready and they will be back soon, I won't be truly happy until it's possible to go for a run with your barcode, and then get a coffee and cake afterwards with the other parkrunners, because that is what this community means to me. We desperately need all of the data being collected that is saying we've done it. Everything we have done over the last fourteen months has been worth it because we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's getting brighter.
I have found a lot of things about lockdown overwhelming, and knowing we're coming to the end of it is a huge sigh of relief in many ways, but also a worry in many others. Like a lot of people, the life I have now is very different from my life all of that time ago. I gave up my flat, I moved out of London, I focused on other things. I'm not even going to be doing the same job for too much longer, so exactly what life post lockdown looks like, I'm not sure, but I do know that running and the normality of training, is something I need to keep myself balanced. I honestly get confused over what day it is at the moment, and a lot of that is because every day is the same. Getting back to structuring my week around activities is going to be so beneficial.
The last thing though is that my last two races have been virtual and it has sucked. London Marathon in the streets of where I live was the weirdest thing I have ever encountered and whilst my neighbours and friends were as supportive as they possibly could be, nothing compares to the landmarks in London. Nothing compares to the crowd. I have crossed Tower Bridge precisely once in my life, at least to my memory, and that was one the back of a motorbike. I am determined that the next time, it will be as part of London Marathon, and I'm determined that it will be this year, and not having to wait another six months or more.
So this race is important to me.
Yes, I'm a suitable amount of worried about the travel. I'm a suitable amount of worried that entering into an environment without social distancing will mean that I could contract the virus, particularly because I haven't had a vaccine yet (not through my own choice, I might add) and I'm a suitable amount of irked about the tests, because I don't find it pleasant, though who does, sticking a swab into my throat, or up my nose, but if it's what we need to do to provide the data that let's running make a comeback, if we need to test different models and make sure that there is one that works, that's what has to happen, and I'm over the moon to be able to be apart of it, even if appropriately anxious.
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