Hello! Welcome back to Footprint.
🇬🇧 Happy Friday from the UK. Best of luck to everyone running Sunday’s London Marathon – and congratulations to everyone recovering from Monday’s Boston Marathon.
EDITION #42
💭 Running Through
Boston Athletics Association
A few years ago, a friend rolled her eyes when I said I was training for a marathon. “What exactly are you running from?" she asked.
I paused for a suspiciously long time, as if trying to hide some deep, dark, secret answer to this question. The truth was I just didn’t have one.
I’ve never really thought about running from anything. Maybe I lack the speed, or stamina, to be confident of escape.
But I’ve also never really thought I’m running towards much, either. Temporary destinations (a new best, a test, a goal or a challenge) come and go.
Running — for me, at least — is not so much about moving from, or to, as it is through.
Good times and bad. Sunshine and gloom. Calm and crisis. Joy and grief. Confidence and doubt.
This year alone I’ve crunched through snow, panted through heat and wheezed through polleny bursts of spring. I’ve run through all kinds of places, any number of feelings, and every type of day.
I am not built for marathons. Training for my first, I swore it would be my last. It wasn't — primarily because of all I ran through.
Nerves. Hopes. Drizzle. New places. Old haunts. A whole city, out in force. Doubts. Belief. Exhaustion. Extraordinary noise. The occasional ray of sunshine. Pain. Kind strangers. Great friends. Pride. Fear. Love. Everything.
Last time I ran a marathon, I was starting to fade in the final stretch when I locked eyes with the friend who had asked, a few years ago, what I’d been running from. She’d come out to cheer, and by my reckoning did so louder than anyone else in New York City that day.
I never did answer her question. I’m not sure I needed to.
Congratulations to each and every Boston finisher. Best of luck to everyone preparing for London on Sunday.
Yes, you set out from Hopkinton, and Blackheath, with your sights set on Boylston St, and the Mall. But don’t forget to soak up everything else along the way.
📚 READING LIST
Three pieces worth your time:
😮 Harry Newton, London Marathon’s oldest runner at 88 | The retired grocer from Macclesfield has completed 31 marathons, including one by jogging 461 times around his garden during the pandemic, Sean Ingle writes in the Guardian
💬 How running can save democracy | Marathons offer a shared experience: one that can actually inspire hope, at a time weighed down with cynicism and dread, Scott Warren writes in The Washington Post
👶 Babies? Yes. Support? Sometimes | More professional athletes are choosing to have children mid-career, but pregnancy and the postpartum period still come with challenges, Alison Wade writes in Fast Women
🗞 Chills and champions at Boston Marathon
Boston Athletic Association
With barely 300m left of Monday’s Boston Marathon, Ajay Haridasse’s legs gave out. As dozens ran past with their sights locked on the finish, two runners – Robson De Oliveira of Brazil and Aaron Beggs of Britain – stopped to help, carrying him on their shoulders the rest of the way.
“These two guys were less than a tenth of a mile away, in the middle of a really, really fast race, and still stopped to help a fellow runner who needed some help,” Pete Grasso, who caught the moment on video, told the Associated Press. “That’s not easy to do.
“Seeing them put everything aside in that moment just to get another runner across the line was incredible. And hearing the crowd respond, cheering for them, supporting them, truly gave me chills.”
🏆 At the front of the pack defending men’s champion John Korir of Kenya retained his title and set a new course record of 2:01:52, while defending women’s champion Sharon Lokedi of Kenya won in 2:18:51 – a course time second only to the record she set last year.
🤦 Nike vows to 'do better' after ads backfire
Nike came under fire in Boston for installing a sign – “Runners Welcome. Walkers Tolerated.” – ahead of Marathon Monday. It was later taken down.
“During race week in Boston, we put up a series of signs to encourage runners,” Nike said in a statement. “One of them missed the mark. We took it down, and we’ll use this moment to do better and continue showing up for all runners.”
But it wasn't just one sign, in one place. “You didn't come all this way for a walk in the park,” read a Nike advert pictured at a recent parkrun in the UK.
“Nike your elitist messaging is not welcome at parkrun,” Kirsty Woodbridge, global head of strategic communications and public affairs at parkrun, wrote on LinkedIn. “Plus, you've got this one wrong. Big time. People DO come for a walk in the park. And they come a VERY long way. And they are SO welcome.”