Saturday afternoon saw one of Hampstead Heath’s periodic cross country events – 5, 7 and 10k runs for children, woman and men respectively – although, in the event, the children’s run was cancelled because of the mud. (Not a popular decision amongst the onlookers that I spoke to! ‘Lot of health and safety nonsense – it’s only a bit of mud – what can happen to them?’….)
While a 10k run is most certainly not a restful way of spending an afternoon if you are a runner, it is strangely relaxing as an onlooker – and fills one with admiration for all of those who obviously spend most of their working hours behind a desk slogging their way through the November mud.
Here are some of the runners (I reckon there must have been several hundred in total) relatively near the beginning of the run puffing their way up the hill and over the top – where some of them go into third gear to speed down the other side.
But very shortly they meet another hazard – an extremely muddy bend – but with a wonderfully supportive marshall adjuring them to ‘keep going’, ‘keep smiling’, ‘take care on the bend’ and, above all, ‘not to lose their shoes’ – all too likely given the mud!
And for those that managed to do all of those things – the finishing line did finally come in view…..
In praise of Bradleys