The Hackney Half in September

Unsurprisingly, and not incorrectly, the Hackney Half has been delayed again, to September 26th 2021.  This was always pretty likely, and though I agree with the decision it does mean that I will have essentially been training for this one half marathon… since 2019.  However vaccination is underway, and I am genuinely really optimistic that this time, finally – finally – we’ll get to run it this autumn!  Blimey it’s been a long time of so much nothing at all, all of which has been grim.  Come on freedom!

Meanwhile thank you again to everyone who’s sponsored me thus far, your kindness has been one of the very few things keeping me going through a long, cold and grey lockdown winter.  There were plenty of times when giving up was definitely an option, including the week with all the snowstorms, an ongoing dodgy left calf and just the general all-over emotional exhaustion that comes from everything these last twelve months have been.  They say that resilience is best fed by having a purpose and doing something for other people as well as yourself – your generosity and support has genuinely given me a shot in the arm of that resilience drug, and I cannot thank you enough.

I am still going to aim to run a half marathon on the original date of May 16th (maybe the 15th depending on the weather).  I will however take the opportunity to not get up at 6 a.m. to eat my porridge, digest my porridge, use the bathroom and get to Stratford for a 9 a.m. start.  Instead I might get up at… ooh… an indulgent 7.30 to eat my porridge, digest and then kick off at a balmy, relaxed 9.30 a.m. from my front door.  13.1 miles is enough suffering without adding sleep deprivation to the game.

As well as having trained for this thing for essentially 2 years, the final upshot of another delay is that by the time I do run the Hackney Half in September, it will be at minimum my third half marathon instead of the glorious first it was meant to be, after the grouchy “screw you pandemic I’m gonna do this anyway” run in August 2020, my intended run in May 2021… and then the real deal.

If anyone reading this still wants to support the fantastic work that Macmillan Cancer Support do, for whom I’m fundraising, you can do so here.  Everything helps and thank you!