Olympian Mo Farah May have pulled out due to injury but the BUPA 10,000 proved to be a fruitful experience for us runners.
The Bupa London 10,000 is presented by the London Marathon and finishes in St. James's Park. Runners pass many of London's famous sights, including Westminster Abbey, The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, The London Eye, Cleopatra's Needle, Tate Gallery, Millennium Bridge, The Monument, The Bank of England, Mansion House, St. Paul's Cathedral, Nelson's Column and Admiralty Arch. Buckingham Palace acts as the backdrop to the start and finish.
Among the thousands of runners were a cohort of eastenders running to support important charitable causes. Whitechapel is where I'm from and I'm really proud that it hosts one of the most important medical support services in the world.
The outstanding work of London's Air Ambulance is unrivalled and I'm really pleased to have run for such a worthy cause. It's also situated a stones throw from The Whitechapel Mission which serves the homeless 365 days a year.
With my bad leg I had long ago decided that this would be a very slow affair for me and I would really enjoy the jewels that London Town had to offer in terms of sights. The crowd and charity volunteers. This years run route was streamlined even better than last year. There were clear signage and volunteer stewards aplenty. The water stations were packed with generous and smiley faces and the crowd cheered relentlessly.
I was flanked by Omar and Shaheed all the way and the constant flow of chatter ensured a pleasant experience throughout.
Human Relief Foundation took part in this race as part of their Water 4 Life clean water campaign for developing countries around the world.
Water is something we take for granted in London. For others around the world it is a daily struggle to find clean water and many die and suffer great ill health due to this.
The two causes teamed up with a third charity at the end and as you can see from the main picture we enjoyed a spot of banter. It was a real fun day. The weather was great, the company greater and we raised a lot of money for charities.
I bumped into Paula rummaging the bibs near Buckingham Palace. Akik and I happily passed on our freebie snacks to her. I was grateful for Paula's short period of company - There's nothing like a bit of perspective during moments of extreme joy and the encounter offered me a stark reminder of my July run for the homeless at the Whitechapel Mission.
Bring on the next challenge!
www.londonsairambulance.co.uk
www.hrf.org.uk
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