London Bangla A Force for the community…
SUNDAY, 6TH September will see hundreds of runners take to the streets in Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lewisham and Greenwich – and hundreds of visitors will be taking to the pavements to watch the runners.
The event is “The Big Half”, which seems to be a spin-off from the London Marathon. Just when you thought it was safe to go out onto the streets again as there isn’t another marathon until April next year, along comes half a marathon.
The Big Half is going to be vibrant and inclusive, they tell us, and it will celebrate the diversity of London. They have been running the Big Half since 2018. Organisers invite runners to “choose a charity and fundraise” and shares a page on how to “raise money”. The advice doesn’t explain how to “raise” money: it details how to collect money from relatives, friends and the general public. This is not raising any new money. It is just transferring money from other people to the runner – an action which does not depend on running.
PHOTO: The Big Half. The Vitality Big Half, in Tower Hamlets, Sunday 4th March 2018.
The run will start at Tower Bridge and finish at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. After Tower Bridge, runners will make their way along the river as they head further east. They then circle Canary Wharf (where they can celebrate the diversity of the wealth and privilege of international businesses). Runners will then head west, past Limehouse, and run round Wapping. They will then run the last stretch to Tower Bridge (where they can celebrate the diversity of the site of the new Chinese Embassy) and cross the Thames. Once south of the river, runners will experience the glamour of Bermondsey, Rotherhithe and North Deptford, before finishing in Greenwich.
We can only hope that the runners improve their health and wellbeing from the training and the final run, and that the money they collect will help their charities and not just replace services which should be funded through taxation rather than voluntary donations. One day, those whose lives are disrupted by mass runners will get together and offer runners money not to run.
Oh well. Grit your teeth. It’s only half a day.
●For more information about the route of The Big Half, go to:
The Big Half
●Read more about it:
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