Rough sleepers deserve to be given dignity - our 16:15 Charity Run aims to help
Plus our usual round-up including how one dad ran 106kms to raise money for a bereavement suite and Kim Levinsky's Long Path challenge
Today I want to tell you about Alan (not his real name).
A few years ago, when I was working as a reporter for the BBC, I produced a documentary on homelessness.
I spoke to a lot of people for it, from councillors to charity workers, church ministers to shop owners.
But I was most keen to speak to those people who spent their days and nights on our streets.
One of those was Alan, an alcoholic who had fallen on hard times but always had a cheery welcome and word for people.
I spent many hours sitting on the street chatting to him about addiction, his gripes against the local council, how he’d been beaten up by a fellow rough sleeper who took offence to him for no real reason, and what it was like to live without a roof over your head.
We also spoke about people’s perceptions and treatment of rough sleepers - from ignoring them to verbal and even physical abuse.
One day he told me about how this kind of treatment extended beyond the strangers who walked passed him every day.
The 16:15 Charity Run - Our Coverage
Running for rough sleepers - Fun runners are encouraged to fundraise for Project 16:15
Running to show the humanity behind every blanket - the story behind the 16:15 Charity Run
Running for rough sleepers - Introducing the 16:15 Charity Run
Alan said he had been sitting on the road, begging, when he saw a man he recognised. This was not any man, but someone Alan had been close with back in days gone by, when he’d had a good job and a big house.
This was a man who had not been just a friend, but had been Alan’s best man for a marriage long since the victim of alcoholism and addiction.
Alan told me the shame on this man’s face at the memory of his acquaintance with a homeless person was striking. With not much more than a quick hello, Alan’s ‘best man’ had dropped £5 in his hand and disappeared as fast as he could.
On Saturday, May 20 - not long now! - I will be attempting to run for six hours and, hopefully, 30 miles to raise money for Project 16:15, a charity which helps rough sleepers in Northampton find their dignity.
I’ll be running for Alan, and all the others like him. You can sponsor me here 👉 https://bit.ly/3AJh9WA
About the 16:15 Charity Run:
My run will be part of the 16:15 Charity Run, which will take place at Northampton’s Racecourse between 8am and 2pm. You can find more details at:
This week on…
The podcast:
Damon Fox ran to take part in this week's Running Tales Podcast - after all, he can't afford to miss any runs right now.
The business development manager at Northampton Town FC Community Trust is currently in the midst of a challenge that will see him run 750km (466 miles) in 12 weeks.
There are 7,500 children in poverty across Northampton - hence the number of kilometres - and Damon is fundraising to support them in their school and home life.
Running Tales also spoke to Damon about his love of parkrun and completing the London Marathon in 2017.
You can listen on Apple Podcasts here. Running Tales is also available on Podbean, Spotify, Google, Amazon Podcasts and more.
Substack:
This week we took a look at how a band of friends were set to take part in the gruelling 106km (65 mile) Isle of Wight Challenge ultra marathon to raise money for a new bereavement suite in Northampton.
You can catch up with that story here: Running for Daisy: Isle of Wight Challenge will help fund new bereavement suite
The good news is Wayne Chalmers and his merry men and women completed the challenge at the weekend, raising thousands of pounds in the process.
We’re aiming to give you an update of exactly how they got on later this week on Running Tales.
We also ran the story of trail runner Kim Levinsky, who is preparing to take on the 358-mile (576km) Long Path in New York State.
The post below from Kim’s Instagram outlines her latest training run, taking in the formidable Devils Path in the Catskills.
We spoke to Kim about her hopes of setting a fastest known time for the trail, and how the whole experience will be “a good mix of pain and enjoyment”.
You can read our article in full here:
It’s good to talk
Our podcasts try to create a chatty atmosphere, but they’re only ever one person at a time - and we’d like to hear from more of you about your running, what you think of our articles and, if the mood hits you that way, life in general.
That’s why ‘Running Tales: After all is said and run’ is also available on Subtack Chat and Notes.
These conversation spaces can be found in the Substack app - kind of like a group chat or live hangout.
We post short prompts, thoughts, and updates and you can jump into the discussion.
To join our chat or catch up on our notes, you’ll need to download the Substack app, now available for both iOS and Android.
Download the app by clicking this link or the button below:
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