The One Show 1000 Miles

[AndrewSchofield]

I got roped in to taking part in the BBCs The One Show 1000 Mile Relay for Sports Relief yesterday. If you ever get the oppurtunity to participate in something like this then I thoroughly urge you to do it. I wasn't at all keen to be involved but kind of got talked and guilted into doing it and I have to say that I am now so glad that I did. It was a really great experience, and one that I think anyone would really enjoy.

If you get chance, don't do what I nearly did and let it pass you by!!

 

[big-all]

well done good cause
any footage on tv or local press

 

[AndrewSchofield]

No footage (thankfully) although you can see a picture of me just after I completed it on the 1000 miles 'wall of fame' on the sports relief website if you want evidence we did it!!

The only mention we got on The One Show last night was when they blamed 'the runners negotiating the rough terrain of the Peak District' for making the relay 2hours late. For the record, it was the rush-hour traffic and someone dressed as an Emu in Manchester that delayed the relay yesterday - nothing to do with us in the Peak District!! In fact, they were 4hours late getting to us, so if they were only 2hours late at 7:15pm last night then we, and the runners across South Derbyshire, must have run quickly to make that time up!!

 

[big-all]

how can i tell you appart from the other 999 people on the wall ??
although i think it was slightly less as some have doubled up and run a second mile

 

[imamartian]

Andrew, can i ask, what was so good about it? the sense of achievement? or did they pay you? or were there 'girls' available afterwards...

 

[AndrewSchofield]

big-all - you can search for me by name if you want - which i'm sure you can work out from my DIYnot user name... And yes, you're right, they had numerous people drop out at the last minute (especially on Mother's Day) so some people did run two miles - on Thursday they were estimating that by the time they got to London, only around 950 people would have taken part, not the 1000 as intended. Three people dropped out of the Buxton leg of the relay on Wednesday - which is why I ended up doing it!

imamartian - as some on here will know, I trained for and ran a 10km run last year, and despite injuring my ankle in that run and having not run again until this ,mile last Thursday, running a mile wasn't really a personal acheivement for me (although i'm sure it was for some of the 900-odd people who took part), neither did we get paid or benefit from any other perks (we did get two jelly babies each and a bottle of water, oh, and a t-shirt...). I think what felt so good about it was being part of a team; a team of people I didn't know before Thursday, 900+ of whom I didn't even meet, to help complete an event that literally spanned the length of the country. The atmosphere, good humour (especially as we were stood waiting for 4hours), friendliness and support shared between 12 strangers to help each other complete a small part of a much bigger challenge was great to experience. Just being part of something, which connected people from Mull to the Mall and lots of places inbetween, was a really good feeling.

 

[doitall]

I think it'd brilliant Andrew, and the organisation setting it up and getting it all in place most have been a bloody miracle.

What would it have taken to get a 1000 people at one mile intervals the length of the country, let alone at roughly the right time, and have reserves available to step in at a minutes notice.

Brilliant, Well done everyone.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

doitall - yes, i'm sure it must have been a logistical nightmare, and as you'd expect, by no stretch of the imagination did it all go to plan. I think its a shame that some people dropped out at the last minute, and I hope that they had a good reason, and didn't just change their mind. Having said that, if someone hadn't dropped out, I wouldn't have done it - so i'm glad that that person dropped out!! I was one of the last minute people who stepped in, but others put themselves out more - plenty of people turned up to run a mile, and happily ran two miles instead to cover the 'gaps' and on our leg of the relay, one guy turned up just to support a colleague of his who was doing the 'mile', but when he heard we were still one person short, he ran a mile too - in his suit and shoes!! I suspect he's been out this weekend to buy a new pair of shoes!! There were two cyclist chaperones too - who've cycled 500miles each at a very slow pace (i wouldn't have liked to have done that) and with very little sleep, and they too stepped in to run a mile here and there when they were short of runners.