We joggers are just trying to put one foot in front of the other
Despite the Putney Pusher, the running community is really full of some of the loveliest people, writes Bryony Gordon
FORGET the growing tensions between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, people spoke of little else all last week and the chatter has reached fever pitch.
Forget the asteroid the size of a house that will shave past Earth in the autumn, and who cares that we may have spent the summer eating egg sandwiches laced with poison? The only topic of conversation to dominate dinner tables last week has been this: just who is the Putney Bridge Pusher — the jogger in London who shoved a young woman into the path of a bus one bright morning last May?
An investment banker who was arrested in connection with the incident was then released by police with no further action taken.
Eric Bellquist (41), a partner at a private equity firm, has been ruled out of the inquiry after he proved he was abroad at the time of the alleged attack.
Nevertheless, I think we can all agree that we have been united by a passionate concern for our public highways and pavements, and how people behave on them.
Lycra louts have long been the scourge of country roads, motorists and pedestrians bonded through a mutual dislike of those men and women who seem to have woken up and mistaken themselves for Stephen Roche.
My fear is that, in light of the Putney incident, runners are starting to get a similar reputation.
I’ve noticed it on social media, where people have used this unfortunate incident as an excuse to vent their fury over anyone who happens to leave the house in ‘athleisure’ wear, even if they are only walking their dog (and while we’re talking about dog walkers, please could you clean up after your pets even if nobody happens to have spotted that your canine has gone to the toilet).
“While we’re on the subject of runners,” posted one friend on Facebook, “I’d like to express my profound irritation at those groups of humans who get together every Saturday morning and take over my local common to do their park runs. Err, hello, must you start the weekend so smugly? Why can’t I be hungover without also being run over by large groups of sweating, huffing, puffing joggers?”
I’m quite new to this running malarkey (did I mention I ran a marathon?) and at first I, too, was put off by people who would leave me choking on their dust as they sped past trying to get a seven-minute mile.
I begrudged the beanpoles who would expect me to get out of their way as they galloped through the park like gazelles.
Just last week, I was left in fury at a Nike advert I passed, which shouted “It’s fast or last” and “If you like it slow, jog on”. All of this contributes to the idea that runners are a bunch of vainglorious bastards who just want to show off how quickly they can run a 10k.
But as I have got more into my ponderous jogging, I have learnt that the running community is full of some of the loveliest people.
People who want to use the ability to move on their own two feet as a tool for good — currently, there are several running “crews” such as the Backpackers (a group of people who are always at the back of races) who show that to do exercise, you don’t have to be a preening pillock.
The Backpackers show up to races and cheer on the people... well, at the back. They are just one of many groups using movement as a tool for promoting mental as well as physical health.
(On this note, a recent study says most men cycle for their minds rather than their bodies, so maybe I should be kinder to the lycra louts.)
The ‘This Girl Can’ campaign has gone a long way to changing the perception that you have to be strong and fast to do sport. All that really matters is that you are doing it.
The other morning, on a run, I was smiled at by a cyclist, wished a good morning by a dog walker, and waved at by a jogger who was plodding along with a box of tea bags in both hands (perhaps she was using them as weights?).
And I realised then that, whatever way we chose to do it, we were all just trying to put one foot in front of the other. We were all just trying to stay alive. And as long as we remember that every time we put on our athleisure wear and take to the pavements, the world will be a happier place.
‘I begrudged the beanpoles who expect me to get out of their way’