Here Comes The Run
Sgt Steppers Homeless Hearts Club Band will be singing their way around this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon
Sgt Steppers Homeless Hearts Club
AMONG THE throng of runners at this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon will be four individuals dressed in brightly coloured, quasi-military regalia: it will be hard to miss them. They’ve been training eight days a week and are apparently getting better all the time: ladies and gentlemen, let’s have a round of applause for Sgt Steppers Homeless Hearts Club Band.
‘My two greatest passions in life are music and running,’ says Ian ‘Mccartney’ Carley. ‘So I thought that for my 50th birthday I’d attempt to combine them: running while playing my guitar and singing. As it was also the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, it seemed like the perfect fit.’ Having completed a trial run on his treadmill at home, Ian, who’s played in bands all his life and has an impressive marathon PB of 2:46, set about assembling his own Fab Four. Step forward Cyra ‘Starr’ Parkes, Alex ‘Lennon’ Radford and Linda ‘Harrison’ Radford, all from Aldershot running club Blackwater Valley Runners. ‘Fortunately, they’re as mad as I am,' says Ian, ‘so they were all up for the challenge.’
However, running while singing and playing a guitar is not without its difficulties. ‘It’s absolutely knackering,’ says Ian. ‘I think it’s the breathing: when you run, you’re taking in air all the time, but you can’t do that while singing. I also find the tempo of the song dictates the speed at which I run: my feet have to land on the beat.’ Then there’s the inability to see where your feet are landing. During a previous race, the wineserving Bacchus Half Marathon in Dorking, Ian became something of a day tripper, catching his