A running commentary from the Bishop
Bishop Harold reflects on his recent debut as a marathon runner...
Taking part in the Belfast City Marathon on the May Day Bank Holiday was a terrific experience. I was running as part of a relay team for Tearfund, along with several other Church leaders, including Stafford Carson, a former Presbyterian Moderator and Ken Todd a former Methodist President. Altogether, Tearfund had about a hundred people running in several teams, wearing striking yellow shirts. This was my first time to run in a marathon, and at 61, I thought that wasn't bad! Several things struck me about the experience:
First of all, the wonderfully positive and helpful atmosphere. That was true among the participants, and also from the supporters along the route. The cheering, clapping, feeding with sweets and offering water to the competitors was simply inspiring. It made me feel, 'This is the kind of society I want to be part of, where people bless and encourage each other with positivity and support’.
Then there was the fact that so much money was being raised for good projects. Mine was for poor people in Ethiopia, but it might as easily have been for people suffering from illness, for children’s charities, mission societies or whatever. It was simply great to see so many individuals feeling so passionately about different needs in the world, and doing something to change things!
Then there was that dimension which is particularly poignant in Northern Ireland: the fact that this event is entirely and unselfconsciously cross community. It really doesn’t matter what political persuasion or cultural tradition the person running alongside comes from. This event is a jewel in the crown in Northern Ireland. That is why it needs to continue on a Monday, and not be moved to a Sunday, which would have the effect of excluding many participants. Here the churched and the unchurched, the young and the old, the orange and the green, run together on an entirely neutral holiday.
You know, I might even do it again.....
Bishop Harold Miller