Isn’t running 26.2 miles difficult enough? Not for some. Whether it’s dressing up as a helicopter, a lobster or a pair of testicles, wearing a novelty outfit spurs many competitors on
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elusion. That’s the crucial prerequisite for running a marathon in fancy dress, according to the ultramarathon competitor and cancer survivor Jonathan Acott, who is attempting the fastest marathon dressed in a clanking suit of armour.
So that’s what it was when I decided to run this year’s London Marathon dressed as a badger. I’ve run a marathon once before, 19 years ago. I hated the suffering. I injured myself. And now I’m 51. Why was this a good idea?
It started last year. Gazing at a piece of barren farmland that Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) hope to bring back to life, I decided I would help. People taking local action to make the world a tiny bit better is a hopeful antidote to global doom-and-gloom. My nature-loving dad, who used to volunteer for NWT, died last year. With NWT celebrating its 100th birthday this year, it seemed a good moment to raise money for its efforts. The badger is the symbol of the Wildlife Trusts and I have a badger onesie in my wardrobe. And so, I began training, driven by that strange constellation of personal and idealistic notions that make people choose to embrace pain for 26.2 miles.
