A regional daily reporter has vowed that the Boston Marathon bombings will not prevent her from running the London Marathon on Sunday.
Lucy Wright, a reporter for the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News, will take part in the 26-mile run despite the atrocities in Boston, which left three people dead and more than 170 injured.
She said she backed an online campaign for those completing the London Marathon to cross the finish line with their hands over their hearts as a mark of respect to those affected by the bombings, which she intended to do.
Lucy is raising funds for the Norwich-based Hamlet Centre Trust, which helps disabled adults and children, and will run the race with her mother Beverley Rackham, both pictured below, who is running for the Children with Cancer charity.
Said Lucy: “Running a marathon is an incredibly emotional experience and every runner has a commitment to honour – whether it’s to their chosen charity, those who have pledged sponsorship or simply to themselves.
“For many people, Sunday will mark the end of months of training, fundraising and blistered feet as more than 35,000 people take part in the London Marathon. Thousands of runners have endured a bitterly cold winter and have covered many miles in freezing conditions. The emotional investment in the race is, for me, too much to give up.
“The scenes from Boston were harrowing but in London this weekend security will be increased and safety will be the highest priority.
“An online campaign has started for London finishers to cross the line with their hand over their heart as a mark of respect to those affected by the bombings and I will proudly show my support when I step over the line on Sunday,”
Lucy, who has been an Archant reporter for two-and-a-half years, is hoping to raise £1,500 for the Hamlet Centre Trust and has run a number of other races with her mum.
She added: “We have taken part in loads of races together including the Norwich Half Marathon and Race for Life but this will be our biggest challenge.
“I’m so excited to be taking part in one of the greatest races in the world and it will be made even more special by the fact I am running with my mum.”
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Oh dear – just imagine if even 10% of the London Marathon runners are journalists – it’ll mean 3,500 stories exactly the same appearing on this website!
Sorry Lucy, this just isn’t a news story!
Bravo, but I think it’s safe to say that whoever attacked Boston is not on an international campaign against long-distance runners. Which means this is little more than an opportunistic puff piece to boost sponsorship. Good try.
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Best of luck Lucy in both the race and your fundraising. Poor choice of headline given the quotes but clearly you’ve not written this piece. I’ll be crossing that line too.
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Good luck to all journos doing the marathon (I’ve done it myself twice).
Let’s have a round-up of all of them without the bombing hysteria please.
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Good lucky Lucy. Did it six times, fast and slow, fit and fat, and loved every minute. Enjoy the day.
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Fair play for running the marathon, genuinely admire anyone that does, but this isn’t a news story. It’s opportunistic sensationalism to fill column inches.
No one is “defying” the Boston bombings by competing in London.
How about a news story about how I “defied” every marketplace bombing in Iraq by going to my local Tesco for my lunch in a minute?
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