Not just a walk in the park! For its impact on daily life, public events don’t come much bigger than the Great Manchester Run, held on the city each May. Not surprisingly, a team from L’Arche Manchester is always keen to join the 30,000 runners of all speeds taking part in the annual fiesta of fitness and sheer fun. Siân, a disabled member of L’Arche Manchester’s team, describes the atmosphere as ‘electric: everyone is supporting everyone and cheering people on. When I crossed the finishing line, I was proud of myself, and proud of L’Arche.’
Local vicar Andy, who is a friend of L’Arche, enthuses: ‘it’s great to see the breadth of humanity doing something together. Some run, others dawdle at a very leisurely pace, and there are lots in between…’
Siân is one of many participants who trained for the big event by doing a 5km ‘parkrun’. Incredibly, when one considers what Parkrun has become today, the first event, in 2004, involved just a handful of people in Bushey, London. But it was clearly an idea whose time had come: out of the blue, it grew legs and started travelling round the world! 21 years later, Parkrun is now a massive international phenomenon, popping up in 22 countries already. Over 1300 regular events happen in UK alone.
Like the Great Manchester Run, Parkrun is open to all comers, its website announcing that it is ‘positive, welcoming and inclusive: there is no time limit and no one finishes last.’ One of the organisers, Dave, explains why this is a vital part of the day: ‘for society as a whole, it’s important to see what people can do, rather than what they can’t do.’
However fast or slow one goes, there are few who don’t find that the 10km a real physical challenge: Charlotte (a care assistant at L’Arche) remembers, ‘for me, the most difficult thing was to keep being motivated, because it was a very long run.’ Fortunately, she was paired up with running partner Eleanor, a disabled member of L’Arche, who has done the GMR many times. Eleanor remembers how the words of encouragement passed back and forward between the pair: ‘it helped me, because I was supporting Charlotte. My legs were aching! I wanted to do the run so we could support each other.’
That sense of mutual encouragement between members with and without an intellectual disability is what drives each L’Arche community across the world. The Great Manchester Run simply gives a welcome opportunity to put that quality on public view when the going gets tough, as each helps their running partner to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
And that spirit of solidarity is not confined just to Manchester. Apart from the fun and fitness, the GMR is also a magnet for fundraising! Eleanor proudly remembers ‘last year I raised over £1000!’ Today, the care world is facing major economic challenges but amazingly, on the most recent run, they smashed their fundraising target by 16%! Given their own pressing needs, L’Arche Manchester could have been forgiven for keeping all the cash, but that is not the community’s style: Siân again: ‘I found it important that 50% of the money raised goes to L’Arche International: it’s important to help other L’Arche’s round the world.’
Michaela, another friend of the community underlines, ‘there’s a dignity in feeling that you can help other people.’ Last word to Siân: ‘that’s L’Arche’s ethos, working together to live the most fulfilling life.’
You can catch the electric atmosphere here on video:
