It’s hardly a novel observation that while mass participation running is seeing massive growth, crowds and audiences for athletics events is falling. Anyone who watched the indoor Grand Prix from Birmingham on Saturday will know what a shame that is, when a star like Laura Muir is rising. Mo Farah may have won his (hardly hotly contested) race, but Muir was truly stellar, breaking the UK and European records for 1,000m and only just missing out on the world record.
If that feels like an impressive, yet distant feat to you – well, it’s already had an impact in my house. Running junior parkrun on Sunday, the look on my five year old’s face in the finishing straight was – I swear – almost identical to Muir’s. At bedtime, she requested a story featuring Muir. Oh, and both she and her big sister got PBs. It’s amazing what a bit of inspiration – oh, ok, and a promise of some chocolate buttons – can do.
So the highlights of my running weekend were definitely as a spectator – to the BBC’s coverage from Birmingham, and slightly more actively, with pacing duties for the youngest. My own long-ish run was straight afterward that – a steady 15, with a proud smile on my face. Imagine what Muir’s parents must feel.
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