What a couple of weeks! Police investigating physical threats to our First Minister. Inexcusably vicious social media abuse on top of a no confidence motion levelled at the Deputy Minister for Climate Change. A long-time-in-the-making plan to make our under-powered and under-resourced Senedd fit for purpose presented as snouts in the trough rather than a strengthening of democracy.
This has been a particularly distasteful week for politics and especially for relationships between the public and politicians.
I am very reluctant to pour petrol on the fire, but I’m not afraid to say I feel ashamed that it took a public safety intervention around traffic speed limits to ignite real interest in our devolved democracy. If we measure public engagement by petition size (highly unwise of course), it appears that our beloved cars and journey times mean more to us than serious structural problems like Wales’ housing shortage or the isolation of rural communities caused by dreadful public transport, or Wales’ long-standing underfunding through the Barnett formula – even than problems like child poverty and chronic ill-health.
So it’s time for some positivity. Tomorrow, the Principality Cardiff Half Marathon takes place. Once again, Cardiff will be transformed into a speedy, sweaty carnival of fancy dress costumes, running vests and charity t-shirts.
The much-loved event is a fixture in the global running calendar and it celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. And it’s set to be the biggest event yet.
Now, it will come as no surprise to you if you are regular readers of my columns that running is a big part of my life. It’s my therapy at tough times and my pleasure during better ones. It’s how I’ve always switched off. When I need to clear my head, I reach for my daps and hit the pavements. More than 16% of the adult population in Wales runs on a regular basis so there’s plenty of scope to persuade more of us to don our trainers.
The Cardiff Half brings together all that’s good about our capital city and its people. It’s the feel-good factor, the inspirational stories, the efforts and camaraderie along the 13.1-mile route. It’s the cwtches and the tears of pride and relief on the finish line. It’s the runners who put themselves through their paces (literally) for so many good causes and those that run through adversity and grief.
I heard about Anita Tucknutt, a primary school headteacher at Cwm Gwyddon Primary in Abercarn. Last year, she was diagnosed with bowel cancer and underwent gruelling treatment. Now in remission, she will be running for Bowel Cancer UK.
And how about Isobel Ace? She is certainly living up to her name. She’s 22 and has cystic fibrosis. Fed up of googling the condition and finding terms such as ‘life-limiting disease’, she’s decided she wants to show young people that the disease doesn’t have to limit anyone. She’s becoming the success story that she would have loved to have read about, a proper role model.
And a big shout out to my colleagues at the Football Association of Wales who are running to raise money for Tenovus Cancer Care, a cause very special to me after we lost our beloved Cardiff City Vets FC colleague Betsan Wyn Morris last year.
And that’s why events like the Cardiff Half are so important. They inspire people to take on a new challenge – maybe it’s reaching a milestone birthday, maybe it’s to pay tribute to a lost loved one, maybe it’s to raise money for charity. Maybe it’s just time to get fit, active and healthy. But behind every runner, there’s a story and that’s what makes the Half so special.
The Cardiff Half fills me with such pride for our capital and for Wales. I’ve only run it once – but I’ve cheated as a member of the Sport Wales relay teams a few times too!
The race route takes in so many landmarks, starting at Cardiff Castle, heading past the Principality Stadium and the home of Welsh football, the Cardiff City Stadium, before reaching Penarth Marina, the barrage and Cardiff Bay.
Runners stride past the Wales Millennium Centre, before completing a loop of Roath Park (and that notoriuous hill!) and back to the civic centre. It threads through the gloriously multi-cultural communities of Riverside, Canton, Grangetown, Tiger Bay and Roath until it hits our spectacular civic centre. It’s a brilliant showcase of everything that Wales and Cardiff offers visitors.
I’m told that 1,500 runners are coming from overseas this weekend. Many of them are on their way to completing the so-called ‘superhalfs’ – a series of half marathons in some superb European cities such as Lisbon, Prague, Copenhagen, Valencia and, obviously, Cardiff. The idea is that runners have a number of years to complete all of the races to become a fully-fledged ‘superrunner’.
Lots has been said about how poor awareness is of Wales on the world stage. Cymru’s appearance in our first FIFA World Cup since 1958 shone the international spotlight on our nation and underlined how powerful sports diplomacy can be as a vehicle for profile-raising. The Cardiff Half puts our capital on people’s lists of long weekend city break destinations and I simply love the concept of runner tourism for a nation as physically stunning as ours.
Of course, as Wales’ biggest mass participation race, it brings in economic benefits to the city too, with runners and spectators spending in our pubs and cafés, staying in hotels and B&Bs and hitting Cardiff’s shops. It’s been estimated that half marathon runners spend around £2.3m in the city.
I also love how the Welsh language is properly ingrained into the event – as it should be. Runners can opt to have a Cymraeg badge printed on their race bib, which encourages a natter between runners – if they’re not too out of breath – and encouraging shouts of ‘ymlaen’ and ‘amdani’ from the watching crowds.
By the way, we’ve come a very long way in terms of the numbers of women now running. There is very nearly a 50-50 male-female split when it comes to registrations. In fact, in 2019, female entrants made up the majority, so the tide is most definitely turning.
My employer, Cardiff University, is the research partner of the event and my colleagues have explored the reasons why women run – and, more importantly, why they don’t. Unsurprisingly, women run for fitness and mental health. But it also found that women sometimes feel they don’t have time to run because of work and family pressures. I get that.
Balancing a busy professional life with family commitments is a constant challenge but, for me, exercise is as fundamental as cleaning my teeth. I know how dramatically my physical and mental well-being is damaged by being inactive, even for just a few days. Exercise is the best and cheapest medicine on the market, so we need to properly elevate its status in public health debates to ensure that being active is properly valued, prioritised and invested in.
The Cardiff Half’s timing helps, of course. The early October date means that runners can complete their training just as the darker nights draw in. That’s significant, because we all know that public safety remains a worry for many women.
I was really heartened to hear that Cardiff’s first ever Muslim women’s running club started up five months ago to encourage and enable more women to run in a safe environment where like-minded women who share similar beliefs and values can run.
Mwslima Run Club started just a few months ago and, now, more than 100 women are turning out every week. Together, they feel comfortable running in their hijab (headscarf), in their jilbabs and abayas (long skirts/dresses) or activewear, of course. And the runs are all timed so that women can be home in time for Salah (prayer).
And it’s projects like this that the race entrance fees help to support. Run 4 Wales – the organisers extraordinaire of not only the Cardiff Half but the Newport Marathon and 10ks in Porthcawl, Barry and beyond – is a not-for-profit company which invests its surpluses into funding grassroots sport and promoting community projects. It has spent nearly half a million pounds on supporting 48 free Parkrun events, provided funding for district, national and international competition opportunities for school athletes and funded more than 100 social running groups across Wales.
And a special mention to my old pal from Bridgend, Steve Brace – Mr Marathon himself – who coordinates a team of more than a thousand race volunteers and ensures everything runs smoothly on the big day.
Some are sniffy about the admittedly aspirational goals of Wales’ Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. But, if we are serious about creating better and more secure lives for the next generations of Welsh citizens – and those who haven’t yet been born – we need to anchor public health, sustainability and equality at the very heart of all we do.
This takes us back to the 20mph debate, I fear. What’s more important? Protecting lives or ensuring the ease and comfort of our own?
The Cardiff Half is a small display of positivity. From the Junior Half taking place the day before to its legacy of inspiring fledgling runners from every community and background.
The real finishing line is a long way off for us in Wales but, for those running tomorrow, when you cross the line, take pride in your own achievement and remember that you’re part of something much bigger too.
* Laura McAllister is a sports-mad academic from Bridgend. She is Professor at Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre and former captain of Wales Women’s international football team.
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