One of my fellow bloggers recently asked ‘what is success?’ One answer may be – when one is the target of an ode. Last night 35 joggers finished their nine-week  beginners’ course with a 5k run around darkest St Clement, Jersey. One of them, Juliette Hart, was moved to poetry. It must surely rocket Juliette into contention for the next Poet Laureate.

It’s bleak out there, the rain won’t stop,
but still we lace our trainers up.
The tide is high, wind at full throttle,
time to fill your water bottle.
7pm at the Burger Bar –
we’ll start off gentle, not go too far.

We won’t be put off by the weather:
Jersey Joggers run together.

A minute soon becomes 2…3…4
we’re walking less, we’re running more
5…6…7…8…9…10
we finish our session – let’s do it again!
The sunsets fade, each week it’s darker
but we’re off the couch, 5k’s our marker.

We won’t be put off by the weather:
Jersey Joggers run together.

Roy’s whistle blows, we turn around,
dodging puddles on the ground.
We stop a cyclist in his track,
there really is no looking back.
We’re running strong with no resistance
to the bright green light in the distance.

We won’t be put off by the weather:
Jersey Joggers run together.

Roy McCarthy is the man
who inspired us with his plan
to encourage all that they can run
by setting a pace and by making it fun.
THANK YOU ROY we passed the test,
and wear with pride our high-viz vest!