One 11-year-old hopes to beat his dad in the Parallel London 5km

Comms Team

02/09/16

Jonny White is running the Parallel London race/push with his 11-year-old son Christian. They talked to us about why they have decided to take part.

Jonny: I’ve done the London marathon in the past, but I haven’t taken part in any organised events for a while. I run quite regularly but I’m aware that I’m not as fit as I used to be. This was an opportunity to get back into marathon running with a view to running the London marathon in a few years’ time.

Christian: I do loads of sports – football, rugby, cricket and running – but running is my favourite. I love it, it makes me feel really happy. I sometimes go out running with Dad at the weekends. We go to the local park and do a few laps. I can keep up with him now and really want to beat him!

Jonny: We’re lucky that where we live in West London there are lots of parks. I much prefer running outside in the open air. I love the fact that you can just step outside and go, you don’t need any fancy equipment or special gear. You can do it anytime, anywhere. You’ve got to build your time up though and not be overambitious.

My one bit of advice to participants is to remember to do your stretching exercises after the race – unless you want to look like John Wayne walking over a vegetable patch!

Christian: I’m really looking forward to running with lots of other people. It’s really exciting to join in and feel that you are running with lots of different types of people, but you’re all taking part in one event.

Jonny: I heard about Parallel through a friend. I’ve run two London marathons for other disability charities, so I thought I would do it for Livability this time. I admire the work of the charity and the fact that it is so community focused.

Christian: I like the idea of doing something you love and helping people at the same time. I’ve got some of my friends to sponsor me and they’re really interested in what the charity does. I’ve been able to tell them about Livability’s help for the people affected by the earthquake in Nepal – everyone knows about the earthquake because we raised money for the appeal at school.

Jonny: Events like Parallel are uplifting – they bring people together in a common enterprise. I recently did Cycle London with my family, which was great fun. I love running and cycling in our wonderful capital city. It’s exhilarating being part of a big event in the centre of London.

Christian: I want to run the London marathon with dad when I’m 18. He’ll be 55 by then – so he might not make it round! We would like to run for Livability. I’ll be trying to beat Dad’s time at Parallel – it’ll be great to see mum’s face when she hears how fast I’ve done it.