Sunshine, celebration and the setting of new world records! The band spent an exciting Sunday playing at the 46th London Marathon. Once again, we were invited to play in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the UK’s leading charity supporting people with Cystic Fibrosis, and we were thrilled to take part.
There was a carnival atmosphere of excitement and anticipation as a record breaking 59,000 runners took to the streets of the capital hoping for a personal best or just to complete the course! Shortly before the band began to play, elite runner Sebastian Sawe passed by, on his way to winning the men’s marathon and setting a new world record time of 1:59:30. We also spotted marathon winner Tigst Assefa who crossed the finish line to set a new women’s only world record of 2:15:41.
The band played near the end of the course, next to the Thames on Victoria Embankment with lots of upbeat music to urge the runners onward to the finish line. Musical Director, Jim Lynch included some running themed tunes like Keep On Running, Gonna Fly Now (from the film Rocky) and Run Rabbit Run, some of which were specially arranged for the band for this occasion, (and we couldn’t resist a cheeky rendition of Highway to Hell). As a London band, it seemed only right to end our set with Maybe it’s Because I’m a Londoner.
It felt good to be playing outside in the sunshine and to hear the chorus of cheering and applause at the end of each piece we played, but whilst some spectators did stop to listen, dance or clap along with us, the real support was of course for the runners. For all of them, Sunday was the culmination of so many months of training and hard work and it was wonderful to help celebrate that achievement.
Our thanks to our friends at Cystic Fibrosis Trust for inviting the band – we were delighted to support such a wonderful cause. If you would like to find out more about the work of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust you can click here to visit their website.
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