Today was the London Marathon, which means that the best marathon runners in the world ran right by my door. And following them were thousands of less accomplished runners, most of whom were raising money for charity. And while each of these runners is remarkable, my favourite ones are those who run the distance in what the British call “fancy dress” (the rest of us call them “costumes”).

Because as hard as it may be to run 26.2 miles, it must be harder to do if you’re wearing something that people really shouldn’t run in. And while many people raise money for charity, I imagine that people donate more to costumed runners. Not simply because they’re making a spectacle of themselves (that must help), but simply because they seem to be going all-in.

Nobody this year came close to the greatest marathon costume of all time, but some were still fantastic, nevertheless.

Before we get to my top five, a few caveats:

Originality counts

Every year, people run the marathon in Rhino costumes. This is impressive. They’re big and bulky, and they cover the head and obscure the vision. But they’re the same every year, and it has lost a lot of its originality – I cannot be bothered to try to capture them on camera anymore.

If I watch the marathon year after year, and see the same costume, the wonder of it will cease. Unless you’re the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Difficulty counts

If you put a skirt on over your normal running outfit, a pair of wings on your back, and a glittery hat, you’re probably not making the list. First, it’s not terribly original. But more importantly, I’m far less impressed than I am by the person who is adding to the difficulty of the run with their costume.

For instance, Hulk Hogan here is awesome:

But a the end of the day, he’s wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and a bandana. His fake mustache is not impeding his ability to race much.

The Flash

Somebody always dresses as the Flash, so it fails on originality. But it’s a very brave thing to do, is it not? Enter a race — a race that you know you aren’t going to win — as the Flash?

Things get missed

This is a photo blog post, so costumes only count if I caught them on camera.

Happen to pass by when I popped off to use the toilet? You’re not under consideration.

Ran too slow, and came by after I left the sidelines? You’re not under consideration.

I was unable to get a decent photo of you? You’re not under consideration.

On that last point, the honourable mention of this list are the two people who dressed as one camel. Particularly the guy or gal who was the rear half of that camel. You were on the other side of the street, and this is the best I could get:

But bravo, people. Bravo.

And now, your top five …

#5: Yellow

This is Natalie Street, raising money for the Charley Paige Trust. Almost didn’t make the cut, on the “difficulty” front, but the yellow stood out, looked fantastic, and clearly indicated a level of commitment beyond a t-shirt and funny hat.

#4: Suited and booted

This is Sam Hull, and – as near as I can tell – he is raising money for Give It Your Max.

At first, I thought this was a bit lame, as wearing a suit doesn’t strike me as “going the extra mile”, the way painting yourself head-to-toe in yellow does (nevermind the top three, below). Then I thought it was awesome — Mr. Hull is running towards Canary Wharf here. Now I know it’s supposed to be a school uniform, and I’m again not entirely sure.

But the fact remains that Mr. Hull was one of the first costumed runners to show up — and the first one to be wearing something that could be considered to make the run more difficult. For this alone, he deserves a top 5 spot.

#3: The gorilla

This is Sonja Hoeben raising money for the Gorilla Organization.

Not the first gorilla I’ve seen, nor, likely, the last. But I would completely believe it were I told that the costume is handmade. The long-ish gorilla fur is what wins it for me.

#2: Mary Poppins

Here is Paul Spreadbury, dressed as Mary Poppins, raising money for KissyPuppy.

This is a winner on multiple fronts. Running in a long dress? Carrying a handbag and an umbrella? With what has to be an uncomfortable and sight-limiting mask?

Then Mr. Spreadbury goes a step further, by posing for me as he ran past.

And then the personal nature of the charity touches a bit as well.

What could beat this? What?

#1: The Bride

I suppose somebody could get married in September, get drunk, decide to run the marathon in a wedding gown, and then go through with it.

Sophie McCorry Day beats out her husband here, by virtue of being caught on camera.

Edit: Apparently I got Paul Spreadbury’s name wrong, originally — I had it as Paul Spreadfield. And those commenting were too polite to draw it to my attention, and I only just noticed today. This has been corrected.
-07/05/2013

It’s Saturday, so Maggie and I had plans for a day out.

Plans that failed.
Plans that failed badly.

But at least I can teach you something now, so here it is:

Mr. Topp’s Guide to Failing at Having a Day Out.

Have a plan

In order to fail at something, there has to be success criteria first. So a plan is required, if you’re going to fail at having your day out.

A beginner might make a plan that has no reasonable chance at success. But this doesn’t generate a true failed day out. No, to properly fail, set out a reasonable plan for what you might do or achieve that day. It works even better if it sounds like fun.

Our plan toady

Our plan today is a good example. It simply does not sound too difficult.

First, we wanted to buy a costume. Next weekend, we are attending a screening of The Muppet Christmas Carol, and there is an award for Best Costume. We don’t have time to make a costume, so we were going to buy one instead. This means that Maggie almost certainly won’t win, of course, but things will be more fun if we are participating. So the first part of the plan was to hit Oxford Street for a Christmas-themed costume to wear.

After buying a costume, we would grab lunch.

After lunch, we would head to Winter Wonderland. We would stop by a skate shop first, on the off chance that they sell skate runners that can strap over Maggie’s boots, so we could go skating.

Start failing early

My plans were starting to fail before I even got out of bed in the morning. One glance out the window showed it was raining. One glance at the weather forecast showed it was not going to stop.

So what do I think about Winter Wonderland in the rain? Skating at Winter Wonderland in the rain?

I don’t think highly of it at all. I think so little, actually, that I decided that if it didn’t stop raining, I wouldn’t even bother.

Fail unexpectedly

Like every day out with Maggie, a bag was packed. We needed a bottle of water, a couple of nappies, and some snacks. Additionally, we made sure we had mittens and hats, in case the weather cleared and ice skating returned to the menu. Finally, we took my camera. I figured that it might be nice to take photos, if we happened to make it to Winter Wonderland.

I put them all in a normal backpack. I have two camera bags, but one is too small (it could hold the camera, of course, but not all that other stuff) and the other is big, and hangs over the shoulder. This would result in some discomfort when I inevitably had to carry Maggie for long periods of time.

I should have sucked it up, and taken the large shoulder bag. Because if I had, I’m pretty sure my camera lens would have survived being dropped when I was on the train.

But I didn’t. And the only camera lens I brought was broken before I had a chance to snap even one picture.

Fail to anticipate

We get to Oxford Circus, broken camera and all.

The streets are blocked off. This is good — Christmas crowds are too big for the sidewalks of Oxford Street, as wide as they are.
McFly is playing. This is bad. Not because I hate McFly, but because the crowds are even larger than normal Christmas-season-Oxford-Street crowds. Which is to say that even though the blocked streets had enough room to move, the insanity indoors (and out of the rain) was even crazier than usual.

Don’t find what you need

But all this aside, Maggie and I have found ourselves at Oxford and Regent Street, before noon, thirty-one days before Christmas. We are here for one thing, and one thing only: a Christmas themed costume.

Success is inevitable.

We look in Hamley’s, the famous toy store. They have exactly one Christmas themed “costume” in Maggie’s size. It’s a red dress. An ugly, cheap red dress. It looks like it should cost £1 at Primark. It says “Little Miss Christmas” on the front. It is £26. I think about buying it anyways. I convince myself I can come back if I need to. I won’t need to.

We look in other stores. BHS. John Lewis (kind of). Sulfridges (halfway). House of Frasier.

Viable Christmas outfits can be assembled. But costumes? No luck. And it’s past time for lunch.

And this is where Maggie falls asleep.

Failed at the easy thing? How about the easier thing?

It was good that Maggie fell asleep, because she was hungry. And I couldn’t find us food.

I tried the John Lewis “Place To Eat”. It had a giant queue. I was holding a sleeping baby.

I tried the House of Frasier tea room. It had a short queue, and every seat was clearly taken. I was holding a sleeping baby.

I walked past pubs and cafes, looking in. Free tables were not present. I was holding a sleeping baby.

Eventually, I found a random restaurant which actually had a place to sit down inside. It only took an hour to get there.

Find out another part of the plan actually isn’t possible

Remember the skate shop I was hoping to visit? It isn’t even on Oxford Street.

Get told to give up by a two year old

Maggie laid down in the store, and had to be coaxed back outside.

“Train home now?”

At this point, I wasn’t hard to convince.

Happy Halloween.

Ghost dog found at Maddie the Coonhound.
GIF originates from Will & Grace

We mentioned it back in June, but it’s worth mentioning again now — on Sunday, exactly one year after her first night back at home after giving birth, Karen will run a half-marathon.

It’s very impressive stuff (you should support her), and I’ll be there cheering … and taking photos.

I took some photos at a 10 km race this past summer — I meant to snap some photos of a friend, but of course I somehow managed to completely miss him running by. There were still plenty of photos of other runners, however. With the race coming up this weekend, these photos seem a suitable lead-in to this weekend’s race.

When photographing a race, of course, I first get the lead runners:

Once the leaders are photographed, I continue to snap away at those following. These photos are usually thrown out, but sometimes I get something pretty good:

Men and women usually race together, but are counted separately. I keep my eyes open to get the leading lady, though sometimes she can be lost in the crowd:

Once this is done, we get to the masses, and I begin looking for interesting people and situations.

For instance, some people insist on running with their headphones in. I understand why people do this in training, but a race is about more than your own running — it’s about the course, the fans, and the other runners too. It seems wrong to wear headphones while running. But some people do. And for some reason, I found a group of these people clustered together:

Of course, most of the remaining photos are of runners in costume (“fancy dress”, as they say here in England).

First, you get those in lightweight costumes that are unlikely to much impact their performance:

Then you move on to those with more elaborate costumes:

Finally, towards the back of the pack, you find people racing in costumes that make you wonder how they do it. I admire these people:

One last photo before we’re done — the obligatory black-and-white arty photo with the runners out of focus:

Don’t forget to donate to Shelter in support of Karen by clicking here, and come cheer her on in Hyde Park this Sunday.

All photos by Mr. Topp. Photos were taken at the Ascics British 10K London Run on July 10th.