Run for Fun?

Today I am listening to Al Stewart and we're all standing on the border...


Well today I actually turn 45. Penblwydd Hapus as they say here in Wales and indeed as I had sung to me impromptu by some neighbours kids as I walked back from the park. 
This week I watched the second installment of Eddie Izzard:marathon man. For those who have not heard Eddie Izzard stand up comedian (and many other titles) decided to run around the UK to raise money and awareness for sport relief. In reality he is running 43 marathons with a couple of days off in between. He is not a natural runner or in peek condition, he is though very determined and has chosen a route that takes him through childhood landmarks, such as his mother dying when he was six in Skewen South Wales. For anyone who has attempted running of any distance you will appreciate his strength of will and amazing stamina.
I am looking back on my 45 years and asking the same question I have been asking folk in the estates where I work as a community artist..."what have you never given up on and where do you turn for strength". The answers have fallen into the categories of Friends, Family and Faith. But where do you turn to in you? Who or what is it inside you that keeps you going, pushes you on. 
I remember so clearly getting the Year Of The Cat album and setting about learning the songs with my mate. I also remember as an 18 year old listening to On The Border and staring at the world map of the world on my wall. The lyrics went "On the wall the colours of the maps are running"...this was inspirational to a young aspiring rock star/artist/actor who wanted to travel far away.
I remembered this only today. Only as I put the CD on did great chunks of my late teens come flooding back. This was in-fact one of the reasons Rachel bought me the album to help me remember my teenage years when I come to write the Hush Novel later this year.
What kept me going all that time to stay true to being the artist, musician and dramatist that I am today was that stirring of my imagination, so well expressed in the song line..."we're all standing on the border".
Crossing borders from one country to another from one year to another, it is that sense of excitement of what lies ahead that keeps pushing me, gives me strength when I am tired. I want to make sure that I have explored the new lands. Whether I do this physically by traveling or in a more metaphorical sense is not important, what is essential is that I continue to cross the border.
What is great is that I am realising that I am as strengthened and empowered by borders I have crossed in the past as by the borders I will cross tomorrow.
Life is often said to be like running a marathon, but I think it is more like running consecutive marathons...bloody exhausting but the only way to travel if you really want to meet the people, see what they see, hear what they hear and talk about how they cross their own borders or even better get alongside them and run together for a while. Some borders are harder to cross than others and may take a running partner to encourage you through.


Please enjoy the Al Stewart video and tune in to iplayer and catch up with the inspirational Eddie. Look after those blisters but don't stop running and crossing the borders.