If you’ve been following TCé long enough, you’ll know that every week I get my run on in London with a brilliant collective of creatives known as Run Dem Crew. Pioneered by DJ/poet Charlie Dark, the past year has seen RDC soar with plenty of press mentions, the growth of projects like the RDC Youngers mentoring programme, Bridge the Gap - an incredible movement where the flyest international crews unite to run major races - and now Run Dem Crew West, their newish Monday night meet-up for any beginner runners keen to get involved.
Co-led by Cory Malcolm-Wharton (aka @bitbeefy on Twitter) and Ellie Wood, RDC West has inspired novices to run all sorts of races - from local comps in Peckham to cross-country 10 milers out of town (like Dorking?) - and last Saturday, they debuted RDC Mission Imposssible, their first citywide treasure hunt for “runners, walkers and joggers”.
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Trafalgar Square[/caption]
We started from The Water Poet in Spitalfields and the challenge was to get to 50 known landmark in 3 hours with a team of up to 4 people. Oysters weren’t allowed and all team members needed to be in the snap holding up an RDC sign while a member of the public took the photo (word of advice: never ask a pensioner to take your photo with an iPhone - it ain’t happening!)
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Buckingham Palace[/caption]
We were completely knackered by the end of it, having ticked off 34 out of 50 landmarks (and clocked over 13 miles, nearly the distance of a half-marathon!) - but it was such a brilliant day. We got to explore the capital, there were medals, t-shirts and goodie bags for everyone, the deserving winners won a great trophy and it was novel way to spend a Saturday with likeminded people who understand that running can be a very cool (and fun!) thing to do. Now on to the next mission!
To keep up with the Run Dem Crew, visit www.rundemcrew.com
