A Year Of Tears Fall In One Week

I NEED to talk about Sara.

And I know I’m not the only one! As a member of a WhatsApp group comprising of six females who have bonded through motherhood and dog ownership, our messages are an eclectic mix of cleaning tips, favourite cheeses, wreath-making, comedy memes and everything in-between. An ongoing topic is which famous women are our Most Wanted Best Friend. Sara Cox regularly features in this thread so you can imagine our collective interest all week with Sara’s Great Northern Challenge. Over five marathons in five days, raising money for Children in Need.

My goodness, it has been an emotional ride. A year’s worth of tears falling in just one week for a thousand different moments as Sara ran, jogged and walked Pudsey to Pudsey, starting in the Scottish Borders and 135 miles later arriving in Leeds. She has faced gruelling hills, freezing horizontal rain, storm Claudia, crippling hip, knee, shin, ankles, feet and swollen toes PAIN. And that’s alongside the emotional and mental aspects too.

I have sat at my desk marvelling at the horrific enormity of her task and thanking my lucky stars I’m not famous. The only reason I would ever voluntarily run is for my life so my admiration for Sara has hit brand new heights. Normally it’s her speed of wit and daily joyful chat that amazes me but this week it has been her stamina, vulnerability and lack of sleep that has dominated my headspace. And boy did it dominate. So much so, that once I’d bored my bored teens about her latest milestone, I turned to my Little Dog Facebook page. I had no expectation of interaction, just an overwhelming need to publicly say Sara. Wow!

But people did respond and in their thousands. The average post reach for my page is usually in the lower double digits but within hours my homage to Sara Cox had hit 28k. And that’s when I realised that this talented female’s challenge had become much more than a celebrity broadcaster fundraising for a good cause. For one week she has dominated the airwaves and evolved into a figurehead for kindness, human decency and that precious thing of fragile yet galvanising beauty. Hope.

Sara. Katniss. Has anyone ever seen them together in the same room?

I think this is why the Children In Need appeal has obsessed me so. Alongside the heart squeezing stories and parental empathy, I now suspect I’m part of an invisible subgroup, Humanity in Need that has also benefitted from Sara’s efforts. Her challenge has brought out the very best in people and the very best people out. And that has been a wonderful thing to witness.  It has drowned out, if only for a few days, the near constant flow of world doom and blatant greed. The tears I have shed this week have shocked me into realising just how much I needed a pause. At one point I did think maybe I’m just hormonal but then remembered I don’t have many of those left so it must be something else. Sara has inspired and united older women. She has switched the narrative from ‘Please form an orderly menopausal queue, scrapyard straight on ‘ to ‘ You are stronger than ever before and still have value and worth’.

Instead of flags raised in anger under the cover of patriotism, there has been humour and kindness in droves. As Sara faced yet another vicious incline, gruff, no nonsense farmers stopped to doff their cap and cheer on one of their own. Tractor guards of honour, dog walkers, school children, lorry drivers, midwives. So many folks, from all walks of life took time to line the routes of the solitary Yorkshire moors and support this inspiring lady.

Chants of Sara. Sara. Sara. How many times have you publicly heard a woman’s name chanted over and over again? The enormity of that single chant kept triggering fresh waves of tears. And when she crossed the finishing line on the final day, the floodgates opened, I was a blubbering mess and the aforementioned WhatsApp group lit up. Unifying and truly magnificent!

But it wasn’t all streaky mascara and puffy eye-bags, the funnies came thick and fast. Jeremy Vine’s on-air squeals and groans during his sports massage was a questionable listen but then, wince worthy radio inspired hilarity the next morning as Scott Mills took the mick via the mike. I followed Sara’s week solely by radio so only had the mental visual of Jeremy jumping out of a hedgerow gap, on a very dark, quiet country lane as Sara was head down, locked in, mentally battling on. What was he thinking, a textbook example of how not to surprise a lone female in the dark!

There was more excellent humour in the form of thousands of text messages and voice notes from the public, including one woman donating every time she cried, she’s now on rations till payday! And another with a heart like a swinging brick who never falls for these public fundraising things. She donated. Then there was a mum with her two boys whose special weekend treat is a takeaway and movie night. It was her teen boys who asked her to donate the takeaway money to Sara. I will hold that moment of kindness for weeks to come. There is hope, there is hope.

Sara’s challenge swamped my mind with many thoughts and subjects to discuss. Some arose from the Facebook post comments, such as why do women always have to make everything about being a woman, and why did I use the phrase female human. On a personal note, I’m feeling it’s  time I grabbed my life by the scruff and declare I’m not done yet. I really can’t continue to blame my apathy on the menopause. If Sara can do a marathon a day for five days, surely I can complete a ten minute body stretch every morning. Which by the way is for my-own-achey-good. Those talked about shuffle lessons and tai-chi classes, for goodness sake, stop talking Anna, start doing.

And what of the bigger questions like the future of our troubled BBC? The new threat of litigation from the US president against our BBC, and it is ours, had me instantly bristling and defensive. Whatever your opinions on bias and political interference and there are strong points for and against, this flagship fundraiser frankly had me in awe of what must have been a Herculean team effort. So much talent and hard work to bring it to our airwaves. I can’t bear to think we might lose it because he wants five billion in damages. Could this spell the end of the BBC? There are certainly folks who would support that BUT Sara Cox is my imaginary best friend. She’s worked hard for her career, she’s run 135 miles in five days. To let a conman who lies and bullies as often as he breathes take that away from Sara or Sara away from us. NO. Simply no.

If you think you too might benefit from a pause, there is a one hour documentary on BBC iplayer called Every Step Of The Way, hope it helps and you will need a tissue or five. If you have time, do let me know what you think because I will never tire of the need to talk about Sara!

All the best, Anna