'Til I collapse, I'm clappin' these hands

The 2024 GoodGym edition of the cheer station at the Ealing Half Marathon occupied the same bus stop in front of the council building as last year's event, with the usual speaker with motivational music and the obligatory 30-minute break to grab a coffee between the waves of the runners.

Two major enhancements to the station were: Sevan's cable tie construction to hold the GoodGym flag in place and Bagel the Dog, brought by Milly looking after Liv's pup. The crowd loved Bagel, but Bagel had to take breaks from the crowd so as not to get too agitated. The rest of the cheer crew: Ijo, Jags, Penny and Kash were more than allowed to get hyper - they clapped tirelessly at the sight of any runner (not only GoodGymers) till their palms got numb and the tarmac of Uxbridge Road in front of them started to resemble a flowing stream of lava. What an intense cheering it was.

Among the cheered friends were GoodGymers: Alan, Annabel, Beth, Dave, Caz, Chris, Florian, Harvey, Liv, Michelle, Mike, Raj and Steph. An equally tenacious applause was earned by seafood and street food: a bunch of running lobsters and a hotdog suspiciously resembling a familiar run director. After the race, it was time for the unwavering runners to give their legs some rest and for the relentless supporters to relax their palms.