Ripping yarn of Victorian runner
6:00pm Sunday 22nd January 2012 in Latest News
David Birks
Runners in the Bath Half-Marathon will get a blast from the past in March, as a volunteer at Trowbridge Museum runs the course dressed as a Victorian athlete.
David Birks, an education officer at the museum, will run the 13.1-mile course in a homemade costume to raise money for the Friends of Trowbridge Museum and Larkrise Primary School, which does a lot of work with it.
Mr Birks will run with a false moustache and sideburns, a peaked cap with a crest based on the Trowbridge coat of arms, long socks, stockings and a thin top with laces at the neck.
He is still undecided about whether to tackle the half-marathon in Victorian-style footwear.
A regular half-marathon runner, he had already been contemplating running in costume when a colleague suggested doing the race for the museum.
He said: “It’s a combination of things, because I do a lot of history workshops, Victorian workshops, it being the Olympics this year and I was thinking back to the first modern Olympics.
“One of the volunteers suggested I could run to raise money for the friends and I’d already had the idea of running in costume, so it went from there.”
Mr Birks, 45, hopes to complete the race in his usual time of about 1hr 40mins, if he decides to wear modern running shoes. He also plans to wear his costume when training near his Bath home, to adjust.
He said: “I haven’t been out in it yet. I run a few times a week anyway, in just standard running gear. I’m going to have to go out in it a few times, to get used to it, but it’s quite thin and relatively comfortable.
“I’m hoping the moustache and sideburns don’t fall off, as I’ll get quite sweaty.”
He is targeting a minimum sponsorship level of £500, which would be split between the two causes, but already looks set to exceed that total.
Mr Birks said: “I wanted £500 minimum and I’ve got £400 already, after a couple of weeks, so it should be comfortably over £500. I’m slowly working my way through my address book. When most people see the picture of me, it gets a laugh. Then they say, ‘Are you really going to wear that?’ When they ask if I’m going to wear the shoes, that’s when I say, ‘Mmmm, I don’t know yet’.”
You can sponsor Mr Birks by dropping into Trowbridge Museum in The Shires, or by donating to the Friends of the Museum on its website at www.trowbridgemuseum.co.uk
