Run Britain Day 88: From Ulverston to Barrow
On the drive back to Ulverston to begin day 88, I could feel the tears behind my eyes. The tears that I had held back yesterday with the help of a beer and a nice evening.
I messaged Lottie to say that I could feel a breakdown coming and needed chat. And of course, she was on the end of the phone straight away.
But while I was sobbing through the rain on a miserable road out of Ulverston, something amazing happened.
A Buddhist temple and centre for peace materialised out of the grey, with its welcoming gold roof. Lottie and I decided that inner peace was just what I needed at that moment, so I went in. The Manjushri Kadampa is a beautiful place and just the 10 minutes that I spent there was enough to clear the cobwebs from this most recent rock bottom.
I emerged from the temple with a renewed spring in my running ability. I also remembered that I had a new Harry Potter to download and listen to. And, within a few hours, the sun had come out.
Arriving in Barrow was also a good reminder of one of the reasons that I wanted to run around the coastline of Britain.
Barrow-in-Furness is the home of BAE Systems and it’s hard to miss evidence of the massive defence company in the town. There are the massive buildings with BAE branding on the side, the brand new submarine in the harbour, and all the staff walking around in BAE high-vis.
When people (journalists like me) write about business, investment and the economy, it’s content like this which I think is missing.
The role of BAE within Barrow is fascinating. It’s woven into the fabric of the town. When BAE thrives, Barrow thrives. And vice versa.
Celebrating companies (the big and the small), gaining a better understanding of them and encouraging investment, is surely key to getting Britain out of the negative economic spiral it currently finds itself in. Barrow provides great evidence of that.
As I approach the second half of Run Britain, I really hope I find more time and energy to celebrate the role of businesses in Britain.
