The Marathon Record If you’re

The Marathon Record

In need of some audio inspo? Turn up the volume on the world’s first marathon concept album, created by RW’s Rick Pearson.

or the past six months, I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time in my wife’s wardrobe. There’s often been a mattress propped up behind me and a duvet over my head. Have I lost my mind? Quite possibly. I’ve also been recording an album – the world’s first long-player about the marathon.

I should admit to having some experience in this area. As the co-host of the Runner’s World podcast, I wrote a handful of running jingles. Before that, I served time in a wedding band. Combining my two main loves – music and running – over a longer-distance project was, I’m afraid, inevitable.

Recording such an album on a limited budget during a global lockdown required some ingenuity. Hence the whole wardrobe-and-duvet thing: I was creating a DIY vocal booth (clothing dampens the sound). If the recording set-up was lo-fi, I wanted the songs – about famous marathoners but also concepts such as ‘the wall’ – to be as big and propulsive as the race itself. To this end, I teamed up with one-man rhythm section Jules Jackson, who plays drums and bass on all the tracks, plus keyboard wizard Mick Parker.

I also convinced my wife, Georgie, to not only lend me her wardrobe but to sing backing vocals as well. Together, we became The Hamstrings. (I had toyed with The Iliotibial Band, but decided it was a little too knowing.)

The LP, Revolution Of The Feet, was to be a celebration of the race and its colourful history. My elevator pitch was: 'Like Horrible Histories, with less blood and more Lycra'. Which is to say, light-hearted and irreverent, with an underlying tenderness for its subject matter.

And what a subject the marathon is. Drama is written into its DNA – from Pheidippides’ incredible journey in 490BC to the everyday heroes who pack the streets of every famous city marathon. The distance pushes you to the limit, bringing out the full gamut of human emotion – from despair to elation. And if that doesn’t make you want to sing, nothing will.

Track 1: The History Of The Marathon

Where else to start but with Pheidippides, the legendary Greek foot messenger whose remarkable run gave birth to the modern marathon? His journey – more like an astonishing 480km than 42.2 –deserves 480km than 42.2 –deserves an album in its own right. an album in its own right.

I’d been listening to a lot I’d been listening to a lot of Ian Dury and the of Ian Dury and the Blockheads, and used their Blockheads, and used their template of funky backing template of funky backing and tongue-twisting vocals and tongue-twisting vocals as the musical reference as the musical reference point. Wikipedia should point. Wikipedia should probably claim a co-writing probably claim a co-writing credit on this number as credit on this number as there were a few aspects of there were a few aspects of Pheidippides’ journey with Pheidippides’ journey with which, I confess, I was which, I confess, I was unfamiliar. As the song unfamiliar. As the song says: 'It happened a long says: 'It happened a long time ago so no one really time ago so no one really knows / But this is how my knows / But this is how my favourite version goes.' favourite version goes.'

Track 2: U Started 2 Fast

We’ve all been there: haring off at the start of a marathon only to come unstuck later on. Putting some pacing advice to music, therefore, seemed like a smart idea. But I wanted this to feel fun and cheerful, rather than dreary doom-mongering, so musically it’s funky and upbeat. Hopefully, it will function as a reminder to marathoners everywhere: pace thyself or suffer the consequences. (PS – please forgive the over-stylised spelling of this track: I was trying to be Prince.)

Press play and celebrate the celebrate the highs and lows highs and lows of running of running 42.2 km. 42.2 km.

Track 3: Barefoot Bikila

Among the many heroic images of marathoners throughout history, that of Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila running (and winning) the 1960 Olympic marathon in his bare feet ranks highly. He was the first African athlete to win the Olympic marathon, Ethiopia’s first gold medal winner, and he helped to usher in an era of East African dominance over the distance. He is a running god. Despite this, his name isn’t as widely known as it should be, but no history of the marathon would be complete without a tribute to Bikila and his remarkable victory in Rome. This is old-school rock ’n’ roll – a genre becoming popular around the time of Bikila’s victory – complete with not one, but two key changes. I may have been a little overexcited.

Track 4: Super Duper Kathrine Switzer

Back in 1967, women were routinely told that if they tried to run a marathon they would probably die in the process. Kathrine Switzer’s legendary run in Boston that year instantly threw a spotlight on the idiocy of that belief, and she still fights for equality inside and outside running today. I wanted this song to feel as celebratory as possible, as there are few moments in our sport that have had such a lasting, positive impact as Switzer’s rebel run. When she contacted me to say she liked the song (see 'Hitting the high notes', next spread), all the hours spent in the wardrobe were worth it.

Track 5: Running Boom

Having paid attention to the marathon’s historical figures, I felt that I also needed to explore the race’s development. From being something that was once the preserve of super-fit males, running blossomed in the 1970s, attracting people of all shapes, sizes, genders and ethnicities. This song celebrates that, mirroring the varied things that the marathon means to different people. This is my attempt at Graceland -era Paul Simon. Alas, Ladysmith Black Mambazo couldn’t all fit inside the wardrobe.

Track 8: Strava

Track 6: Runner’s High

The great phenomenon, the runner’s high, is custommade for an uplifting pop song. If you’re lucky enough to have experienced this chemical rush, you know how thrilling it can be – but I wanted to explore the idea that someone you love can give you the runner’s high. So this is a duet between two runners who get that buzz from being together.

Track 7: The Wall

‘Hitting the wall’, one of the great dramatic moments in the marathon, lends itself so readily to song that I’m surprised no one’s written about it before. The Wall symbolises the moment – in a marathon or a relationship – where you are blindsided and suddenly feel unable to continue. We’ve all been there – it’s a moment of real crisis, filled with drama and pain. Musically, I wanted the verse to be full of major chords and feel optimistic, like the early kays of a marathon, before the minor chords of the chorus come crashing in. Probably the album’s silliest moment, this song is a reference to the growing role of running tech. Most regular runners are now in possession of a running watch and a Strava account that they monitor closely, so it felt like an area of running that was ripe for running that was ripe for parody. Vocally, I’m trying parody. Vocally, I’m trying to be Ian Dury again, as I to be Ian Dury again, as I feel the great man would feel the great man would have done a wonderful job have done a wonderful job of lampooning Strava obsessives. It’s a bit of a obsessives. It’s a bit of a throwaway number, in truth, although I am proud of the couplet: ‘Ooh gosh / A stranger just gave me some kudos.’

Track 9: Eliud Kipchoge

When you think of the major marathon moments, Kipchoge’s historic sub-two certainly makes the shortlist. Pioneers such as Kipchoge not only need incredible physical gifts but a mentality that maintains, even in the face of doubt and scepticism, that the seemingly impossible is possible. It’s a impossible is possible. It’s a quality I tried to capture quality I tried to capture in the lines: ‘They said it in the lines: ‘They said it was impossible till Eliud was impossible till Eliud achieved it / To do achieved it / To do something incredible, at something incredible, at first you must believe it.’ first you must believe it.’ Kipchoge’s ‘no human is Kipchoge’s ‘no human is limited’ quote says much limited’ quote says much the same – and through the same – and through his remarkable example, his remarkable example, he has inspired countless he has inspired countless other marathoners to other marathoners to push beyond their own push beyond their own perceived limits. Warning: perceived limits. Warning: I’d purchased a wah-wah I’d purchased a wah-wah pedal just before recording pedal just before recording this song and wasn’t afraid this song and wasn’t afraid to use it.

Time to update your playlist?

Track 10: Finish Line

As the ultimate destination for all marathoners, the finish line surely deserves its finish line surely deserves its own song. The verses have a minor feel to reflect the purgatory of the final kays of the marathon, when the finish line can feel as if it will never arrive. The chorus, by contrast, is an explosion of happiness and relief. And I was happy to be able to bring the album full circle in the song’s final lines: ‘Fall down to your knees like the old Pheidippides / Because the marathon lives on through you and me.’ Heroes such as you and me.’ Heroes such as Pheidippides, Bikila, Switzer Pheidippides, Bikila, Switzer and Kipchoge have all moved and Kipchoge have all moved the marathon forward, but the marathon forward, but it's ultimately the extraordinary efforts of everyday people that keep its spirit alive. And this record is dedicated to them.

Revolution Of The Feet by The Hamstrings is available to listen to on Spotify and all other major listening platforms

Hitting the high notes

A super-duper endorsement for Revolution Of The Feet from the legendary Kathrine Switzer.

"For all the millions of

playlists and earphones; for all the thousands of bands, choirs and thumping PA systems that urge the millions of runners through the streets of the marathons around the world, we’ve never had our own running music… until now. "Rick Pearson and his band, appropriately named The Hamstrings, have created the world’s first album about the marathon, Revolution Of The Feet. Catchy, witty, at times soulful and always runnable (and danceable), the music captures our fascinating – but tricky to confirm – ancient history (The History Of The Marathon). The Wall is about more than the marathon wall; it’s about lost love, bad luck and bad decisions that get us in dark places: ‘Have I travelled all this way to come up one mile short?’ And we are buoyed by The Finish Line: ‘When it comes, it’s like the rising of the sun.’ (It is, too.) Then we’re inspired by our greatest heroes, including Abebe Bikila, winning the 1960 Rome Olympics running barefoot over the rough cobblestones, and introducing the world to African runners. This lively song, Barefoot Bikila, will have you dancing in the streets. And, of course, the icon of our time, Eliud Kipchoge, the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, whose song is really about who makes history: those who don’t see barriers, only possibility. "It was a huge surprise to me to find my own story among these songs, and I have to admit that I was downright thrilled to hear it, especially the last verse. As a person who will always be best known for the bizarre incident of being attacked in the 1967 Boston Marathon by the race director because I was a girl who had the audacity to register for and run the race (it was considered a men’s-only event at that time, but that ‘rule’ was never printed anywhere), it was heartening to hear those final few lines, which tell how a social revolution can come simply from putting one foot in front of the other:

‘You can change it in the courtroom, Read about it in the news, But for change at speed Sometimes what you need Is a pair of running shoes.’

"Millions of women now run and it has transformed all our lives for the better. Running’s inclusive and diverse community has changed us all and changed the world. And now we have the music to celebrate it."

Kathrine Switzer, first woman to officially register for and run the Boston Marathon; winner of the 1974 New York City Marathon; leader in the drive to make the women’s marathon an official Olympic event (1984); and board chair of 261 Fearless, a non-profit women’s running organisation, 261fearless.org