London's most famous running race is, rightly so, the London Marathon, which takes place in April each year. Some of the runners in the race are doing it for charity, while others will dress up in something outlandish like an enormous and very heavy chicken suit in a desperate bid to get on TV.
The only problem is that if they don't get picked out by a television camera in the first ten miles of the race, then they won't get picked out at all, because it's around then that they usually collapse from heat exhaustion before getting carted off to hospital by a St. John Ambulance crew.
The fact is, taking on a 26-mile run in anything other than a pair of shorts and a light top is foolish at best, and utterly nuts at worst. They'd be far wiser to take part in one of the capital's lesser known fun runs - the
Sumo Run.
The unique race covers a distance of just three miles and 100 percent of the registration fee (£30) goes
to charity. The fee also gets you your very own sumo suit, inside which you run the race. Imagine the bizarre sight - hundreds of people inside large inflatable sumo outfits, running around
Battersea Park.
For those interested in taking part, it's not too late to
sign up. Participants are asked to raise £250 for the run's charity,
Gemin-i.org, an educational organisation that helps children around the world.
For those of you who would rather relax and enjoy the spectacle, just head along to Battersea Park on Saturday the 18th of June at ten in the morning. It's highly apt, that with all the sumo suits in action on the day, that Battersea Park happens to be home to a rather grand Japanese Peace Pagoda, built mostly by a Buddhist monk from Japan.
Perhaps you can get a dramatic photo of all the sumo runners bouncing along with the pagoda standing majestically in the background.
More than 150 runners have registered to date, so if you fancy a bit of sumo silliness one Saturday morning, Battersea Park's the place to be.
