The Butler did it! Bernard (orange vest) in the 2014 London Marathon (photo: MarathonFoto.com)
We recently featured the running exploits of ’80s indie guitar hero Johnny Marr – and his ’90s counterpart ran in the 2014 London Marathon yesterday.
Well done to Bernard Butler, formerly of Suede (one of my favourite bands back in the day) and lately a successful producer, who ran London in a respectable 4 hours, 30 minutes and 12 seconds.
Butler was running to raise money for a children’s cerebral palsy treatment fund.
Looking at his 5K splits, Butler seemed to have slowed considerably in the second half of the race, be it from injury or the trusty old walk-run method. Still, four and a half hours is a good time for a first marathon, and he and his charity should be proud.
With yesterday’s race, Butler joins Marr, Joe Strummer and Bjorn from Abba in the pantheon of rock and pop stars who have run marathons.
If I remember correctly, Butler’s former co-writer in Suede, singer Brett Anderson, was a schools cross-country runner. Perhaps a future marathon will see a Suede smackdown between Anderson and Butler that could be as acrimonious as their 1994 band split. (The two subsequently re-united as The Tears.)
Let’s hope that today, after his London Marathon efforts, Butler can proudly belt out the chorus of this stupendous single he made with singer David McAlmont, “Yes”:
Run and Jump 