The Week 22Feb2020

10 NEWS People

THEWEEK 22 February 2020

Raworthonrunning

SophieRaworthissurely

Britain’sfastestnewsreader.

TheBBCanchoronlystarted

runninginearnestnineyears

ago,aged 42 ,yetshehassince

takenpartinthreeultra-

marathonsand1 5 marathons,

andisabouttojoinEngland’s

over-50steamforahalf

marathon–whichsheexpects

tocompleteinjust 90 minutes.

“Theextraordinarythingis,

Iappeartobegettingfasteras

Igetolder,”shetoldJimWhite

inTheSundayTelegraph.And

shehaslearntathingortwo

alongtheway.Duringherfirst

marathon,shedidn’tdrink

anything,sothatshewouldn’t

have tostopforloobreaks.

Thestrategybackfiredwhen

shecollapsedfromdehydration

atmile 2 4:“Iwasunconscious

for 20 minutes.”Itwas

terrifying,shesays–butshe

wassoon back in training,

running40 milesaweek.It’s

“totallychanged”her body

shape. Butit’stheeffecton her

mindthatshereallyrelishes.

“Ilovethefreedomitgives me,

almostlikeameditation,very

calming,”shesays.“Ifyou’re

stressedaboutsomething,it’s

gone bytheend ofarun.”

Stormzy’sGlasto nightmare

StridingthePyramidstage

at Glastonburylast summer,

Stormzy seemedinhiselement.

But, infact,hewas consumed

withpanic:hisearpiece had

broken,leavinghimunable

tohearhisbackingmusic.“I

couldn’thearshit,” hetold

GaryYounge inGQ.“I’mjust

rappingandjustprayingto

God thatI’mon time.Andthe

songjustfinishesandI’m

thinking...thisisashitshow.”

Herushedtothesideofthe

stagetogetthedevicefixed–

onlyforittobreakagainone

songlater.Convincedhehad

blownthegigofalifetime,he

fellapartwhenhegotoffstage.

“Iwasjustbawlingmyeyes

out.Ithought,‘You’vejust

absolutelyf****dthat’.Ijust

brokedown.”Infact,theset

wasatriumphthatcemented

hisstatusasa21stcentury

Britishicon;butthoughproud

ofhissuccess,Stormzyiswary

ofadulation.“I’mahuman

being,”hesays.“Idon’t

alwaysmovecorrect.Iget

angry,Igetbadroadrage...

I’mnotf***ingGandhi.”

Modellinginahijab

HalimaAdenisonly22,but

shehasalreadybrokendown

severalbarriers,saysElleHunt

inTheObserver.Twoyears

ago,thepractisingMuslim

becamethefirsthijab-wearing

model towalkat New York

fashionweek;she isalsothe

first tohave madethe cover

of Vogue,andtohaveworn

aburkiniinSportsIllustrated.

It’s proof, she says,thatthe

industry ischanging.“Thefact

I’vegracedthesemagazine

coversand wearahijab, have

my identity,wearit proudly...

fashionis doingabeautiful

job.”It wasvery different

whenshewasgrowingup in

Minnesota;then,“theonly

timesIsawsomebodydressed

like mewason CNN –and

they weren’tdoinganything

Iapproveof. Ifeelweall

deserve representation and

Ididn’thavethat.”

Lewis Pugh has been dubbed the “human polar bear”, said Damian

Whitworth in The Times. In only Speedos and goggles, the lawyer

turned environmentalist has swum in some of the world’s coldest

waters–from aglaciallake on Everest to the Arctic Sea. Now, at 50,

he has just swum beneath an ice sheet in Antarctica, to highlight

the impact of climate change: it involved trekking for two hours

acrossaglacier, in ordertoplunge intoasub-glacial tunnel. The

experience was brutal. “You feel on fire.The body is screaming,

‘Get out!’ The mind is saying, ‘Focus, focus, focus.’ And you’ve got

to put both to one side and go with the heart. That’s what’s going

to drive you through the tunnel.” As the space got narrower and

narrower, there were stalactites just above his head, and he could

hear the booming sound ofahugebloc kofice shifting. It was an

extraordinary experience. “Every timeIwent around the corner it

was adifferent colour. It’s the most beautiful place I’ve seen in the

whole world in my whole life.” But Pugh does not relish these polar

challenges. On the contrary, he would far rather be swimming in

the Indian Ocean, along coral reefs. “I have endured enough cold

for ten lifetimes. The cold has gnawed its way deep into my bones.

Ijust want to be warm again.Iswimin the polar regions for one

reason–toget the mprotected.”

Viewpoint:

Pleasure-adjusted years

“In the1970s, medicalresearchers

evolved theconcept of Quality-

Adjusted Life Years:what mattered

was not just keepingpeoplealive, but

free from pain anddistress. My own

path-breakingadditionto scienceis

Pleasure-Adjusted LifeYears.Abrief,

decadentexistence cancont ainmore

life than oneprolonged by fastidious

habits and Lenten self-denial. Thus

Ian Fleming(dea dat56) liveduntil he

was around90.JimiHendrix,Brian

Jonesandother membersofthe 27

club were allbut centenarians.Asfor

IsadoraDuncan,she ismoreorless

eternal.Asticklerforwellness, onthe

other hand,acustomer ofGoop,

mightnever see30.”

JananGaneshin theFinancial Times

Farewell

Sir LeonardAppleyard,

diplomat in China during

the Cultural Revolution

who later assisted in the

Hong Kong handover,

died 7February,aged 81.

Caroline Flack,TV

presenterbestknown for

hosting therealityshow

LoveIsland,d ied

February, aged 40.

Peter Pyemont,

visionary prep school

head whosepupils

included Eddie Izzard,

died 7February,aged 80.

Andrew Weatherall,

influentialDJ,producer

andmusician,died

February, aged 56.

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Book:The Curious Incident of the Dog intheNight-time

by Mark Haddon

Luxury:7-iron club andgolfball *Choice if allowed only one record

Castaway of the week

This week’s edition of Radio 4’sDesert Island Discsfeatured

Ian Wright, former footballer and now broadcaster

1 Duettino–Sull’ariafromThe MarriageofFigaro,by Da Ponte

and Mozart, performed by Edith Mathis and Gundula Janowitz,

Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Karl Böhm)

2 Looking for You,written and performed by Kirk Franklin

3 River Deep–Mountain Highby Phil Spector, Jeff Barryand

Ellie Greenwich, pe rformed by Ike&Tina Turner

4 Redemption Songby Bob Marley,performed by Bob Marley

&The Wailers

5 Mysteries of the Worldby DexterWansel,performed by MFSB

6*Endlesslyby Clyde OtisandBrookBenton, performedby

RandyCrawford

7 Crownby Michael Omari, James Napier and MatthewJames

Firth Colman, performed by Stormzy

8 Just Fineby Mary J. Blige,Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, Terius

Nash andPhalonAlexander,performed by Mary J.Blige

©KELVIN TRAUTMAN