The Sheffield Half Marathon

Five thousand or so had prepared for this day,
Five thousand folk steadily training.
And conditions have not been delightful:
It's been windy, or freezing, or raining.

They had psyched themselves up with one date in their minds,
They'd been through all the blood, sweat and tears.
Some had chosen odd costumes to run in,
Like a cow, or the three musketeers.

Some were sponsored and hoped that they'd raise lots of cash,
For a charity dear to their heart.
And others, en route, would be collecting as well,
Even though they were not taking part.

Lots of friends had turned out to encourage and cheer,
And tell loved ones to "keep up the pace",
Then a rumour spread through all these mystified crowds:
The word was they'd cancelled the race.

Next we heard, "They've set off! And the calls to come back
The competitors clearly are shunning.
They've ignored barricades and refused to divert,
And most have just carried on running."

The problem, we learnt, was the water supply -
Or rather that water was lacking.
The good folk of Sheffield are not to be fazed,
And to solve this, supporters got cracking.

By the time the first runners had come into view,
(The ones who were going full-throttle),
Dozens of people were holding out drinks,
In a beaker, a cup or a bottle.

Whatever it was that went wrong on the day -
And quite clearly the plans didn't work -
You can't beat a person determined to run,
Or the spirit that won at Dunkirk.