Ride London 2020, riding on the success and the atmosphere of The London Marathon, I knew that today was going to be busy. Again I am privileged to be volunteering for Macmillan Cancer Support for this event. 

With an early start and full set up I wait for a couple of hours for the riders to start trickling into the building with their family and friends anticipating their arrivals. Some approach us for a cheeky treatment but we politely turn them down, keeping track of the race and being ready for the first arrivals.

Riders start to arrive having completed the 46 mile route. Many are needing hamstring, quad and calf treatments. Randomly I had the pleasure of meeting a doctor who worked with my cousin. A few had scrapes from some of the crashes that happened but were lucky not to have any other damage.

An hour or so in and the 100 mile competitors start to arrive. Astoundingly they were choosing neck and shoulder treatments instead of the lower limbs. There was a clear difference in the race categories of what was causing pain and what was a priority to be treated. 

Over the space of the day and with 7 therapists, 160 competitors were treated. I received many ‘thank you’s” and appreciation when in fact all I was doing was making sure these riders could get to work the following day. They themselves had really done all of the hard work for raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.