Bryony Gordon: Why you should (and can!) do a 10k with me

I thought I was done with statement running. I came to this conclusion last April after completing the London Marathon for the second time, in my underwear. I assumed that I had made all the noise I could about exercise being for everyone, and not just athletes. That once I had wobbled my size-18 frame for 26.2 miles through London, and gone on breakfast television in my pants to promote this body-positive venture, there was nowhere left for me to go with it. I thought I would move on to other things, things that involved wearing clothes, and gentle walking – to my fridge, for example, or the sofa. I thought I could put the public baring of my bum behind me.

But then… (well, there’s always a but, isn’t there?) people wouldn’t stop talking about last year’s Marathon, which I completed with my friend Jada Sezer, a plus-size model and mental health campaigner. We kept being asked to talk about it on the telly and the radio. People would stop us on the street and tell us how we had inspired them to run. Increasingly, we were receiving messages from women who wanted to do a race in their underwear too. I kept being tagged in pictures on Instagram, of women who had decided to bare their beautiful bumpy bodies without filters. And so the people in charge of the London Marathon asked us if we wanted to do it again – this time, with a huge girl gang.

But the thing is, 26.2 miles is a long way, and we wanted women to know that they didn’t have to run that far in order to celebrate their bodies. ‘Couldn’t we do a shorter distance?’ We asked the nice people at the London Marathon. ‘Well, actually, we do a 10K race at the end of May, through many of the same streets as the Marathon, that you could take part in instead,’ they replied. And so the idea for team 10,000 Reasons to Celebrate You was born.

On 27 May, Jada and I hope to run/jog/walk/crawl the Vitality London 10,000 with as many women as possible – in their underwear, or some variation of it (Nimco Ali, the fearless FGM campaigner, has created a specially adapted costume so as not to offend her Somali parents). The idea is to create a powerful image of women, en masse, celebrating their bodies instead of doing them down, as we are so often expected to. Because even now, in the 21st century, the idea of simply existing as you are – without filters or Photoshop or some sort of self-loathing – is seen as radical. But Jada and I want to change that. We want women to know they are wonderful exactly as they are. And we want you to come join us, whatever your size, shape, age or body experience.

To help persuade you, we have enlisted the help of some high-profile women who will also be there, in their knickers and bra, on the day. Deborah James and Lauren Mahon are the inspirational presenters of You, Me and the Big C podcast, which they hosted alongside Rachael Bland, until her tragic death from breast cancer last year. Deborah, who has bowel cancer, and Lauren, who is in remission from breast cancer, want to show women that they do not have to be defined by their diagnoses.

Then there’s Andrea McLean, the Loose Women host who campaigns for women to talk more about the menopause. Esme Young, the 70-year-old presenter of The Great British Sewing Bee, will also take part, showing that age is no barrier to feeling good about yourself. The comedy duo the Scummy Mummies are on board, while Scarlett Curtis, Honey Ross and Grace Campbell, the founders of the Pink Protest, which aims to stop period poverty, will also be running.

But you don’t have to run the 10K. You can walk it if you want. You can skip through the course, if that’s what you desire. All we want is for you to come along, celebrate yourself and your fellow females, and have a great time – hopefully, in the sun. I look forward to seeing you – all of you – on the big day.

Sign up the Vitality London 10,000 at vitalitylondon10000.co.uk/celebrateyou