Chabad’s Rabbi Odom Brandman sees similarities to running a community and running a marathon.“Both can be extremely challenging and both have their ups and downs.”
Sunday was the second London Marathon for the self-styled “running rabbi” who presides over the fast-growing Chabad Buckhurst Hill, serving the Essex and north-east London community.
His time of five hours 18 minutes was slower than for his previous marathon in 2011, which he attributed to being “less prepared. Last time around I only had two children — now I have seven! I just wanted to try and raise as much money as I could.”
Cheered on by family and friends, he earned more than £8,000 for his shul and community centre.
“At one point, a competitor urged me on by saying: ‘Rabbi, you can’t be beaten by an atheist!’
“In the same way it takes a lot of help and support to run a community, it also takes loads of support from family, friends and others to complete a marathon. It is great to have now completed two of them.”
