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.”
See all our coverage of the 2017 London Marathon here
To get more from community, click here to sign up for our free community newsletter.