Everyone in Croydon has definitely seen or heard of the Croydon Running Lady, Joan Pick.

Joan Pick ran everywhere so that she could contribute to saving the Earth’s resources. Due to this passion, she also used limited energy resources.  

Unfortunately, aged 76, on January 29, Joan Pick died after losing a battle with oesophageal cancer. Residents express that they will miss seeing Joan Pick running past their homes early in the morning and are inspired by her hard work. Shruti Cotra stated that “she was a lovely energetic and headstrong woman. I am very honoured to have met her and have learnt about her fascinating life”.

I have been lucky enough to get the chance to interview Mr Gogineni, a resident of the apartment that Joan Pick lived in. He tells me about how Joan Pick has made a difference to his life and how her inspiration could benefit others as well as our planet.

How did you find out about Joan Pick?

“I found out about her from a local newspaper article in around 2007 so about ten years ago. She lives in our block of flats, in the same building.”

How has she inspired you? Have you made any changes in your lifestyle because of this inspiration?

“When I first read the article and when I met her for the first time, I didn’t realise that she is the same lady that the news article spoke about. I once went to her house to get some keys for the garage and when I went inside it was very cold and I asked her “It’s very cold inside don’t you have heating on?”.

 Then she started explaining to me that she apparently helped the government to do with the environment, I think around the 80’s. She explained to me what kind of work she did when she was working for the government. Her work was around the carbon footprint and preparing reports to the government regarding environmental issues.

I often saw her going out and jogging a lot of times. Eventually, somehow after speaking to her I correlated her to the news article that I read. That’s when I started learning more about her. Apparently she doesn’t turn on heating in her home and she lives on her own and she explained to me how the whole building is built in such a way that it conserves energy. Her fitness levels were good and when I met her she was already suffering from cancer. Her toes were actually completely bent because of the chemotherapy she was going through; she still didn’t give up. She lives on the sixth floor and she never took the lift. She always takes the stairs down and takes the stairs up. I started doing the same so I never take the lift. I found her very inspirational and she is very fit because at the age of 76 she is still running and jogging.” 

How do you feel a month after her death? How did you or other residents pay tribute to her death?

“It was very sad. I didn’t know she was hospitalised because I did go and ring the bell a couple of times just to have a casual chat with her but she was not responding. Then later I got the news that she was hospitalised and soon after I learnt that she passed away. There are some plans going on to have a wooden plaque installed outside our building.”

Joan Pick once said “they (people) say that I am an inspiration but they’re still in their cars”. What do you think about this?

“She is right. In a way, a lot of people who say they are inspired from her don’t act from it. They haven’t really learnt from her. You could do some things: like if you have to go to the high street, don’t take the tram or don’t take the car, just walk. It is good for fitness, it is good to meet people on the way, say hello to them and get a chance to wish people as you go along. It is a good opportunity to become more sociable. I definitely do this; I walk to the high street I don’t take the tram. Every day at work I go to restaurants and I always walk to them and I cycle to work. So I do take some inspiration but I think people should learn as well. It is very sad that people say they will but they do not put it into practice.”

From the interview, it is evident that Joan Pick has made such a great change to people’s lives. So what inspiration can you take from her actions?