Run Geordie Run on the menu!

I'm always on the lookout for good quality fundraising ideas that sit well with the Run Geordie Run brand and today was one of my better ones (well, PR Girl Kathryn Shenton's mainly).

I had a very productive meeting with those kind folk, Jim and Gavin (pictured below), at Firenze Italian Restaurant in Jesmond this afternoon. Also present was The Children's Foundation's fundraising manager, Libby Nolan (pictured below) and my PR and design partners in crime, Kathryn and Dave Shenton.

I wish all meetings could be as fun as this one was as the main item on the agenda was the design and creation of a special "Run Geordie Run" main course. The pasta dish will go permanently on Firenze's main menu with part of the sale price donated to The Children's Foundation! Brilliant!

Half way through the meeting our discussion took a turn for the better when Jim and Gavin suggested that I should also think of a starter and a pudding to accompany the main course. This took me by complete surprise and while I'd given the main course lots of thought over the last week I didn't really know what to suggest for the other courses. 

The main course, which will be revealed all in good time, is a very healthy representation of the Italian flavours and ingredients that I enjoy. It's not one I've ever seen on a menu before and I think it will prove very popular. The starter will also be healthy and I have a few ideas on that which I'll be telling the lads at Firenze about when we next meet. The pudding, however, will be not so healthy! I make no apologies for that! 

While I have many good ideas about the 3 courses, it's great to have the expert help and guidance of Gavin and Jim from Firenze. They recognise that it is important that I have input into the design of the dishes and that they are something that I will not only enjoy eating but will also help with the nutritional side of my preparation for the run across Australia. Well the first 2 courses will at least. The pudding course is there purely for indulgence purposes!

I've heard lots of good things about Firenze from many different sources, so the signs are that we are all in for a treat once the creation and fine tuning of these dishes is complete. The menu should be "live" in March. Watch this space for further updates. In the meantime, on behalf of The Children's Foundation, it is a real pleasure to have Firenze Restaurant on board. Here's to the successful sale of Run Geordie Run dishes at my favourite Italian Restaurant in Jesmond.

Please click here to visit the Firenze website.

The final total for USA 2011

It is with immense pleasure, pride and gratitude that I'm able to announce that the final fundraising total for St Benedict's Hospice (Charity No. 1019410) and The Children's Foundation (Charity No 1000013) is an incredible £105,233.00! Thanks, once again, to everyone who made a contribution to that total. There are literally thousands of you who have donated. I'll never grow tired of saying that every single donation was appreciated. No matter how large or small, they have all made a huge difference to the 2 charities.  

The amount of individual donations of £10 and under has gone to make up a considerable portion of the £105,233.00. This is why people giving whatever they can afford, was so important to the 2 charities. This is why I valued those donations just as much as the huge donations. 

As regular readers of this blog will know, the 3100 mile run across the USA in 100 days was an amazing journey. It was a difficult journey but one that was very much worth it. The next challenge, of course, is to run across Australia in just 70 days. The fundraising target for that run is £50,000. It's going to take a superhuman effort and lots of generousity to raise that kind of money again. I really do think that running 41 miles per day from Perth to Sydney will capture people's imagination. Via this blog and through increased media coverage, I will be trying my best to take people along the journey; both in training and the actual run itself. If it's half as exciting as the run across the USA then we are all in for a treat.

I look forward to getting back to updating the blog regularly in the new year. There is so much going on behind the scenes. I've got numerous motivational talks coming up. I now sit on the Regional Small Grants Panel at The Children's Foundation. I'm working on a couple of initiatives with the media and local charities. In a nutshell, life before the run across the USA is no longer recognisable from the one I have now. I have no complaints whatsoever. 

Finally, to all the readers of this blog, I wish you all the best for 2012. My hopes for the new year are that with continued courage, integrity and faith giant steps towards the next victory will be achieved.

Happy New Year!

BBC North East Sports Awards

Last week I was invited to the BBC North East Sports Awards in Gateshead. I'd been looking forward to this event for a while and I hoped to be inspired by some "proper" sports personalities. 

After giving a quick interview to BBC Newcastle's Total Sport show it was time to take my seat. Sitting 2 seats away was the Newcastle United Assistant manager, John Carver and we had a good chat about all things NUFC. The empty seat next to me was for the Newcastle United Captain, Fabricio Coloccini. He turned up just before proceedings got underway.

The hosts for the evening were BBC Newcastle's Charlie Charlton and Jeff Brown. The audience was full of sporting legends such as Bob Moncur, Jack Charlton, Steve Cram, Mike McLeod, Chris Cook and Stephen Miller to name but a few.

Some of the awards categories were the Disability Sport Award, Team of the Year, Unsung Hero and The Jackie Milburn Award. 

There was a shift away from the awards with a Judo display and it was good to see Charlie Charlton getting involved. Following the Judo Charlie started talking about the next award; Sporting Inspiration. Without naming names at this stage, Jeff Brown called it "the inspiration not only of this year, but of any year". What followed was quite simply one of the proudest moments of my life as footage was shown of my run across the USA. It was at this point that I realised I had won the award. 

I received the award from Fabricio Coloccini himself and talked to Charlie Charlton about the run across the USA, the 2 charities, the amount raised and also gave a mention about the up and coming run across Australia. 

Winning the award was brilliant obviously. To be able to talk about the USA and also Australia to such an esteemed audience was another great piece of PR. 

Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray won the main award of the evening. I had a good chat with him after the ceremony had finished and he was very interested in the USA run; asking plenty of questions.

It was also great to catch up with Stephen Miller and Chris Cook. I had a good long chat with Bob Moncur before I left too. 

As I was on my way out, the Head Coach of Gateshead Thunder asked if I'd like to train with them in the build up to Oz 2013. Watch this space for news on that next year.

All in all it was a fantastic evening. Thank you to the BBC for bestowing such a prestigious honour on me.

The Northern Echo Local Heroes Awards

I was lucky enough to win the Northern Echo Local Heroes Award for "Remarkable Achievement" a few weeks ago. Quite appropriately, a remarkable runner called Paul Smith nominated me for the award. This guy has ran for over 1800 consecutive days. That is no mean feat believe you me.

The award was presented by former Manchester United centre half Gary Pallister, Northumbria Water's head of communications Alistair Baker and TV presenter Kay Murray. It was nice to talk to Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew afterwards too. We last met, of course, back in Columbus when I tossed the coin before the match. That all seems like such a long time ago now! Also in attendance was boxer, Tony Jeffries and it was great to talk to Steve Cram about the USA run and also the Kielder Marathon.

The best thing about the award was that it came with a £250 cash prize. That went straight to the 2 charities and saw the fund pass over the £104,000 mark.

Thanks again to Paul Smith for the nomination and to The Northern Echo for such a wonderful night and esteemed award.

And the winner is….

Recently, I've been lucky enough to win 2 awards; Derwentside Physical Activity Achievement of the Year and the County Durham Sport Physical Activity Achievement of the Year. While I was running across the USA, winning awards never entered my mind. Completing the run and raising double the £50,000 sponsorship target for St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation is all the personal reward and satisfaction I would ever need.

That said, when these awards do come along, I'm ever so grateful and, moreover, extremely proud to receive them. Imagine, my utter surprise when I won another award last week. Not only another award, but not one directly related to physical activity or, indeed, the IT industry in which I currently work. 

I was delighted to be invited to attend the PRide awards hosted by the North East Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) at the Hilton in Gateshead. There were many awards up for grabs and the new PR girl for Run Geordie Run, Katherine Shenton (pictured below), won the Best Freelance Practitioner award.

Despite having a more than succesful UK PR campaign this year,  I never quite got the PR right in the US. Having Katherine on board is going to help take the campaign to the next level for the trans Australia run in 2013. I'm a firm believer that to be successful, you have to surround yourself with positive, like minded experts. The list of such people is growing very nicely and Kathryn joins the likes of David Fairlamb Fitness, The Cradlewell Clinic, Real Radio, The Journal and Tyne Bridge Harriers. Work is ongoing, behind the scenes to add to this list and the early indications are that Australia 2013 has the potential to be every bit as successful as USA 2011.

Meanwhile, back to Friday and the PRide awards! I won the COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR award. Following the presentation of the trophy I was able to deliver an acceptance speech. My opening line was "Communicator of the year! Wow! I don't know what to say!". My planned funny line was greeted with silence and I could just about make out a tumbleweed at the back of the room.

That duff line aside, I was very pleased with my speech and it gave me the chance to talk about the Run Geordie Run brand, the success of the campaign and to thank those in the media who'd helped make USA 2011 a success; Real Radio, ITV Tyne Tees, nufc.com, BBC and The Journal.

I closed by reflecting on the fact that I thought my parents would have been very proud of my award. It's these profound moments in life that make running 3100 miles for charity so extra special.

I got to meet some very interesting people and I thoroughly enjoyed the PRide 2011 event. I'd like to say thanks to CIPR for their hospitality and for giving me such a prestigous award.

It's Australia!

I wish I had a pound for every time that I'd been asked about the next big run due to take place in 2013. I really do apologise for keeping everyone in suspense but it has taken 2 months of research to devise a run that sees a huge step up in difficulty compared to the run across the USA. I was also mindful of getting approval from my family and talking about the risks involved before letting everyone else know.

This morning, I announced, on Gary and Lisa's Breakfast show on Real Radio, that the next big run would be ……….. *drum roll* ………... across Australia in 2013 in aid of St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation. As per usual, we had great fun on the show and Producer Mac had created an appropriate music package to be played in the background during the announcement.

The 2600 mile route from Perth to Sydney via the Nullarbor Plain and Adelaide will take 70 days. To break that down, that's 41 miles of running for 64 days with 6 full rest days built in. Luxury! I've got no doubt, at this stage, that the timing of those rest days will be on of the key factors in the success of this particular run. 

It is a coast to coast route starting on October 16th 2013 in an exact location that is yet to be decided on the coastline of Perth. The final day of the run will be on Christmas Eve 2013, over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, finishing up on Bondi Beach (Hopefully with my family waiting there).

Since news broke on Real Radio, I've spent the day talking about the run to various publications including The Evening Chronicle, The Journal and The Northern Echo. Later in the day, I was thrilled to appear on ITV's North East Tonight show with Ian Payne and Pam Royle. I rounded the media day off with a visit to the BBC to talk to Simon Pryde, John Anderson and Marco Gabbiadini on Total Sport. It was also great to see a piece on the eve supportive and well read website nufc.com.

Aside from the conventional media, "rungeordierun" was trending in the North East on Twitter and there was a lot of support on Facebook too. All in all, a great day's publicity for Run Geordie Run and the 2 charities. The reaction I've received from all quarters has been one of "You're mad!". This tells me that running across Australia during the Summer is the right level of difficulty to warrant another £50,000 fundraising target for the 2 charities.

Unlike the previous runs I've done over the last 17 years, the run across Australia will need commercial backing. It cost me £15,000 to fund the run across the USA. I quite simply can't afford to do that again. Mrs Run Geordie Run would lynch me! It was for that reason alone that I'd always intended to make the run across the USA my final fundraiser. So for the first time in my fundraising career it's time to find a sponsor that will pay for the tour itself. 

Given the amount of interest in Run Geordie Run and, more importantly, the funds that have been raised, I owe it to the 2 charities to give it one more shot and try to raise another £50,000. If successful, this would take the total fundraising to over £200,000 since 1994. 

The last run attracted thousands of sponsors and was consistently backed and encouraged by Ben Shephard, Tony Jeffries and Mark Beaumont to name but 3 famous folk. It was talked about at length on the Chris Moyles show on Radio 1, on Real Radio, Metro Radio and BBC Newcastle. The run was featured on nufc.com, BBC news, Newsround, ITV news and received a huge amount of national publicity during the Great North Run. The run featured heavily in the local press, including many front pages on The Journal, and has had features in numerous glossy publications. 

The point I'm making here is that there is a lot of familiarity of Run Geordie Run and the support that goes with it is first class. At the benefit of the 2 charities, it would be prudent to take this forward into a new running campaign. I simply can't call it quits after the USA. I've got to attempt another run; a far more difficult and dangerous run with logistical issues that are quite simply unfathomable at this point in time.

I'll be working with David Fairlamb Fitness again and also my membership of Tyne Bridge Harriers is going to be of great benefit too. 

Australia represents new and more complex challenges on numerous levels. If it's only half as dramatic as the run across the USA then we're all in for a treat. The hard work starts here for Australia 2013.

Run Geordie Run USA 2011 commemorative limited edition t-shirt

Run Geordie Run USA 2011 Limited Edition commemorative t-shirts are £12 each with the full £12 going to The Children's Foundation (Charity No. 1000013). Please use  the order form below then follow the instructions on how to pay by justgiving.com.

Great North Run 2011

I had hoped that this year's Great North Run would bring some closure to the events of the Summer in the USA. With so many exciting things going on associated with the run there is very little chance of that in the near future, never mind at the Great North Run.

I was so grateful to Nova for giving me number 3100 in recognition of the number of miles I ran across the USA. They labelled it as a “Lap of Honour” and that’s exactly how it felt from start to finish.

On the way to the start line I spoke to Anna Foster live on Metro Radio. Of course, I’d only met her for the first time at the Leisureworks Sports awards. She’s the kind of person that you feel like you’ve known for ages and I really enjoyed talking to her.

I arrived at the start area of the Great North Run at 0745 where another Anna Foster was waiting to talk to me. This Anna from BBC Radio 5 Live was just as lovely as the other one. The interview went out just after 8 am.

I managed to have another good chat with Mark Robson, Sir Bobby Robson’s son.  He’d also been talking to 5 live. If there’s one thing I’ve found out about the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation this week it’s the reason why it was set up as it was by Sir Bobby. It is an NHS charity, making use of already existing staff, administrators and facilities. That’s the way Sir Bobby Robson and his family wanted it, meaning that the funds raised go to the exact place that they should; funding the reasearch and treatment of cancer.

The next interview was with Jonathan Edwards. The third Team GB Olympian I've met this year after Chris Cook and Stephen Miller. This was a brief interview that was shown during the live BBC coverage of the run.

Olympians, it seems, are like buses. Soon after I'd met Jonathan Edwards, it was brilliant to meet another team GB member and one of my good supporters of the run a cross the USA; boxer Tony Jeffries. Regular readers will remember that Tony was training in LA at the time when I started running across the USA. He drove to see me off but was too late having gone to a different pier in LA. The support that he subsequently gave me via Twitter and in his column in the Sunday Sun was first class though. 

Speaking of good support, it was nice to meet up with another good supporter of Run Geordie Run; George Caulkin. George writes for The Times and is a patron of The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. 

After speaking to George I was asked to meet a group of runners who were raising funds for MacMillan Cancer Support. I passed on some "words of wisdom" which I doubt they needed as they looked like an experienced and fit bunch. 

It was a busy old time in the start area of the Great North Run. I'd been on site for over 2 hours but the time flew by with so many people to talk to.

Last but not least to meet and have my photo taken with, was former Miss GB, Sophie Gradon. Sophie,  from Newcastle, was running to raise funds for Sara's Hope Foundation which is a charity "…...inspired by the late Sara Hoburn, runs a holiday retreat in Crete offering respite for children and young people with cancer and their families.".

As the start of the 31st Great North Run drew closer I met my "chaperone" for the day; Paddy. It was his repsonsibility to see me round the course safely and to try and get me to finish as close to my target time of 2 hours. Also accompanying me was David Fairlamb who ran last year's run in 01:30:00. I really couldn't fail with these 2 setting the pace. Also joining us at the start was Anna Foster from Metro Radio and Philippa Tomson from ITV.

It was a frantic start to the run with thousands of runners in the zones behind soon overtaking. I saw a nasty collision in the first mile. I do hope that the girl I saw getting injured was ok in the end. The image of her stayed with me throughout the run.

We soon lost Anna but Philippa stayed with us for 4 miles or so. It felt very strange running with thousands of people around me. It was a far cry from the lonely miles in the USA.

I managed to spot Alison from the Cradlewell Clinic for a quick wave on the Tyne Bridge. I was wished "Well done" throughout the race by so many people. This was the most pleasing aspect of the day for me and just added to the "lap of honour" feel to the day.

I stopped at the 6 mile point to talk to yet another Olympian; Denise Lewis. She seemed well briefed about my run and wished me luck for the future event. It was an absolute honour to talk to her.

Another highlight of the day was when I ran through the "Bupa Boost Zone". Justin Lockwood from Real Radio was on hand to "big me up" and it gave me a heck of a spring in my step.

I got to the finish line in 01:59:06. It was easily the most comfortable half marathon I've ever ran. Paddy and Dave had been great company. I didn't have to do much thinking with Paddy setting the required 2 hour pace.

I stopped to talk to Phil Jones from the BBC at the finish line. Phil had recorded a piece that was broadcast during the live Great North Run coverage. It was an excellent 3 minute showcase of the run across the USA. I was very pleased that my trusty Brooks Glycerin shoes were shown during the piece. Millions of people will have seen that.

There were a lot of familiar faces in the hospitality tent and it was nice to share stories of how the run went. I said goodbye to Paddy who'd done a brilliant job of seeing me round the course safely and on time. I could get quite used to having a chaperone! 

I chatted to Simon Pryde (below) from BBC Total Sport who had been running, cycling and kayaking across Scotland the day before running the Great North Run. What an effort!

Thanks to the BBC for some excellent coverage; Opening titles, interviews with Jonathan Edwards and Denise Lewis and the 3 minute piece by Phil Jones. All in all, my 10th Great North Run, while not my fastest, had arguably been my most enjoyable. Being congratulated by so many random people all the way round the route was very special. Meeting so many Olympians was very special too. 

Finally, thanks to Nova for giving me number 3100 and making the run a true "lap of honour'.

Can't wait to try these….

Coming in October to a specialist running shop near you….. The Brooks Pure Connect. They truly are a thing of beauty. When I first saw this model I thought "I've just got to have a pair of those".

The Pure Connect are like a leaner, meaner version of the shoes I finished the run across the USA in; Brooks Glycerin 9. They are a so called "minimalist" shoe with several interesting features. It goes without saying that I'm a high fan of the Brooks DNA technology that is used in my Glycerin 8 and 9 shoes. I'm curious to know how exactly how that feels in these shoes together with the "Ideal Heel", "Toe Flex" and "Nav Band" technologies.

I'll post a full review on these shoes once I've tried them later this month. They will soon be available from Northern Runner in Newcastle whose blog states "The Brooks Pure Project is Brooks designers answer to minimalist footwear. However, it’s not minimalist. It has Brooks revolutionary MoGo mid sole material combined with DNA cushioning to give it that soft but firm responsive feel that you only get from a Brooks shoe. The Pure Flow has an inverted heel to aid the runner in landing just under their centre of gravity. This is further aided by the heel to forefoot differential being only 4mm. A split toe allows the big toe to act independent of the rest of the foot aiding in balance and allowing a much stronger push off. A flexible band goes around the foot to aid in fit and increase the stability. All these features coupled with Brooks anatomicial last makes the Pure Flow a superb shoe. Delivery is expected in October. These shoes will only be sold through our Newcastle store not online or telephone mail order. So, why not pop along and give them a test drive on our concrete corridor.".

For more information on Brooks Pure Connect and the 3 other models in the Pure Project range please click here.

NE Fit Magazine

If you pop into WH Smiths this month, in the North East, you may see a familiar face among the ranks of magazines. Look out for an interview with Run Geordie Run in NE Fit magazine.

Priced at only £2.99, NE Fit magazine is the North East's only regional health and fitness magazine.

Run Geordie Run interviewed

For those of a black and white persuasion, please look out for a recent interview I gave in issue 261 of The Mag. It's available in many newsagents and supermarkets in the North East and also on match day around St James' Park.

Coming soon…...

Coming soon at the bargain price of £12 is this Limited Edition Run Geordie Run t-shirt to commemorate the succesful 3100 mile run across the USA. The front of the t-shirt (left below) shows the run details and the names of the 2 charities. Also present, are 2 stars which will also feature on my new running kit for the next big run in 2013. The stars represent my 2 major runs to date; John O'Groats to Lands End in 2007 and California to New York in 2011. 

The back of the t-shirt (above right) has the designer's take on the Manhattan skyline. An image that was a sight for sore eyes for me on the 8th August after 100 days of running. Watch this space for details on how to order coming soon. 

Thanks to Dave Shenton of Shenton Creative for doing a brilliant job with the design.

The Leisureworks Sport and Physical Activity Awards

I was asked way back in January to give a talk at the Leisureworks Sport and Physical Activity Awards. The challenge was to talk about the run across the USA in just my 20 allotted minutes. I now have an outline for an entertaining speech and I just leave it until the final delivery to ad-lib a bit and slot in various bits of humour. I actually won an award when I was 12 for public speaking. Who knew that one day I'd be doing it in front of so many people.

The awards night was held at The Empire Theatre in Consett.  It's a venue that has had investment over recent years and is full of character. Also full of character was the lovely Anna Foster (pictured below) from Metro Radio who was the compere for the evening. She is so down to earth and I really enjoyed listening to her banter on stage.

The evening started with entertainment from the brilliant dancers instructed by Leisureworks' Community Dance Instructor Kristin Abbott. This was followed by an impressive demonstration of Shikkari Karate Kai. It was like a mini variety show right in the middle of Consett. Brilliant stuff!

Those guys were a tough act to follow and when Anna introduced me onto the stage I knew I had to be on my game.

I really enjoyed talking about the run across the USA and all of the challenges that it brought. I even managed to get a few laughs here and there, much to my surprise. The crowd were great and I finished off my set with a 3 minute video which summed up perfectly what I'd been talking about. After a lovely round of applause I introduced a Zumba demonstration, led by Zoe Price. I just about managed to vacate the stage before the act started. This had been my biggest concern of the whole evening. Although, with the adrenalin still pumping after my speech I could have quite fancied a bit of Zumba on stage with the girls!

I spent the interval talking to some lovely people who were very interested in the run and had lots of questions to ask. One such person was Wayne Abbott (pictured below) who had a running background himself.

After the interval, it was down to business. There were 13 awards categories and it was brilliant to see so many worthy winners receiving their trophy. The whole process went very smoothly with Anna Foster pulling the strings on stage and various people presenting the trophies. I bet the Oscars don't run that smoothly!

Imagine my utter shock when, during the Physical Activity Achievement of the Year award sponsored by Northumbria Water, I saw my name on the screen with the other nominees. It is no word of a lie that my first thought was "What a coincidence. There's another Mark Allison here tonight.". When my name was read out as the winner, I even paused for a few seconds just to make sure that the other Mark Allison didn't get up to receive the award. 

I was absolutely gobsmacked and delighted when I got up on stage to receive the award; a nice glass trophy. It was just one more unbelievable thing that has happened to me since finishing the run across the USA. My name was actually in the programme as a nominee. I'd read the thing from cover to cover before the event started. I didn't even see my name, so the whole thing was such a surprise. I'm so sorry for pipping the other 5 nominees to the post. I'm sure we were all worthy winners in our own way.

Other than the public speaking trophy that I won 28 years ago, I've never won a thing. The little beauty pictured below is going to take pride of place in Run Geordie Run HQ. It means a massive amount to me as did the actual nomination, as did the reception I received at the end of my speech.

Without taking the award into account, I had a fantastic night at the awards ceremony. There's a lot of talent in Derwentside. 

The icing on the cake was the fact that Shotley Bridge and Benfieldside Tennis Club won the Sports Club of the Year. It's not only my local tennis club but the man who should have been there to accept the award, Phil Atess (pictured below), played a huge part in my run across the USA. Unfortunately, Phil was actually playing in a tennis tournament and couldn't be there on the night.

Phil ran from John O'Groats to Lands End in 1992 raising over £10,000 for charity. Phil coached me at Shotley Bridge and Benfieldside Tennis Club. He was responsible for proving to me that a person can run considerable distances with the right amount of training and preparation. His own experiences in running have influenced me greatly. It is for that reason that I dedicate my Physical Activity Achievement of the Year award to Phil Atess.

Thank you to the Cradlewell Clinic

I've been visiting the Cradlewell Clinic in Holly Avenue, Jesmond for the past 4 weeks. My recovery is progressing so well as a result and I'm in excellent hands with Alison the podiatrist. She really is worth her weight in gold! 

Not only do I receive first class treatment but each session is an education. I ask so many questions during the sessions and I've learned a bit about many aspects of the treatment, recovery and bio-mechanics in general.

Thanks to Alison's expertise, all sections of my legs are now in tip top shape and the integrity of the skin and nails on my feet has improved so much since I finished running across the USA. 

I'm continuing to play the waiting game as the nerves in my feet are taking a while to regenerate. My left foot is making excellent progress with a lot of sensation returning to my mid foot and a few toes too. Due to last year's broken right ankle (now called the Paddy Power Bionic Ankle of course), progress with the recovery of my right foot has been much slower. Alison has taken measures to speed up the recovery process but, so far, the benefits have only mainly been seen in my left foot. 

The current state of my right foot means that both the midfoot and toes go completely numb after 5 miles at a slow pace (9 - 10 minute miles) or 3 miles at a fast pace (7 - 8 minute miles). This isn't going to stop me running as fast as I can at the Great North Run on Sunday. Hopefully, I can get round in under 2 hours.

I'll be seeing Alison again on Monday to assess any damage and to discuss the ongoing treatment during this period of rehabilitation. It goes without saying that, I wouldn't hesitate in recommending the Cradlewell Clinic to anyone who needs podiatry treatment. They even do sports massage, gait analysis and acupuncture!

Triathlon

Last Sunday I had the honour of starting the Newbiggin Sprint Triathlon. It was a serious event with the final chance to record a qualifying time for next year's European Championships at stake. 

The first wave of 3 got underway just after lunch. The conditions were very difficult with the swimmers being battered by the waves. The RNLI were on hand to help a few people out who got into difficulty. I was very impressed with the safety aspect of the swimming. Each and every participant deserved a medal in my opinion for braving those unforgiving waves. I talked to a lot of the athletes after the race and most of them said that they had difficulty in seeing the first marker buoy in the sea such were the height of the waves.

Shortly after I sounded the horn for the second wave to get underway I made my way to the main street in Newbiggin to see the cyclists. I thought the swim was dangerous but it had nothing on this section of the race. 

Some of the folk in Newbiggin decided to start crossing the road without giving much thought to the speeding cyclists passing by. I witnessed 3 near misses and possibly the most skilful piece of cycling I've ever seen. The competitor in question swerved to avoid, what seemed at the time like being, a fatal collision between cyclist and pedestrian.

It all made for a gripping spectacle! Thankfully things calmed down on the running section and I watched each and every competitor finish, including the very last lady who I saved special applause for. I was thrilled to talk briefly to the spectators and hand out trophies in a number of categories. Pictured below are Joyce Mark (2nd overall woman) and Jane Mooney (1st overall woman).

Pictured below are James Wilson (2nd overall man) and Ben Newman (1st overall man).

All in all, it had been a cracking day's racing from a determined set of athletes. I've never before seen triathlon this close up and it really opened my eyes to how difficult, and often dangerous, a sport it can be. It was brilliant to watch and I have every respect for those taking part.

I was asked many times during the day if I'd ever fancy giving a triathlon a go. My answer was that I'd leave this kind of madness to the experts. I'll stick with my running thank you.

Run Geordie Run joins Tyne Bridge Harriers

One of my biggest regrets in life was not joining a running club when I used to run 5 and a half minute miles in my early twenties. I'm sure that I could have become a half decent club runner had I had the right advice and guidance back then. 

Imagine my delight, when the opportunity to join one of the region's newest clubs came along last week. On Saturday, I joined Tyne Bridge Harriers and met some of the members down on the Quayside, fittingly, with the Tyne Bridge in full view behind us. 

I was made to feel very welcome straight away and it was a real pleasure to talk to such an enthusiastic group of people. 

I'm very much looking forward to trying to get back to where I was as a runner when I was in my early twenties. Whether or not that is possible remains to be seen. In the process, I hope to do the club proud. It will be an absolute honour for an everyday runner like me to pull on the club vest and represent Tyne Bridge Harriers.

I can promise hard work, endeavour and a keen willingness to listen and learn from those around me. I haven't ran at my current weight for well over a decade. In many respects, I feel like I'm starting from scratch. I get a strong feeling, though, that my running will improve as a result of being part of Tyne Bridge Harriers.