After a good night's sleep in the tent I feel refreshed this morning. I've burst and patched up the 2 almighty blisters and I feel ready for another day on the A9 in Scotland.
I spoke to Jimmy Bell over the phone earlier. For those of you don't know, Jimmy has had his own battle on his hands with cancer just recently and the inspirational words that he spoke have lifted me an extra 10% this morning. Jimmy is a very modest man and probably won't thank me for writing this but I feel it's worth noting as I've looked up to him since knowing him for the last 6 years.
Jimmy has been running for over 30 years and is an international veteran runner attached to the great and well respected Elswick Harriers. He does the Great North Run in something like an hour and 13 minutes, does 20 mile training runs for fun and is one of the nicest blokes you're ever likely to meet. And he's a Newcastle supporter to boot.
What Jimmy has gone through in recent months with treatmant for cancer is a real battle. My daily battle on this run pales into insignificance in comparison.
Thanks for the inspiring words Jim this morning.
Thanks also to those new pledges today via nufc.com. The Toon Army are close to overtaking the Northern Rock Foundation as my biggest backer. Remember that the Foundation are double matching every £1 pledged by Northern Rock employees.
The scheduled start time today is noon. Thankfully the heat has gone but the wind has returned. I'm altering my route slightly today from Evelix to Ardullie. Instead of leaving the main road as planned and going over the mountains I'm going to take my chances on the busy A9. It's flatter and possibly half a mile shorter. I'll keep you posted (mobile phone signal permitting).
I spoke to Jimmy Bell over the phone earlier. For those of you don't know, Jimmy has had his own battle on his hands with cancer just recently and the inspirational words that he spoke have lifted me an extra 10% this morning. Jimmy is a very modest man and probably won't thank me for writing this but I feel it's worth noting as I've looked up to him since knowing him for the last 6 years.
Jimmy has been running for over 30 years and is an international veteran runner attached to the great and well respected Elswick Harriers. He does the Great North Run in something like an hour and 13 minutes, does 20 mile training runs for fun and is one of the nicest blokes you're ever likely to meet. And he's a Newcastle supporter to boot.
What Jimmy has gone through in recent months with treatmant for cancer is a real battle. My daily battle on this run pales into insignificance in comparison.
Thanks for the inspiring words Jim this morning.
Thanks also to those new pledges today via nufc.com. The Toon Army are close to overtaking the Northern Rock Foundation as my biggest backer. Remember that the Foundation are double matching every £1 pledged by Northern Rock employees.
The scheduled start time today is noon. Thankfully the heat has gone but the wind has returned. I'm altering my route slightly today from Evelix to Ardullie. Instead of leaving the main road as planned and going over the mountains I'm going to take my chances on the busy A9. It's flatter and possibly half a mile shorter. I'll keep you posted (mobile phone signal permitting).
