Really nice gifts from the Hospice.

I'd like to say thanks to the staff at St Benedict's Hospice for 3 lovely gifts in recognition of the hard work Katy, Jack and I put in over the Summer.

Firstly, I received a fantastic glass award etched with the following inscription:

Presented to

Mark Allison
for the outstanding achievement of running 874 miles
from John O'Groats to Lands End
July 7th - August 12th 2007
in aid of
St Benedict's Hospice

Next up was a hamper stuffed full of beauty products for Katy. I've got to admit she's used some of the products on me.

Finally, Jack received a unique glass award with the following inscription:

Presented to Jack Allison
for the Best Roadside Supporter
John O'Groats to Lands End
July 7th - August 12th 2007

Jack's glass award is very well made and has the Tyne Bridges on show. This will be something for him to treasure over the coming years. It will also act as a reminder to him about the time he followed his Dad on a charity run.

All of these prizes were unexpected and, of course, greatly appreciated. As I've wrote many times before on this blog, I never achieved anything at school with sports. The main reason I took up refereeing after I left school was to win trophies for cup finals and such like. I got 7 trophies in all for a short career in refereeing spanning 7 years. Admittedly, they weren't as good as, say, my mate Mark Huck's football trophies. You had to actually win something to get one of those.

The award from the Hospice, however, is probably the first "trophy" that I can actually put on the mantle piece and look at with utter pride. It makes up for all of those years of under achieving at school sports.