Sponsorship landmark!

Thanks to my Aunty Joyce getting some brilliant donations from her friends and family, the sponsorship total has now reached a very impressive £3479. That is 70% of the target.

There are still 1 or 2 avenues to pursue in order to try and get up to the magic £5000 mark. One of which will be the use of a secure collecting tin on the run provided by Anne Oliver at St Benedict's Hospice. An example of it's potential use will be when Batman and Robin (aka myself and Ian Glasgow) stop for a drink at Carter Bar on the day Ian joins me for 10 of 26 miles. Hopefully, any tourists stopping to admire the view of the Borders will dig deep!

I also have one iron in the fire which I can't say too much about at present. But rest assured, as soon as I get any good news I'll post it up here on the website under the heading "Sponsorship target reached". Fingers crossed!

Another Fancy Dress Day Sponsor.

After 5 months of pestering, begging and pleading, the fund has now passed the £3000 mark thanks to another Fancy Dress Day deal. I'm pleased to announce that premium-orlando-villa.com have donated £100 to the fund and as a result I'll be wearing the Batman outfit a 2nd time! This will be as early as day 2 which is a tough old 27.7 miles from Whaligoe to Navidale in the far north of Scotland.

In addition to the generous £100 donation, our friends at premium-orlando-villa.com have agreed to donate 10% of any booking fees to St Benedict's Hospice when quoting "MARK ALLISON". What a very generous gesture indeed! So why not click on through to the site and have a look at the substantial villa on offer in the heart of Orlando, Florida. The huge villa (pictured) looks fantastic and is very reasonably priced. Disney attractions are only 10 minutes away. But never mind all that! The villa has a 65 inch widescreen HDTV, a heated pool and spa and a fully equipped games room! Nice!

So if you or anyone you know is thinking of renting a villa in Orlando why not give premium-orlando-villa.com some consideration. In the meantime, Mark Allison's John O'Groats to Lands End run (Day 2) will be brought to you in association with our friends at premium-orlando-villa.com.

The first "fancy dress day" snapped up already by a local company!

What a great start to the "fancy dress day" sponsorship campaign! I have sealed a deal within 1 hour of posting details of the very attractive corporate sponsorship deals I have available for this year's big run. Thankfully (for me), the naked Forth Road Bridge run still remains unsold!

I'm very pleased to announce that Newcastle based www.myspanishrentals.co.uk have pledged support if I dress up as Batman for one of the 36 days. The exact day is yet to be decided but expect something like "Mark Allison's John O'Groats to Lands End run (Day 13 - Newtown St Boswells to Catcleugh Resevouir) is brought to you in association with www.myspanishrentals.co.uk".

Now if I could only find a willing "Robin" to run with me for a day! Please get in touch at fancydress@markallison.com if you or your company are interested in sponsoring a fancy dress day.

Massive sponsorship deals - Bids welcome!

While I've been very very pleased indeed with the level of sponsorship received so far, I think it's time to try and give the fund a bit of a boost.

This is an opportunity, to all companies and well off folk, for a chance to be part of a major sponsorship deal. This isn't any ordinary deal! This is the chance to be part of something massive. Something very spectacular! Did that sound convincing enough?

"What am I getting for my money?" I hear you all ask. Well! I'm willing to sink to new depths (even lower than the 100 yards I ran naked on the C2C route in 2004!) in order to raise funds for St Benedict's Hospice (Charity No 1019410).

For a decent sum of money I'm offering the chance to sponsor and be associated with one of the days of my big run. All days up for grabs. That's not the end of it! I'm prepared to run a particular day in extremely embarrassing fancy dress. Not any old fancy dress mind! Oh no! For example - £100 will get you a superhero costume. I think Batman would be my choice here. £200 will get you a character from Little Britain. I think Andy "I want that one" would be suitably embarrassing. At least I've got the stomach for that part already!

Now it gets really embarrassing! £300 gets you Borat's slingshot bikini thong! Now howay ladies and gents. Get your hands in your pockets! I'll be getting hundreds of hits on this website when those pictures are posted. £300 is an absolute bargain! Imagine it - "Mark Allison's John O'Groats to Lands End run (Day 12) dressed in nought but Borat's thong was proudly presented to you in association with your company name here.". Again, £300! It's the deal of the year.

Now I think that there will be lots of interest in that one , so just to top it off , £400 will get you another Little Britain character. This time, it's Daffyd "The only gay in the village". I'm half hoping that £400 is a little to pricey but on the other hand it's all for a good cause.

And finally, it's the big one! £500 will get you a naked 1.5 mile run across the Forth Road Bridge. This spectacular event needs little introduction or explanation. This event is probably why I have 1 contingency day at the end of the big run. I might need it to explain my antics to the local constabulary. Again, I've priced this one based on risk as well as embarrassment!

So there we have it - 5 very reasonably priced sponsorship deals. If any of these events interest you or your generous company, please drop me a line at fancydress@markallison.com for further information. Remember, these embarrassing tasks are on top of the already daunting 888 miles I'll be running from John O'Groats to Lands End. I'd almost forgotten about that bit for a moment!

Due to the nature of these events, I'd ask that money for these very attractive sponsorship deals should be paid, up front, directly to "St Benedict's Hospice, Monkwearmouth Hospital, Newcastle Road, Sunderland. SR5 1NB.".

And remember, it's all for a good cause!