Day 66 - Another ambition achieved.

Not taking into account the lack of hair, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this picture was taken in 1988. That's my prized issue 1 of The Mag I'm holding along with the Newcastle shirt of the time (It actually fits me again! I think it might get an airing at Derby next Monday!).

I remember watching my Mam sew the "Greenalls Beers" sponsor carefully onto the shirt and I got a number "8" applied to the back. Gazza was my favourite player back then you see. The sponsor patch was bought from the little club shop outside the old West Stand and there weren't many of them about.

I wore this particular shirt with pride during my days at Monkwearmouth College in Sunderland. I got kicked, slapped and was spat on for 3 years by the mackems there but it never stopped me from putting the shirt on time and time again.

The Mag fanzine started that year and I've got every issue they've ever produced. Where is this going you might ask! Well, almost 20 years on I was interviewed by that very publication. Just this afternoon in fact. I spoke with editor Mark Jensen about the big run, the amazing support from the Toon Army, my first Newcastle matches and a whole host of other Toon related things that will appear in the next issue.

It's going to be a great honour to see the article. I've been reading the fanzine for a very long time and if someone would have told me, back in 1988, that I would be appearing in The Mag one day then I'd have laughed at them. For me, this is up there with the Lap of Honour and appearing on NUFC.COM! In fact, I'm looking on these events as an amazing hat trick of black and white appearances.

Day 66 - Fund, blog, presentation and book news.

Another day goes by and the fund is still growing in size. This afternoon, Paul Robinson made the pledge that got the fund up to £28,000. What a landmark! Thanks Paul. Also, colleague Chris Checkley increased his original pledge today. Not only was this reward for running 874 miles but Chris also commented how much he enjoyed reading the blog during the run.

I've had some really good feedback over the last 6 months about the blog. At the peak of the run I was getting over 3500 hits per day. It's almost a month since the run ended and I'm still getting 150 hits a day on average. Who are these 150 people? Haven't they got some paint to watch drying?

I'll continue to update the blog for a good while yet. It will eventually turn into a "Geordie running across America" blog or something similar. Knowing that people are taking an interest in my running and fundraising antics provides tremendous motivation.

There are only 17 days to go before the cheque is presented to St Benedict's Hospice at Dunston Excelsior. Over 100 people will be there and there are only a handful of tickets left. If you are interested in attending then please drop me a line at keeponkeepingon@markallison.com. Tickets are only £5. This includes entry into a raffle, buffet and top North East band The Happy Cats.

Finally, I've been offered some expert advice from a local celebrity concerning writing a book about this year's run. After receiving so many requests to write such a book over the last few months, I've decided to start it within the next few weeks and hopefully publish it next year. All proceeds will, of course, go to St Benedict's Hospice. Does anyone have any ideas on what the title of the book should be? Please get in touch at keeponkeepingon@markallison.com.