Day 79 - Random acts of kindness (Part 4).

I've said it many times before that one of the most important types of kindness during the big run was the appearance of special (and often unexpected) guests en route. I talked about such appearances during the first 15 days back in August. I'd like to continue my tribute to those individuals who helped me along the way.

Day 16 of the big run was probably the most special day of the entire tour. This was the day that 16 of my colleagues from Northern Rock joined me for a gruelling 22 miles in the North Pennines. The day was called the "Pennine Challenge" and what a challenge it turned out to be.

I'd had horrendous shin pain for 4 days up until this point and to see so many familiar faces was just the boost I needed. More importantly though, these staff raised over £3300 for the Hospice. Amazing!

In the first picture are supporter Jimmy Bell and runners Mike Lewis, Paul Jackson, Colin Moore, Patrick Aynsley-Smythe, Chris Cowan, John Brettell, Me, Ian Glasgow, Micheal Dunn, Peter Maddison and Jonathan Jobe. The second picture is 14 miles into the run with cyclist Jim Patterson joined by runners Paul Jackson, Chris Cowan, John Mallon, me and supporter Jimmy Bell. The third picture sees cyclists Mike Paul, Michelle Paul and Rob Caffrey at the top of a very steep hill! Not pictured are cyclists Hayley Hunt and Julie Rowles (They were there! Honest!).

Three of the team (Chris Cowan, Paul Jackson and John Mallon) stuck with me throughout the run in Peleton formation. I could tell from their words and actions that their primary objective was to see me safely to the finish line in Middleton-in-Teesdale. This came as a great surprise as I had expected to be at the back of the pack, running in self preservation mode. Jimmy Bell and his wife were also to be seen at every water stop offering valuable support.

Of course, I made it safely to the finish line that day, passing the 400 mile mark in the process. The next 474 miles would get lonelier in comparison to this day but there were still a few more appearances. To be continued....

Day 59 - ......and the fund keeps growing.

It's been 3 weeks since I made it to Lands End and still the fund continues to rise. There have been some new pledges over the last couple of days from people who have just heard about the event. There was also one pledge today that is worth letting you know about.

One of my colleagues at Northern Rock, Joanne Heightly, was the lucky winner of a work's competition called the "bonus ball". To my utter surprise, she was generous enough to add her winnings to the fund. Of course, with Joanne being a Northern Rock employee the Northern Rock foundation will double match her contribution. The last 59 days have been full of random acts of kindness such as this. When will they and this fund total ever end? Thanks to Joanne and indeed the new sponsors.

In the meantime, Katy and I have been busy organising the cheque presentation evening. The venue is almost confirmed. The caterer is booked. We are waiting to hear from the band. We are also on the scrounge for raffle prizes. The itinerary and speeches are coming together. I'm still on the look out for a compere who can do a better job than yours truly. Does anyone know how to get in touch with And and Dec?

Day 49 - Random acts of kindness (Part 3).

Pictured is a view that was very familiar to me during the 5 week run from John O'Groats to Lands End.

That view is one of oncoming traffic. And lots of traffic at that! I must say though that 99.9% of traffic and the HGV drivers in particular gave me a wide berth.

So I'd like to pay tribute to all of those motorists (and there were thousands of them) who took care when driving past me.

I'd also like to thank those drivers that weren't concentrating or were on a mobile phone and saw me at the last moment. I really appreciated all of those last minute swerves away from me.

That's the A30 in Cornwall in the picture. I felt very lucky at the time as I had a small hard shoulder to run on. Luxury!

Day 46 - Random acts of kindness (Part 2).

One of the most important types of kindness to get me through the daily grind of running for 37 days was the appearance of special guests en route.

The first such guest was young Steven Moore who'd nicked off school for the day to challenge me to a marathon through the Cairngorms on day 7. This also happened to be my 36th birthday. The fact that I wiped the floor with that Sad mackem Boy has been well documented so I'll not bore you further with the details!

The next guest appeared on day 10 at about mile 250. Mark Fleming made a timely morale boosting visit on the way to the Open at Carnoustie. I'd had a particularly tough day and the boost of seeing a familiar face really managed to make the remaining miles go over quickly.

Three days later and my morale was getting very low. The main reason being was the excruciating pain that I was experiencing in my shins. The tablets that I was taking didn't even scratch the surface of the pain. I knew I had the Scottish/English border at Carter Bar to reach that day and it seemed like 50 miles away and not the required 23.

The first 13 miles were done at an average of about 15 minutes per mile. Then, just north of Jedburgh, 2 guardian angels in the form of Uncle Brian (not really my Uncle but you know how it was in the 70s when we had respect) and Aunty Ada (not really my Aunty but you know how it was in the 70s when us kids used to get a good thrashing for calling an elder by their first name) passed by in the car. Then they passed by again! This spurred me on to a couple of 10 minute miles right through the pain barrier and into the centre of Jedburgh. We stopped for a chat and just as I was about to start running again, a lad from work, Jonathan Jobe, passed by. He'd taken a 3 hour lunch (check his flexi!) to pop up and see me for what turned out to be only a few minutes.

About a mile further down the road I ran into my mates, Dan and James Tweedy who'd also had a drive out to give their support. After so many lonely miles on the road (about 320 at that point) it was great to once again see so many familiar faces.

I eventually made it to Carter Bar that day in an astonishing amount of pain in my shins. Aunty Ada and Uncle Brian were there again to witness the crazy celebrations that followed. I was so relieved to reach the biggest landmark so far on the run and this was the night that I got to go home and see Katy and Jack.

The following day I was joined by more "Aunties" and an "Uncle". You know the drill by now with the respect thing. It was Aunty Joyce, Aunty Carol and Uncle Bob this time. About 10 miles south of Carter Bar they put on a cracking picnic. This made a smashing change from the usual banana break. Once again the appearance of familiar faces served to take my mind off the pain I was almost in tears with, if only for half an hour. You might not think that a picnic in the middle of July is unusual but you should have seen the wind and rain that day!

Later on in the day I bumped into John Mallon, an ex colleague, who was out for a run near his home in Otterburn. He ran the last mile with me after I'd put in a very painful shift of the cruelest climbs that Northumberland had to offer. John was training for the Helsinki Marathon that took place last Saturday. It was at the end of this day that Katy made me go to Shotley Bridge Hospital's minor injuries unit. This was one of the turning points of the whole run as the medication they gave me took only 3 or 4 days to work and it wasn't long before I was running almost pain free again.

Day 15 saw more cruel climbs in Northumberland and the prospect of running 28.5 miles to get back on schedule. Another colleague, Patrick Aynsley-Smythe joined me for a few miles early in the day and saw me safely into Corbridge.

A few miles down the road and the tablets were beginning to wear off. Imagine my surprise when I saw another colleague, Mike Paul and his wife Michelle. I'll not forget that lovely hug from Michelle in a hurry and it played it's part in me getting back on schedule after 15 days of running 384 miles!

That just about raps up the first lot of guest appearances. There were plenty more to follow over the next 21 days. I'll add more on that subject later this week.