The long (very long actually) and winding road.

We arrived in Wick at tea time after 8 hours of driving. Katy and I shared the driving so it wasn't too bad. What was bad however, was the fact that I have now seen at first hand the first 16 days of the run. The size of the task in hand has now finally sunk in. My confidence has taken a bit of a battering as a result. I now need to get back into the mind set of breaking down the 868 miles into 36 manageable chunks.

Proud.

The long wait is finally over. The training and organisation are complete. Tomorrow (Friday) sees us travel nearly 400 miles to Wick (just south of John O'Groats) in readiness for the "big off" on Saturday morning. I've had good wishes from a great many people this week and especially today. The kindness and generosity shown by my friends, family and colleagues has been unprecedented. It really isn't a bad old world after all!

The magnitude of the event I'm about to undertake has not yet sunk in. Which is probably not a bad thing at this stage! I'm half expecting going back to work on Monday. That won't happen for another 7 weeks! I guess when I'm standing at the start line on Saturday I'll realise then that I've got an almighty challenge on my hands. In fact, 36 days of challenges!

One thing has remained constant over the last 13 years and still to this day serves as my biggest motivation. I feel extremely proud when I raise funds for St Benedict's Hospice. They were the people who cared for my Mam during here final days battling Lung Cancer. I know she would also be proud along with my Dad and Brother whom I lost very early in my life.

Who'd have thought that, when I set off for my first run around the block on a cold winter morning in January 1993, that I'd one day be contemplating running nearly 900 miles in 5 weeks. How true is that old saying - "The longest journeys start with just a few small steps".

To save this as your wallpaper (you sad people) left click on the image, then right click and "save as background".

Meet the support crew (Part 4)

The majority of the support rota will be filled by the motliest of motley crew members - Katy and Jack (aka her who must be obeyed and my boy).

Katy's navigation skills are not as bad as Owen's (See previous post) but are not the best either. She often gets lost while using Sat Nav in the car. For some strange reason she's OK without it! No offence to the other support crew members (Keith, Mark and Owen) but Katy is the only one of them who I'll have to give me a massage. Even if my legs aren't that tired I'll still be asking for one (and a massage! Wahay!).

It's just 48 hours before I set off from John O'Groats and Jack is still convinced he's running it with me. He has broken up from school today and is looking forward to spending the next 3 out of 5 weeks watching me run (so he says).

Having Katy and Jack on the route at the beginning in John O'Groats and at Lands End will be great for morale. This is not only going to be an adventure (of sorts!) for me but also for them too. I can just picture the scene in 30 years time with the grandchildren - "Go on Grandad, tell us about that time you ran from John O'Groats to Lands End with my Dad".

And that's your lot for the support crew. Katy, Jack, Keith, Mark and Owen. World class support and enthusiasm but a bit rubbish at navigation!

Sponsorship landmark!

A few people were leaving it until the last minute to sponsor me and I've had a flurry of pledges today. The fund now stands at a very pleasing 85% of the target or £4233 in old money!

I've just about dried up all avenues of fund raising and I'm left with attempting to collect the remaining £767 while on the route.

Hopefully the Batman and Borat costumes will attract some further attention from people willing to chuck a few pence in the collecting tin that I'll have with me.

One thing is for sure, I'm now setting new records for fundraising. The previous best has been beaten and I'm almost at the £20,000 mark for the last 13 years.

Borat fancy dress day sold for £300!!

Good news and bad news! The good news is that I get to wear something other than a Batman outfit on the big run. The bad news is that it's the Borat bikini. Even worse news - my sponsors have instructed me to wear it on the day that I run through Edinburgh City Centre!!!!!

Colleagues, Paul Jackson (33) and Michael Dunn (34) have begged, stolen and borrowed to come up with the necessary £300 sponsorship money. They have chosen day 11, of the run, as the day that I wear the skimpy little lime green number. That is the 24.7 mile section from the start of the Forth Road Bridge, through Edinburgh City Centre and then onto Middleton

At the press conference today, Paul commented "This is just our way of giving something back to the community!". Michael added "I just hope that bit of green string has been stress tested! It would be an unlucky day for the people of Edinburgh if Mark "popped out" while pounding up the Royal Mile".

Pictured are Paul and Michael fighting over who was going to try the outfit on first.

Expect photos on the day if I can manage to beat the Scottish lassies off! That's the female "lassie" and not the dog variety by the way.

In the meantime, I'll need to check if there any local by-laws in Edinburgh regarding semi naked fat blokes wearing lime green bikinis. Anne Oliver, the fundraising coordinator's final words to me last week were "Do not bring the Hospice into disrepute!". Don't worry Anne. I'll tell the Constable that I'm running for St Oswalds!

A fine send off!

I did my final training run today around the so called "Mark Allison Memorial 6 miles". This route starts at Northern Rock and heads toward and goes around the Town Moor. The final long straight is then up the Great North Road past my birthplace (Princess Mary's Hospital) and back to Northern Rock.

I'd asked a few of the regular Northern Rock runners to accompany me one last time. There was a good turnout and the 9 of us set off in humid conditions.

Despite different abilities in the pack we stayed together for a few miles

(for a change!). However, it wasn't long before the speed merchants
left me behind.

This was a fitting send off. I've ran with these lads many times in preparation for the big run. I hope the next time we run as a pack, I'm a few stone lighter and get to run at the front a bit more than usual.

Pictured from left to right are Carl Hudson, Ian "The Coach" Glasgow, Pete Maddison, Steven Moore, Michael Dunn, John Brettell, Patrick Aynsley-Smyth and Colin Moore (who appears to have left his arms in the changing rooms).

Sponsorship landmark!

Thanks (yet again) to my colleagues at Northern Rock, the fund has now reached 81% of the target and stands at £4050, just short of my £5000 target.

It now feels like there is light at the end of the fund raising tunnel. For the first time I'm left with raising a three figure sum instead of four.

There are just a few days to go before I set off from John O'Groats. I will hopefully exceed the previous best total donated to the Hospice before I set off. That was £4140 back in 2003 where a colleague (John Mallon) and I dressed up as Roman soldiers and ran the 84 mile Hadrian's Wall path over 3 days.

It will also be nice to get near to a grand total raised (since 1993) of £20,000. I couldn't have done any of this without the help of colleagues, friends, family, local businesses and a surprising number of complete strangers who have sponsored me via the Internet and en-route. The generosity of the good folk in this region never ceases to amaze me!

6 days to go - Time to reflect on my training

If "You only get out of life what you put in" is actually true as a saying then I stand a very good chance of completing the run from John O'Groats to Lands End. So far in 2007, I have ran a total of 720 miles and have been to the gym 48 times. This is on top of my working and family life and the fundraising activities and planning that has been done for the big run. I could not have done any more training than I have. I just couldn't have.

Although I've been training since November 2005, it wasn't until I stepped things up in January 2007 that things started to get serious.

With help from Ian "The Coach" Glasgow and John Brettell I was able to maintain a regular routine in those early winter months. Runs around the Town Moor and up to the Race Course were on the menu most lunchtimes in Gosforth.

The routine was extended in February and March with lots of runs home. Mostly in the dark!! In April and May I added much longer weekend runs with the hills in the Pennines providing a stern test.

June was all about winding down for the big run with lots of shorter runs. This was also the month where I suffered what seemed like my first major injury. Once again, though, I proved to be a quick healer and managed to run a PB Blaydon Race some 6 days after picking up a hamstring injury. I haven't felt a knock or an injury since that day and hopefully that will continue for the next 900 miles or so.

I have trained in extreme heat, cold, wet, wind, snow, ice and rain. I have trained in bright sunshine and even complete darkness. I have trained on sand, road, grass, pavement, gravel, mud and dirt track. I have trained in cities, towns, villages and the open country side. I have trained on flat and on hills with gradients up to 17%. If there is a running scenario left out there then someone please let me know what it is.

I've actually come to enjoy running in difficult conditions. I'd far rather run 2 miles up to a 1700 ft summit than 2 miles on the flat. The positive attitude I've built up will be put to the test running 868 miles over 36 days. Let's have this discussion on August 12th and see what's changed!

Meet the support crew (Part 3)

A new and rather late addition to the motley crew of support is my best man Mark Huck. "Ewky" or "Hucky", as he is known to the lads, will be providing a couple of days support south of Middleton in Teesdale in the Pennines. Mark agreed to join the crew after a few pints in Newcastle on Saturday night. A few pints of orange for me I might add! It's been 181 days since New Year's Eve and my last had a drop of alcohol. Mind you, what a drop it was! I still had the hangover in February!

Mark is a teacher. So lets face it what else has he got to do this summer! He is black and white through and through, so no doubt in between running we will be talking about all things Toon, Big Sam etc etc.

Pictured is Hucky with some bird he pulled in Euro Disney. He had such a great time there a few months ago and he is thinking of taking his wife and bairns next time!

Mark's sense of humour will be invaluable on the trip as I will more than likely have lost mine after running 400 miles during the previous 2 weeks!

Wat'er generous offer!

Brilliant news to write about this evening!!! AquAid based in Washington, Tyne & Wear have donated a substantial amount of bottled water for use on the run. This means that I'm going to have a clean water supply, on tap, for the entire run.

Every bottle of water that AquAid sell carries a donation to charity. AquAid donate to two charities, Christian Aid and Pump Aid. Since 1998, AquAid have donated over 1.9 million.

Sincere thanks go to Amir Dobson and Graeme Nelson of Aquaid.