The run across Europe blog - new comms

Due to the tricky nature of the run and subsequent duration of Mark's days, he has been unable to spend as much time as he had hoped keeping everyone fully updated with his blog posts.  The mobile phone signal is also very intermittent which means that updates have often been delayed.

On this basis, we have agreed with Mark that we will take a video diary for the end of the day and upload this separately   This way Mark can keep you all in the loop and reflect on the days running personally.

We will embed the videos right here as soon as we get the opportunity to do so.

Thanks! 

Jimmy and Donna.

Europe - Day 1

The team and I made our way to the ocean’s edge on Guincho Beach shortly before 7am.  It was already warm, around 17 celsius.  After a couple of photos I got the run across Europe underway.  I dipped my hand in the ocean and off I went over the beach.  It was good to see my Virgin Money colleague, Vik Datta, at the start line.  I really appreciated him turning up to see me off.

Once off the beach I had to tackle a few stairs to the main road.  The next 5 miles were a sheer steep uphill climb to 1230ft.  I was exhaused when I reached the summit of the Sintra-Cascais National Park. Not only was it steep, but the streets in the picturesque village of Malveira Da Serra were also cobbled.  The cobbled streets soon turned to dusty road which in turn turned to cracked dirt path.  As I had suspected, this was the toughest start to any of the segments of the run around the world so far.

The downhill stretch out of the national park proved to be very technical.  It also required a lot of time spent using Google maps for navigation.  That said, I soon made it out of the park and into another picturesque village.  I met the support team briefly at Colres for some fresh water.  It was exhausting in the hot sun with such an undulating route.  

I met the team again at the 17.5 mile point, this time for lunch.  They cooked a nice omlette, it will be interesting to see who makes the best omlettes on this tour.  There is always fierce competition for that title.    I also took this opportunity to put on a fresh pair of socks as recommended by Alison Meldrum at the Cradlewell Clinic.  I was out again into what has turned out to be a very hot day in Portugal.

Back out on the road and disaster nearly struck.  I had to step off the hard shoulder and into the grass verge to avoid being hit by a driver using their mobile phone.  They were totally oblivious to my prescence.  Further down the road I was surprised to see a snake, it took weeks to see my first snake in Australia.  The rest of the afternoon involved climbs, climbs and more climbs.

All of a sudden, I was running on empty at the 26 mile point.  I stopped for an energy bar and when I looked up, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  It was Jimmy with an ice lolly! I felt like I had won the lottery.  I ate it so quickly that I got an immediate headache, but it was worth it.  

The remainder of the day involved runnining against the backdrop of amazing scenery.  Spectacular beaches, lots of windmills of vatious sizes and many more climbs.  Once climb in particular was so steep that I had to really force my way uphill.  I sat down at the top of the hill surrounded by dogs in nearby properties barking loudly at me.  

Navigation using Google maps was crucial to getting through this very tricky route.  I do not know how I could have managed without this.  All of the hard work that Jimmy and I had put into researching the route certainly paid off on day 1.  Donna joined me for the last 6 miles, this proved to be a tricky section with more climbs through farmland and dirt tracks.  I reached the 37 mile point with zero energy left, I was exhasuted and delerious.  I did not have the energy for a shower and as soon as I had my pasta for supper, listened to the team read out the donations and messages on Virgin Money Giving I was asleep. 

All in all it was a pleasing day, over 4000ft of uphill running meant that it was very tough day.  If we have 99 more days like this then I will get to Istanbul on the 8th August.

Donna’s thoughts for day 1

As with Mark, Google maps was our saviour for the day.  The initial route is planned for a runner therefore we had to ensure that our route was RV friendly.  At times, we were forced to re-route as the roads simply would not have been kind to our home!  

That said, we were able to effectively track Mark and get to the meeting points in good time for pit stops and lunch.  We worked hard yesterday to make sure that Mark was sufficiently hydrated as there were a lot of climbs which were really tough on him.  We knew that this was going to be one of the tougher days so we also had to be mindful of his wellbeing (this also involved in making sure that when we rewarded ourselves for a busy morning with an ice cream that we went in search of Mark to share with him too!). 

As the tour fund is meticulously planned to account for every penny, we have to ensure that we are conscientious every day.  The RV is adequately stocked to accommodate Mark’s needs and means that no unecessary expenses are incurred.  This extends to camping sites.  As we neared the end of the day, Jimmy and I did a quick recce of the last stretch.  This was fairly tricky and left us miles away from an aire (these are essentially car parks for caravans with water and waste facilities). Unfortunately the nearest aire was some distance away from Mark’s end of day and would require a 30 minute journey there and back.  On this basis, we made the call to stay over in a car park close to the end of day 1 and at the foot of a park.  This looked safe enough and quiet enough for us to park up for the evening.

Thankfully as we were able to plan ahead for the last 6 miles, Jimmy was able to go solo in the RV which meant I could spend some time running with Mark.  I didn’t get this opportunity in Australia and often felt guilty for leaving him out on his own.  With the support team that we have for the run across Europe, this should hopefully mean that Mark will always have plenty of company.    

It’s really important that Jimmy and I plan ahead as much as we can, for breaks, water exchanges and most importantly the evening meal. Last nights planning allowed a quick turnaround from Mark finishing his 37 miles to getting some shut eye.  Overall, a great start to the run. 

Europe - Day 1

Day 1 has been a massive success. 37 miles were required and 37 miles were ran. With elevation gain of over 4000 ft for the day it's safe to say that this has been one of the toughest days of running that I've ever done.

Donna and Jimmy have worked very well on the team all day. They have set a very high standard.

I'll be retiring today's shirt from the tour. It will be washed framed and put to auction at the Ball in October.

Thank you to all the kind folk who have donated at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/rungeordierun.

I'll write a full account of day 1 over the next few days. For now, I must sleep and recover. I'm exhausted. 

The exact route across Europe

The document below can be used to see the exact route that I'll be running from Lisbon, Portugal to Istanbul, Turkey.

The Weigh in

I'll be starting the run across Europe at 17 stone and 10.5 pounds. That's 112.72 kg. It's no consolation that this is the lighest that I've started any of the 4 segments of the run around the world done so far. The heaviest was a whopping 18 stone and 5 pound (117.5 kg) before the start of the run across the USA. 

I'm guessing that I'll finish in Istanbul weighing in at around 12 stone (76.2 kg) and 10% body fat. I'll be burning over 6000 calories a day for the next 100 days. Extreme weight loss is inevitable. 

Watch this space on rest day 1 next week for details of the next weigh in.

12 hours to go.....

The run across Europe starts at 0700 BST on Guincho Beach on Sunday 1st May 2016. 

The 3,400 mile (5,472 km) journey from Lisbon to Istanbul can be followed via:

Any donations to The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and 
The Children's Foundation would be gratefully received using:

Any questions or queries can be emailed to sponsorship@rungeordierun.com.

Enjoy the Journey.

Team News

First up on support team duties are Jimmy and Donna. They are on the team for the first 7 days of the run and are covering the route through Portugal up to the border with Spain near Valença.

The curse of Sir Bobby Robson

I got chatting to Claudia who works at the campsite where we're staying in Guincho Beach. It turns out that she knows all about Sir Bobby Robson.

 

The final countdown to Europe

It has been a very busy few hours, days, weeks and months in the build up to the run across Europe. In fact, you could easily add “years” to that sentence. I wouldn’t have it any other way though. No way. 

We picked the RV motorhome up 2 weeks ago. Thank you to my sponsor FFG for storing it securely at their Washington premises until departure time. 

I welcomed 2 very special guests aboard the RV for a closer look last week: Lady Elsie Robson and World Cup winning legend Jack Charlton. Both have been very supportive of the run across Europe recently and it was fantastic, if a little surreal, to show them where the support team and I will be living in Europe for over 100 days. 

As an added bonus, Jack brought a load of Northumberland Tea for us to use in Europe. I’m very much looking forward to a cup at the end of a hard day of running. I know the support team appreciated this gesture too. You can read more about the visit on the Chronicle website. 

I took time out at the weekend to watch Newcastle United play for the final time this season. The game against Liverpool ended in a draw but was a great match to watch. It’s a pity (or not according to some people) that I’ll miss the final 3 games this season. I really don’t like missing Newcastle matches. This season, I will have managed to get to all bar 3 at home and have been to Swansea, Manchester United, Everton, Chelsea, Leciester, Norwich as well as Liverpool. That’s not bad going by my standards. 

I’ll be back in time for the start of the 2016/17 Premier League season but not the Championship season. Newcastle United - You know what you need to do. 

Sunday was spent working on the RV. Every nook and cranny in the RV is being used to good effect. It is full of porridge, Cherry Active, medical supplies, running kit and everything else that will be needed in Europe. 

I'll be speaking more about my use of Cherry Active for recovery and Beet Active to delay the onset of fatigue in the coming weeks. Regular readers will remember that Cherry Active helped me to run across the USA and Australia. This is the 5th year that I've been using the product. More on that soon.

There were some media duties to perform on Monday morning before we departed for Europe later that day. 

I called in to BBC Newcastle for an appearance on Alfie Joey and Charlie Charlton’s breakfast show. They were both very supportive during the run across Australia and it's great to have that again. 

I started talking on the show with only a few minutes to spare before the 0830 news. I was extremely grateful to them both for holding back the news for over 5 minutes. I’m looking forward to talking to them again at various points in Europe. 

It was then time for the official send off from the Life Brigade Watch House in Tynemouth. There were several photographers in attendance and I gave interviews to Emily Reader from Metro Radio and Andy Sixsmith from Made in Tyne and Wear. Special thanks go to Barry Peels whose photos subsequently appeared in many papers and websites.

I’m looking forward to talking to Andy Sixsmith again during various points of the run across Europe. The item below was recorded a few weeks ago in the RV.

There was just enough time to show the directors of my main sponsor, SOS group, around the RV. The picture below shows Andrew, George, John and myself having a laugh together.

It’s thanks to SOS Group that the run across Europe is a reality. Their financial support has helped towards the cost of RV hire, running kit, fuel and insurance.

The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and The Children's Foundation also benefit from SOS Group’s sponsorship. A “charitable fund” is part of the deal. This amount could easily go directly to the 2 charities. We haven’t done that. Instead, we use the money from SOS group to “grow” a bigger total for the 2 charities through initiatives such as t-shirt sales, raffle prizes for the ball and Team Run Geordie Run kit for Great North Runners.

A £5 t-shirt (like the Europe one below) can yield £12 - £15 for the charities (Any postage paid goes to the 2 charities too thanks to FFG posting the items). So an overseas t-shirt costing £5 to produce can see as much as £20 raised for the 2 charities.

A £300 raffle prize saw £2000 raised at the Around The World Ball last year. £150 spent on Team Run Geordie Run running vests attracted enough runners to raise £2300 for The Children's Foundation. £1000 spent on some entry fees and Team Run Geordie Run t-shirts means that we are on target to raise over £6000 this year. I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s very good use of the charitable fund.

On top of that, SOS have made some huge donations on the back of collections and raffles at staff parties and the like. SOS Group have kitted the 13 members of the support team out with branded hoodies and t-shirts. Pictured below with me at the send off event are Donna, Giles, Jason, Jimmy, Malcolm and Nickela.

Along with the other sponsors, which I’ll talk about over the coming blog posts, I’m extremely fortunate to have SOS in my corner. I know that the 2 charities share that feeling too.

Libby from The Children's Foundation and Sir Bobby’s son Andrew (pictured below) had some final words of encouragement before we departed.

If there is one thing that I want to do in Europe, it’s to make the 2 charities proud. I told Libby, Andrew and Times journalist and Sir Bobby Robson Foundation patron George Caulkin, as much on Monday.

Jimmy and I drove away from Tynemouth just before lunchtime with the various well wishers waving us off.

We made it as far as the Midlands that afternoon before arriving at Portsmouth Ferry Terminal on Tuesday afternoon. With the RV safe in the belly of the Britanny Ferry’s flagship Pont Aven we watched the coastline of England disappear. 

The article below appeared on nufc.com. The website, having publicised my runs since 2001, have been responsible for attracting 10’s of thousands of pounds of charity donations. nufc.com have a massive reach and their continued support is hugely appreciated.

I was secretly pleased that they picked up on the subtle reference to Auf Wiedersehen Pet. Neville is pictured below also en-route to Europe.  Coincidentally, I have the DVDs with me to watch in the RV on rest days.

We made it to Santander with only a rough hour of sea travel to report out of the 24 it took us to arrive. The rough patch happened just after midnight and I was convinced that we had capsized at one point!

The overnight stop on Wednesday was Palencia in what was essentially a car park for RVs. It was right in the middle of the town but really quiet. 

We travelled down to Lisbon on Thursday. Jimmy continued to do all the driving which meant I was able to get through a lot of work including finalising the social media plan, answering many emails and finishing the weather and progress graphics that will be seen right across all my social media channels.

We stopped briefly south of Valladolid for a bite to eat. This is where I discovered that Jimmy is a master of many different foreign languages. Unfortunately, he used them all in the same sentence much to the amusement of the cantina. We all burst out laughing at his attempt to order a ham toastie. 

It wasn't all bad news as the snack that came out was a massive ham and cheese baguette. Much better than the small toastie that I thought I was getting. I later found out that it was called a Bocadillo. 

The arrival into Lisbon on Thursday afternoon was very dramatic. We crossed the 25 de Abril Bridge into the city passing the Christ The King statue. I'd passed the Angel of the North some 4 days earlier. How fitting that we were greeted by a similar monument here.

We arrived at the Camp Site on Thursday in glorious sunshine with temperatures at a very pleasant 20 Celsius. Well done Jimmy for getting us this far safely and for some top banter on the way down.

As I type this blog, Donna is on her way to join the support team. She has just sent the following picture of the Pyrenees. I'll be running up there in 3 weeks time.

There are just 2 days to go before the start of the 3400 mile (5440 km), 100 day run across Europe from Lisbon to Istanbul. 

I'll talk more about the start line at Guincho Beach on the blog tomorrow. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has made a donation. The overall charity fund is almost at a quarter of a million pounds. Your generosity is hugely appreciated. If you would like to make a donation then please click the image below to be taken to my Virgin Money Giving page.

Posters in the RV

The images below are just a sample of World War II style posters that will be displayed in various places in the RV motorhome. While it's a slightly tongue in cheek approach, the posters will serve as a reminder of many key points to the support team and myself.

Particular attention is being given to safeguarding against being behind schedule. i.e. the "mileage deficit".  Losing miles will lead to huge problems logistically. The issue is that the support team plan has a lot of "moving parts". In real terms, this means a lot of support team changes. People coming and going from specific airports at specific times means there is very little margin for error.

There has always been a mileage deficit in any run that I've ever done. Somehow, in the USA I clawed back 5 days of running during the last 3 weeks to finish on time in Coney Island. I was having to run 40 - 45 miles consistently when the original requirement was just to do 31 in the USA.

In Australia, the mileage deficit was massive and the damage to my feet, my mental state and the size of the support team meant that it couldn't be clawed back. Given the difficulties that we faced it was a miracle that I was able to reach the finish line at Shellharbour at all. It still remains the hardest fought and greatest victory to date. If I get to the finish line in Europe on time or, indeed, at all, I have no doubt that the 3400 miles from Lisbon to Istanbul will eclipse the previous 3 segments of the run around the world. 

Eating the correct types of foods is always important. The main problem that I had during the run across the USA and Australia was eating enough food. Ironically, the opposite problem that I have in regular life! 

The poster below is a reminder to all that fuel and water on the RV is a precious commodity. Every drop of water that comes out of the taps or shower must be replaced. To do that costs time and fuel to get to a place where the water can be filled up. We must be very mindful of this as a team.

I have a £7 per day food budget. Again, every scrap of food must be used very wisely. Any leftovers must be used where possible. That is a budget for a person who will be burning over 6000 calories per day.

I'll publish the other posters over the coming weeks across my social media pages. You can get to my Twitter, Instagram or Facebook pages using the links in the header at the top of this page.