The story so far (PART 2 - Training to run 3100 miles)

As promised, I'd like to continue the task of bringing everyone up to speed with how my preparations and training are going for the 3100 mile run across the USA in 100 days starting in May 2011. On Tuesday I spoke about the 2 chosen charities. Today, I'll touch on how my training is going and how well prepared I am.

Training to run 3100 miles in 100 days

"How on earth do you train to run for such a considerable time and distance? Where on earth does your training schedule start? How much training do you have to do?" were just some of the questions on many people's lips back in the Summer of 2008.

First of all, I considered what it had taken for long distance events that I'd ran over the previous 6 years. I'd ran the 134 mile C2C route 3 times, ran the 84 mile Hadrian's Wall Path and of course ran 874 miles from John O'Groats to Lands End. While all of these events were successfully completed, they weren't easy by any stretch of the imagination. I'm convinced that I've always done the right amount of running was done beforehand and as a result I've always been pleased with my endurance levels.

In my opinion, if you've got enough endurance and an equal measure of mental strength then you've got a very very good chance of succeeding in what you set out to do. Mental strength isn't so easy to come by as physical strength is though.

Sadly, in my experience, some of the things that go to build mental strength are having to endure and pass through devastating life changing events. I've written, talked and cried many a time about the loss of my parents and my brother. As the years go by, when that mist of grief starts to clear and you begin to move on with your life you suddenly realise, despite the horrific loss, how much stronger an individual you have become. I've seen it and been made aware of it many times in many other people over the last 21 years since my Dad died.

What I've also seen and I'm sure that you the reader have too, is the overpowering urge to turn the most negative of negatives into the most positive of positives. We see, read or hear about it almost every day of every week. So many people, doing so many amazing fund raising things to try and help give other people a better life, help fund research to cure so many illnesses, help to ease the pain of those who are suffering or dying, help to give an independent life to those who would not otherwise have one. I could go on and on and on.

We all know at least someone who fits this bill. Someone who has the desire, like me, to repay a debt of gratitude. In my case, it is the debt of gratitude to the Doctors, Nurses, carers and volunteers of St Benedict's Hospice that I wish to continue to repay for as long as I can.

The same can't be said for The Children's Foundation. I have no debt of gratitude to pay. My son, Jack, is very fit and well and, as far as I know, we have never had to call upon the services of The Children's Foundation or one of the projects that it supports. Mind you, just recently, my niece and first time Mammy Louise has. She attended a session on child safety; namely the "Whoops! Child Safety Project". The motivation I've got to raise funds for The Children's Foundation is entirely different to St Benedict's Hospice. This one is completely selfless, which the dictionary has the following entry for: "Selflessness, the act of sacrificing ones own interest for the greater good". The key words there are the "greater good". I've learned a lot over the last few years about the good work that The Children's Foundation does. It still amazes me to this day, that by simply putting one foot in front of the other a few million times, getting people to sponsor that effort and passing the funds onto the charities can actually help them fund projects or resources for the "greater good".

So it's time to revisit those questions; "How on earth do you train to run for such a considerable time and distance? Where on earth does your training schedule start? How much training do you have to do?".

The training for this one started in 1988 when my Dad, Terry, lost his battle against cancer. Training continued in 1990 when my Brother, David, died as a result of a sudden brain hemorrhage. My training to run 3100 miles across the USA was finally complete in 1995 when my Mam, Margery, also lost her long battle against cancer. Although, I didn't realise it at the time, I was ready to take on this 3100 mile run back as far as 1995.

As I see it, the amount of running, strength training and healthy eating from November 2008 to May 2011 will determine the degree of pain that I suffer during the 100 days on the trans USA run. I have been trying very hard and will try even harder next year to bring those 3 components together in an attempt to reduce the pain.

I'll talk about the facts and how the physical side of things have been going tomorrow as I continue this "story so far" series.

Peter's Pies Pays!

More pleasing news to report! The potentially lucrative deal with Peter's Pies was announced on nufc.com yesterday:

"Mark has now agreed a PFI - that's a Pie Finance Agreement - to boost his fund-raising efforts. For every £1 donated between now and the end of 2009, Peters Pies have pledged to add 50p to that total, meaning that for every £10 fund-raising T shirt Mark sells, an extra £5 will be raised.".

Within hours of that announcement, £70 worth of pledges and t-shirt purchases from nufc.com readers had been paid to the two charities via justgiving.com. Straight away, Peter's Pies were committed to matching half of that sum and added £35 to the total. Now you don't need to be a genius to realise that the princely sum of £105 had been raised. Now some of that total will also attract Gift Aid so those kind sponsors £70 is actually worth much more to the two charities.

I've since had enquiries for 10 t-shirts and if these payments are made then another £100 plus £50 Peter's Pies money will be on it's way to St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation. Brilliant!

Don't forget folks, that the generous Peter's Pies offer of matching 50p in the £1 expires at midnight on 31/12/2009. Therefore, please, please, please help me make them pay as much cash as possible to the 2 charities on top of your kind pledge before then. We don't have long.

Also, don't forget that you don't just have to make a pledge without getting anything in return. If you'd like to discover the different ways you can support Run Geordie Run's chosen charities please click here. In the meantime, thanks to those kind readers of nufc.com for boosting the fund and Peter's Pies for boosting it even further. The current total stands at £3179.00. Brilliant!

The story so far (PART 1 - Choosing the charities)

Hello folks! If you're not a regular reader of www.rungeordierun.com then I assume you've probably found it via www.nufc.com. Perhaps it's a good idea, then, to bring you lot up to speed with what is going on and how my preparations and training are going for the 3100 mile run across the USA in 100 days starting in May 2011. I'll start tonight with a bit about the charities and continue the series on over the next few days. Hopefully, you will all be fully informed by the weekend with all things RUN GEORDIE RUN.

Choosing the charities

Following the successful run from John O'Groats to Lands End in 2007 where £34,108 was raised for St Benedict's Hospice (Charity No. 1019410), I more or less decided straight away to do the trans USA run in 2011. I would raise funds for the Hospice again and one other local children's charity. The Hospice, of course, cared for my Mam as she spent he final days battling cancer. I was very keen to continue support them having seen and used their services first hand. Choosing a local children's charity was a much harder choice, given that their a a lot of good ones in our region.

After a lot of research I found that The Children's Foundation did an amazing amount of good work in our region. I didn't realise at the time that I had just scratched the surface regarding the good work they do! They estimate that their services touched the lives of 90,000 children in our region in 2008. A stat that speaks for itself! I really liked the fact that they had help fund some pioneering initiatives. For example, the Limbs Alive project; a pioneering new therapy, which is being piloted at the Cerebral Palsy Research & Therapy Centre in Newcastle. The project was to later win an award! Once I learned of the other amazing projects that they support then my decision had been made. Have a look at www.thechildrensfoundation.co.uk for more info. I'm sure you will be as amazed and inspired as I was!

So there it was! St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation would be the recipients of as much money I could raise for putting myself through 3 years of training with a 3100 mile run across the USA at the end!

The personal sacrifice of funding the tour myself, quitting my job, risking my health and being away from my family for over 3 months seemed fairly insignificant when I thought about the benefit to the end recipients of those 2 charities.

An added and very significant motivation is the fact that I'm a Geordie. A plain and simple Geordie! And, as a Geordie, I'm very proud indeed to have this opportunity to represent our region by running 3100 miles across the deserts, mountains and plains of the USA. Ultimately, I've got a chance to show that us Geordies are made of very stern stuff and that, when the chips are down and the odds are against us, we can achieve what seems like the impossible. It's not a feat that I can even contemplate without the help and support of my friends, family, colleagues and those good folk who, like you, have discovered www.rungeordierun.com.

I'm glad to have you all aboard! Just like the 2007 run from John O'Groats to Lands End I hope you enjoy what promises to be one hell of a rollercoaster journey. It will be worth it, I guarantee it! Now let's try and raise as much money as we can for St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation; 2 amazing North East charities!

A new sponsor!

Question: What has Run Geordie Run got in common with the Wakefield Wildcat Dolls dance team (pictured left)?

Answer: We are both very proud to be sponsored by Peter's Pies!

Yes, that's right folks, I'm very pleased to be able to announce the latest major sponsor of the 3100 mile run across the USA in 2011; PETER'S PIES.

Based in Caerphilly, South Wales Peter’s Pies has grown from a small pie manufacturer in Merthyr Tydfil to a company which bakes over 180 million pies, pastries and sausage rolls each year, delivering to a whole range of clients from major supermarket chains to stadiums, convenience stores and fish and chip shops.

The company is already supplying the likes of London Wasps, The Millennium Stadium, Cardiff City, Charlton Athletic and Sheffield United where pies sales have all increased ahead of the market. Earlier this year they agreed an exclusive three year contract to become an Official Partner of the Engage Super League and to produce the “Official Pie of Rugby League”.

They were obviously after a "big" name to add to their already impressive sponsorship portfolio. I've heard unconfirmed rumours that they scoured the sporting world for the right kind of up and coming "athlete" to support.

Contact was made a few weeks ago, negotiations were swift and concluded today. If I can be serious for just one minute though, I can't tell you just how much I'm genuinely excited to announce that PETER'S PIES is on board and ultimately supporting 2 very worthy causes.

I should mention at this point that Peter's Pies were more than happy to contribute financially to my Tour Fund. i.e. the money I'm saving myself that will pay for the trip across the USA (Accommodation, fuel, insurance etc). As I've said many times before; "All funds pledged will be passed to the charities. All overheads associated with the run will be coming out of my own pocket.". So rest assured that the generous donation from Peter's Pies will be going to St Benedict's Hospice (Charity No. 1019410) and The Children's Foundation (Charity No. 1000013).

The story doesn't stop there though! The deal struck today means that Peter's Pies will add a full 50p for every £1 donated between now and the end of 2009. So please let me spell this out in simple terms with a few examples:

• Mr Geordie Ridley buys a Run Geordie Run t-shirt for £10 via www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun1 or www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun2. Peter's Pies then adds a full £5 to the donation (£2.50 to each of the 2 charities). The total amount making it's way to the 2 charities is a staggering £15.
• Mrs Cushy Butterfield makes a traditional pledge of £5 via www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun1 or www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun2. Peter's Pies then adds a full £2.50 to the donation (£1.25 to each of the 2 charities). The total amount making it's way to the 2 charities is a staggering £7.50.
• Mr Cuthbert Collingwood buys a Run Geordie Run CD for £3 via www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun1 or www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun2. Peter's Pies then adds a full £1.50 to the donation (£0.75 to each of the 2 charities). The total amount making it's way to the 2 charities is a staggering £4.50.
• Dr Gibb makes a traditional pledge of £20 via www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun1 or www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun2. Peter's Pies then adds a full £10.00 to the donation (£5.00 to each of the 2 charities). The total amount making it's way to the 2 charities is a staggering £30.00.

I'm sure you get the idea and, like me, you will realise just how much of an unbelievably generous offer of free money this is. I suppose it is akin to the Government's Gift Aid scheme in this country.

I should say that Peter's Pies set a very generous limit on this scheme. I should also say that I'll be going all out, with the help of the general public, to try and "unlock" the cash for the 2 charities by selling t-shirts, CDs, taking names for the "3000 scheme" and taking traditional pledges. We have 7 weeks left until the end of 2009 when the offer expires so please get in touch at rungeordierun@googlemail.com if you help in any way or make your pledge at www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun1 for St Benedict's Hospice or www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun2 for The Children's Foundation. Thanks in advance folks. As ever, on behalf of 2 wonderful charities, your help will be very much appreciated and go to making a positive difference to so many people, young and old.

Oh and before I sign off, I've got to say that I heard from a "very reliable source" today (just in case my mentor's David Fairlamb and Mark Fleming are reading this!) that the Peter's Premier Steak Pie and the Peter's Premier Chicken Curry pie are absolutely first class! I'd like to leave you with a few words from my new friends at Peter's Pies:

"Heaps of Passion for Flavour, every ounce of our 40 years of baking experience and prime cuts of meat.

We are formerly a family business and care about what we eat and what we feed our children, our attention and commitment to meat traceability, food hygiene standards, ingredient procurement and balanced eating mean that Peter's pies, pasties & sausage rolls are among the best available in retail and food service outlets.

Peter's don't do artificial flavours, colours, preservatives, additives, GMs or Hydrogenated Fat - there's just no need!".

Fund milestone!

There have been a few t-shirt, CD and 3000 scheme sales over the last week. As a result, the fund for St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation has now passed £3,000 and stands at £3,039. Of that figure, £1,989 has already been passed to both charities. The remaining amount is in the form of conventional pledges and will be paid by the sponsors when I successfully complete the run in 2011.

Thanks ever so much to everyone who has contributed so far. Please be very confident that I'm still training as hard as possible and trying to put the kind of effort in that this level of sponsorship warrants.

Another enjoyable 6 Bridges Challenge!

9 am on another Sunday morning and it was time for another attempt at the 10.5 mile 6 Bridges Challenge route.

Joining me this week were (pictured from left to right) Tom Higham, Mike Lewis and Michael Downes. I've ran a few times with Mike this year and we worked together a few years ago. Michael is the brother of another former colleague. I just met Tom for the first time this morning. Like everyone who has joined me so far on this route, they have all seen me ask for company on Facebook and Twitter. I'm 100% sure that they won't be the last ones to join me after finding out about the run via those methods.

We set off at a pace not too faster than last week and before we knew it we had crossed the first 5 bridges with ease. We were running a good 30 seconds per mile by this point. I suspect this was well within the capabilities of all the lads. I should mention that Mike had previously ran 6 miles or so from Birtley to join us at the start. There was some interesting chatter all of the way round which was great considering that only myself and Mike really knew each other beforehand. But there you go; running does have a great habit of bringing like minded people together.

We finished back at the Millennium Bridge in 01:40:43, almost 5 minutes quicker than last week's time of 01:45:14. The full route and stats can be viewed here.

Despite the improvement on last week's time there are masses of room for improvement. That said, I'd like to keep this Sunday morning run as a nice friendly casual jog up and down the River Tyne. Let's save the serious stuff for later next year!

Meanwhile, after a quick stretch and warm down, Katy arrived with a plate full of bacon sarnies for everyone. These went down very well. Apologies though to Mike who I forgot is a vegetarian. Fried egg sarnies next time for Mike?

Anybody who fancies joining the 6 Bridges Challenge revolution should once again meet me at 9 am on the Millennium Bridge next Sunday. For now, tough, I'll leave you with the words of one of my followers on Twitter (Vicki Charlton). "I love this concept Mark. I rarely get home these days but next time I do, I'd love to give this a go :-)".

The 3000 Scheme

Running 3100 miles across the USA is a massive undertaking. Just like the 2007 run from John O'Groats to Lands End, I'll be running in memory of lost family members such as my parents Margery and Terry and my brother David.

I don't want the dedication to lost loved ones to stop there, however. I want to open up this event to as many people as I can. Apart from the obvious effects of raising 10's of thousands of pounds for the 2 charities, it is my sincere hope that this run will have as far reaching an effect as possible and will serve to inspire and to give hope and comfort to as many people as possible. I know from the 1000's of emails I've received over the last few years, just how much the run in 2007 and the cause I was running for meant to all of those people who got in touch. It soon became apparent that for every 1 runner like me, there are thousands of stories of great loss but usually great inspiration also.

It is my hope that 3000 miles of the run from California to New York in 2011 will be dedicated to the memory of a lost loved one. I will create a register on this site of all of the names and provide space for a comment or dedication to be left if the recipient wishes. These people will be in my thoughts as I run each mile and I will most certainly hope to draw on the dedications left for inspiration as well as running in their memory. There will be a nominal cost of £2 for each mile. It will be the recipients choice whether this will go to St Benedict's Hospice or The Children's Foundation.

If you would like to have a mile of the USA run in 2011 dedicated to the memory of someone please follow these steps:

1) Pay £2 by visiting either justgiving.com/rungeordierun1 for St Benedict's Hospice or justgiving.com/rungeordierun2 for The Children's Foundation. The choice is yours as to which charity to donate to.

2) Email sponsorship@rungeordierun.com with the following details:

a) Your name or family name.

b) The name of the person I'll be running in memory of.

c) A dedication and/or some information about the person I'll be running in memory of.

d) A picture of the person I'll be running in memory of.

e) Whether you'd be happy for me to include some or all of the above details in a register on this website and if you'd be happy to have the person's name mentioned on this site during the run. You can supply as much or as little information as you would like.

Hopefully, all miles will be dedicated but one thing is for sure, it will be an honour and a privilege to run in the memory of all of those people who are sadly no longer with us.

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 53

The Run Geordie Run Training Summary is brought to you in association with Northern Runner, 52 Low Friar Street (Just down from the Gate), Newcastle.

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Sunday 1st November - 37 mile run, Shotley Bridge to Blyth. (09:13:57).
Monday 2nd November - 5 mile run, Race Course. (01:01:14).
Wednesday 4th November - 3.6 mile run, Baltic Quay to Gosforth. (00:34:51).
Wednesday 4th November - 4 mile run, Gosforth to Baltic Quay. (00:36:38).
Thursday 5th November - 3.6 mile run, Baltic Quay to Gosforth. (00:34:39).
Thursday 5th November - 4 mile run, Gosforth to Baltic Quay. (00:34:39).
Friday 6th November - 5.9 mile run, Baltic Quay to Gosforth via Town Moor. (00:58:29).
Friday 6th November - 5 mile run, Treadmill. (00:44:32).
Friday 6th November - 4 mile run, Gosforth to Baltic Quay.(00:41:40).
Saturday 7th November - Beach Bootcamp.(00:45:00).
Saturday 7th November - 8.4 mile run, Tynemouth to St Mary's Lighthouse and back.(01:22:42).

The first "6 Bridges Challenge" complete!

9 am Sunday morning and it was time for my first attempt at what I'm going to call the "6 Bridges Challenge". Earlier in the week I'd made an appeal for some company on the run and I was pleasantly surprised to see 2 former allies sign up to run the 10.5 mile course. Joining me for this run were Chris Cowan (aka Chopper) and Paul Jackson (aka Jacko). Two years ago, these guys helped me get through day 16 of the run from John O'Groats to Lands End. I'm pleased to say that their help today was as greatly appreciated today as it was back then. You can read all about their contribution in 2007 here and here.

We set off from the Millennium Bridge shortly after 9 am in bitterly cold and pouring wet conditions. There weren't many complaints though. As you can see from the map, this run lived up to it's name and involved crossing the Tyne 6 times! The first crossing was the Millennium Bridge. Next up was the short climb up Bottle Bank and over the Tyne Bridge. There was a lot of standing water on the bridge and Jacko played his part by running on the outside and taking the majority of it. After the Tyne Bridge we were soon on our way down Dean Street and over the Swing Bridge. After that, it was a case of climbing up Bottle Bank again. This time we swung a right around the Hilton and over the High Level Bridge.

The High Level Bridge afforded us a few minutes in the dry after which we turned left and ran past Central Station and onto the Redheugh Bridge. This was bridge number 5 and mile number 3.

The next 3.5 miles took us through Dunston, past the Metrocentre and onto the 6th and final Bridge; The Scotswood Bridge. The banter was in full flow by this point and it really helped make the miles go by.

Thankfully the rain stopped by the time we reached the Quayside Market and me and the lads reached the finish point after 10.5 easy 10ish minute miles. To be precise, we finished the 1st ever "6 Bridges Challenge" in 01:45:14. Moreover, and without wanting to sound at all patronising, considering that Jacko and Chopper hadn't done any serious middle distance running recently they did remarkably well to get round while looking quite fresh at theend. They certainly did as much talking as putting one foot in front of the other and the banter was top class all of the way round.

All in all I was very pleased with today's run and more importantly the route itself. There aren't too many tricky bits to contend with. As ever on a run, though, you've got to be mindful of the traffic. The only real section to take great care on is passing over the railway line near the Scotswood Bridge. It's a case of looking left, right, left, right, left, right then crossing. Oh and one last look before you go.

Being a Geordie, I find the scenery of this route quite something to behold. The Quayside has undergone quite a transformation over recent years and it's a joy to take in the 6 bridges, the Sage Gateshead and the Baltic in 1 run.

I'll be having another crack at this route next Sunday morning, leaving the Millennium Bridge at 9am and throw open the invite to anyone out there who would like to join me. At the time of writing, a few have already signed up to try the route including Mike Lewis who I've ran a few longer runs with this year.

I've now ran 91 miles over the last 8 days including, of course, that epic 37 mile run from Shotley Bridge to Blyth. The majority of my skeleton feels like I've just ran 10 miles though. This is yet another positive sign as to the progress that has been made over the last 12 months.

I'm absolutely raring to go in this week 54. I'll be looking to get at least 50 miles done as well as 2 sessions in the gym with Mark Fleming and perhaps a couple of Spinning classes if time permits. Thanks to Jacko and Chopper for helping me get the week off to a great start. The full route can be viewed here.

Really enjoying week 53

It's got to be said that I'm really enjoying week 53 of training. Of course, the week got off to a flyer with that 37 mile epic on Sunday. The so called 5 mile "recovery" run that followed on Monday was nothing short of excruciating. Tuesday was a well earned rest day and a rare day out of the office too. This meant that I was able to do some shopping in town and walking around the shops really helped my aching legs.

It was back to business on Wednesday with a run to and from the office at the start and end of the day respectively. In between those runs was a deep tissue massage where the treatment to my quads was unbelievably painful! My hamstrings and calf muscles weren't too bad at all thankfully!

That massage seemed to have paid dividends straight away with 2 quicker runs today (Thursday). My legs felt like brand new on the final run of the day (4 miles in 00:34:39) . It's hard to believe that I ran 37 miles 4 days ago based on how good my legs feel today. This is in stark contrast to the last time I ran 37 miles where I was in a lot of pain for most of the week.

Tomorrow will be an early start and I'm planning on joining Carl Hudson for a few laps around the Town Moor. Carl is in training for the very first Town Moor marathon on the 22nd of this month. That early run should be about 7 miles or so. I'll be doing a similar distance at lunchtime before finishing the day with a 4 mile run back to Baltic Quay where we are living at the moment (hence the photo).

Saturday will see a return to Beach Bootcamp and a 9 mile run afterwards to St Mary's Lighthouse. That should give me between 80 and 90 miles this week which will be the biggest mileage for quite some time.

Then it starts all over again with a brand new concept run for Sunday morning. As I was walking over the Millennium Bridge tonight I had a brain wave. "How about running across all of the bridges from the Millennium Bridge all the way down to the Scotswood Bridge and back" I thought. Great idea! So if anyone would like to join me for a gentle run on Sunday morning, I'll be leaving the Newcastle side of the Millennium Bridge at 9 am. I hope to see you there for 9 - 10 miles of easy running.