USA 2011 Ball - 3rd September 2011

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Sponsorship Landmark

After a flurry of t-shirt sales, various pledges and  sizeable contributions from my colleagues at Northern Rock and Andy Preece the fund has tipped over the £21,000 mark and currently stands at a very pleasing £21,549.34. Back in 2007, it took me from John O'Groats to 2 days from Lands End to raise that figure. The final total back then was £34,108. I really do wonder sometimes where this year's total will end.

Thank you, thank you, thank you most sincerely to everyone who has made a donation. I make no apology for repeating this important message. Every single donation, no matter how large or small, is greatly appreciated and makes a huge difference to St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation.

I reported the news of the £21,000 landmark to the charities this week. I send them a regular email simply entitled "Update". These landmark emails get the title "Special Update".

Thanks also must go to Libby Nolan and her team at The Children's Foundation for packing and posting all of the Run Geordie Run t-shirts. Almost 800 have been sold to date and they have posted the majority of them.

The total won't be staying put for too long as Northern Runner have taken up the option of sponsoring www.rungeordierun.com for a 3rd year. I can now also apply to the Northern Rock Foundation for the matching of some of the money raised in 2011. Sadly, the matching limit has been reduced to £500 from £1000 this year but every "little" helps!

Sitting next to a Legend

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of watching the match from the comfort of the Real Radio commentary box. It was an event I'd bid on last year in an auction at the Children's Foundation Ball.

In the press room before the match, it was nice to catch up with some of the journalists I regularly correspond with on Twitter such as George Caulkin of the Times, Mark Douglas of The Journal and Joel Goldman of Metro Radio.

I took my seat just as Super Mac was wrapping up his part of the live radio broadcast. Sitting to my left was match commentator Justin Lockwood. To my right was the legend that is Bob Moncur (pictured). Off air before the match, Bob asked me all about the run across the USA and it was a genuine thrill to talk to him about it. What was equally as thrilling was talking live on air, just before the kick off, about the run. 

It was brilliant listening to the commentary of Justin followed by Bob's opinion right there live at the match. The fact that it was an open, entertaining game made the day all the more special. Even if we'd been beaten, it wouldn't have taken the shine off being able to watch the match sitting next to Bob Moncur.

After the match, I made my way to the press room to listen to Harry Redknapp and Alan Pardew's take on events. That was quite surreal having seen this type of thing on the TV hundreds of times. 

All in all it was a very memorable day out and all for a good cause; The Children's Foundation. Thanks to Justin Lockwood and Bob Moncur for being such great hosts. If only there was a vacancy for a match summariser! Hang on a minute…….

The entire route

The entire route across the USA has now been broken down, day by day, and can be found online here. That link is permanently situated at the right hand side of this page.

Flights booked

This afternoon, I managed to tick another task off the long list of things to do; booking flights to and from the USA. 

I'll be leaving Newcastle on the 26th of April on a lunchtime flight to Los Angeles via Heathrow. I arrive in LA in the early evening on the same day. I'll then have 4 days to prepare for the big set off on the 1st May!

After the run is complete on the 8th August, I'll have a few days to wind down and to come to terms with what happened during the previous 100 days. I'm working on having Mrs Run Geordie Run and Run Geordie Run Junior with me at the finish in New York but nothing is definite yet.

The return from New York is an early evening flight on the 11th August. This gets in to Newcastle just before lunchtime on the 12th August. Just in time for the new season starting the day after!

It's the final countdown……..

Oh lordy! There are now only 100 days left until I set off from Huntington Beach in California. The same time, incidentally, that it will take me to run coast to coast right across the USA.

There is a lot of planning and organisation still to be done. I'll be booking my flights later today and the deposit for the RV has been paid already.

Thanks go to British Airways for giving me a discount on the flights to LA from Newcastle and back again from New York. They did ask if they could help me arrange the flights from LA to New York. "Ah well, I'll be running that bit".

Thanks also goes to Shalini Austin at SDSA Motorhome Rental. SDSA are UK based and are essentially an agent, acting on my behalf, to procure an RV in the USA. SDSA have offered me a vehicle at cost price and that is very much appreciated.

If you are an individual or company who would like to sponsor the RV (or Team Bus as I like to call it) then please drop me a line at sponsorship@rungeordierun.com for further info. I can offer some really good publicity in return and your logo splashed all over the Team Bus.

Speaking of publicity, listen out for me on the Real Radio news bulletins this morning. You can listen live here.

Real...ly good plans for coverage

I really enjoy working with people who are as enthusiastic about the Run Geordie Run project as I am. Today was no exception as I had the pleasure of meeting up with Gary Philipson and Lisa Shaw from the Real Radio Breakfast show and their boss, programme controller, Jon Kirby.

On the agenda, were Real Radio's plans to support and promote my charity effort across the USA. Plans are still to be finalised and logistics worked out (including how we work around the time difference). Based on discussions so far, it is my hope that I can provide a regular progress update live on air on the Breakfast Show.  This will involve me getting up in the middle of the night. This is something I can live with if it means bringing excellent publicity to the run and the 2 charities.

The icing on the cake, in the plans, is for Gary to run the final day with me and have the finish covered live on Real Radio. This "big finish" would be a far cry from the time I reached Lands End in 2007 with Katy and Jack applauding politely!

Watch this space as Real Radio's plans take shape over the coming weeks and months. 

Coming to America

Yesterday was all about going for a leisurely sightseeing jog around London. Today, however, was all about a crucial bit of red-tape that needed to be tied up before I travel to the USA at the end of April. 

I had an interview for my Visa at the US Embassy this morning. Obviously, travelling under the Visa waiver scheme is no good for me as I intend to be in the USA for more than 90 days. 

I'm pleased to report that I was granted a Visa after a brief interview with one of the US Embassy staff. The first question was "What will you be doing in the USA?". "Well, pet, I'll be running from California to New York in 100 days" was my reply. It was all plain sailing from there and the very nice interviewer wished me "Good luck" before I left.

This is a very important milestone for the Run Geordie Run project. I can now concentrate on booking flights, hotels, RV and the logistics associated with the support team.

With only 102 days before I set off from Huntington Beach, California there is a lot of work to be done behind the scenes. As ever, I'm well up for the challenge.

Lon-Done

I had a nice little jog around London today while taking in some of the sights.  Ben Shephard helped to drum up some interest with the following oist on Twitter "My mate Mark aka @rungeordierun is doing some training in london today. Route here http://twitpic.com/3qp37k give him a wave if you see him".

I started near the BT Tower and ran down Oxford street before hitting the Thames near the Embankment. There were quite a lot of joggers out at lunchtime and the vast majority of them looked in very good nick indeed.

Once I got to London Bridge I bobbed and weaved my way back over several bridges finishing up at Westminster. From there it was onto Buckingham Palace where I followed the final mile of the London Marathon Route. Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street were particularly busy after that.

With so much pleasant scenery to take in the miles simply flew by. I was very pleased with the 12.1 miles done in total.

That there London

I'm in London for the day today and it would be a shame not to get my running shoes dirty. I've put together a route that takes in a few of the Thames bridges. It's about 10.5 miles long but I'm sure it will be a little longer in the end as I get distracted by the sites and/or lost!