Run Geordie Run

Mark begins his epic run today people. I'm sure we will all be willing him on and where possible, supporting him all the way.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/endurance-hero-run-geordie-run-6191518

Run Geordie Run charity fundraiser Mark Allison today begins his gruelling 2,600 mile challenge across Australia.

The inspirational runner set off at 7am Perth time to embark on a journey of a lifetime as he raises vital funds for charities close to his heart.

For 70 days, Mark will run approximately 41 miles each day, while enduring the soaring heat of the Australian outback.

Mark, of Blyth, Northumberland, is running for The Children’s Foundation and the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. He is being sponsored by the region’s largest Motor Group, Benfield.

Mark said: “People keep asking me if I’m nervous. Really, I’m just anxious to get going.

“I’ve been talking about this run for so long now and it’s time to put those words into action.

“I need to justify the support I’ve had from my sponsors and from the generous people who have already donated to the two charities. I can’t wait to get going.”

Mark lost both his parents to cancer when he was a young man and has spent 20 years raising funds for good causes. To date he has raised more than £170,000.

Before he left for Australia, Mark met up with Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer, a Patron of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. Alan said: “It was a pleasure to meet up with Mark and to wish him good luck.

“What he’s attempting is incredible. When I went to Australia it was seriously hot and not conditions that made me feel like running, so I have huge admiration for what he is taking on.

“I know he has his own reasons to want to raise money for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. I hope that knowing he’s helping other people faced with cancer will spur him on when the run gets difficult.

“And it will get difficult, both physically and mentally. I know he’s worked hard to prepare but he also knows there will be dark times when it feels too tough to continue.

“I was pleased to have the opportunity to see him before he left for Australia and to thank him on behalf of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.”

Mark, who has previously run across America for charity, sets off from Cottesloe Beach, in Perth, and is due to finish on Christmas Eve at Bondi Beach, Sydney.

He added: “It was an honour to meet up with Alan to discuss the run across Australia. Like many people in the North East that I meet, he had a lot of supportive things to say and seemed very appreciative of the task that lies ahead for me.

“To meet one of my idols, a man who I’ve seen score hundreds of goals home and away, and talk about my running and the charities I raise funds for was thrilling.

“It seemed fitting that we had our picture taken with the Tyne Bridge in the background.

“Next time I see a bridge that shape will be in Sydney at the end of the run.”

For more information about Run Geordie Run Down Under visit www.rungeordierun.com and follow Mark’s progress on Twitter @RunGeordieRun. To donate to the charities, visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/rungeordierun

 

I love stories like this. What a legend. That is seriously hard core.

 

He's quite a guy and modest with it.

 

He's shown what strong willpower can achieve and I salute him.
Top bloke.

 

A quite staggering way to raise money... running over 40 miles a day in that sort of heat has to be dangerous!

Fair play to him, i'm not sure I could run 20 miles in this country, never mind in the heat of Oz!

 

Would be nice if all the posters on not606 donated a tenner and sent it in a lump sum.

Don't suppose it'll happen though.

 

One of the support crew chaps is an old friend of mine. Amazingly he's 65 but is fitter than most 40 year olds I know. The sort of guy who pulls his bicycle out and announces "I think I'll just have a ride to the South of France". As you do. Like Mark, very modest and self-effacing. There are some amazing people out there.