Run Dobie Run :: London to Scotland - August 2009

Day 15 & 16

Day 15

Day 15 sets t he trend for the following few days; namely I can not get out of bed. Whereas this is not that bad, being heckled by cyclists is pretty bad! Eventually I set off with Jeff Beck - “it gets us all in the end” erupting in to my ears. Contrary to my lazy start to the day, I managed a good 10k, which is good. We headed in to Northallerton to do some fundraising, but everywhere said no. Damn these big conglomorates. So instead, we went to the bank to deposit  our fundraising totals; I must say I am very pleased with how we have done with the fundraising on this trip.

As you saw in the video, our camper continues to fall apart; the electric windows have now bust themselves. I would like to apologise to any Spanish fans for my comments on the video. I’m not retracting them, just apologising. Just kidding;)

Cooking with Chris. Sounds camper, than a night in a pink tent with Julian Clary. What resulted from this was in fact a lovely meal. I don’t think John Motson has any immediate concerns over his job though. Just how many times do you need to say “its lookinjg good”? Having said that, how many times do I have to say “fantastic”? We  are both silly sausages.

I also really need to stop laughing at my own jokes - bad times. Al Dente is not a friend of mine; dear god.

Eventually I gave Chris a 10 out of 10 for his cooking. But that involved punches, kicks and arguing. For the record, I give it a firm 9. That’ll be a first for Chris.

Day 16.

“By far the worst session yet”. Admittedly I say this regularly, but to this point it was the worst run yet. Still, I made it through it and that of course is they key. There is no chance whatsoever of me not making it to Edinburgh, but it may involve less running than I originally planned.

The first fundraising of the day took place in Newton Highcliffe. Eventually I managed to persuade the Tesco manager to let us fundraise there. Whilst I can understand that all these companies have insurance things to worry about and policies and so on. But the Co-Op - whilst not as big as Tesco - do not seem to have any of these issues. We turn up, have a short conversation and then they let us fundraise, also often with the donation of tea and toilets (use of). So I am very thankful to the Co-Op. Tesco could certainly learn a thing or two from you.

Now the naked video. The video told you all you needed to know; since then we have had 7 donations I think, so we need another 23 in order for naked me to be on the world wide interweb. Otherwise, Chris will add it to his personal collection. So come on kids, donate to see me making a huge fool of myself. In the video after I say “donate now to see the naked bits of me”, the laughter was because a group of young children walked passed as I said that next to an open window. Oops.

Again its Cook With Chris. Slightly less adqventurous than last night, it involved a cooking sauce and a lack of a cheese grater. But very similarly to last night, it  tasted great, so well done Chrissy Vernony Smithy.

Even though the final run of the night was painful and sore, the evening ended on a high. I cannot thank the National Police Improvement Agency, specifically Chris Johnson who got us a place to park, shower and computer facilities to use and a cooked breakfast in the morning. Thank you very much Chris and to the security guards who looked after us.

Whilst my videos are a bit depressing now, I really cannot help it! The videos are supposed to reflect (At least when the banter bus has parked up for the night) how I am doing and how the running is going. Genuinely I do not really look forward to the walking/running anymore! Walking takes ages and running hurts. But what is great - and constantly keeps me going, is the support I am getting from you all, it really is touching, moving and much appreciated and will get me to Edinburgh, so thank you very much all of you.

Night Night.