1st October 2006

I asked my Dad, Robi, to run in the Great North Run with me. Little did I know he would actually say yes! He has done it once before – why on Earth would he want to do it again?

I also managed to convince two other friends, Sam Cliff and Martin Andrews, to do it with me. To my surprise, they all agreed and Sam and my Dad also said they would do it in the CRY heart costume.

Overall, it was a great day – rain, sun, pain, everything you could want out of a 13 mile run really. I would like to say a massive thank you to Sam and Martin. It means so much to me and my Dad that they were out there running with us to support CRY.

If it wasn’t for Sam, I wouldn’t have got round at all, so thanks for pushing me when I wanted to stop – not just physically, but mentally as well. Martin’s incredibly smiley face at the end really cheered me up as well, as I could hardly move.

My Mum, my girlfriend Lena and Sam’s girlfriend Miranda also cheered us up at the end.

We just wanted to collapse and cry, but they made us smile and laugh, which really helped.

So thank you all.

Martin managed it around the 2 hours mark; me and Sam coming in around 2 hours 30 minutes; and my Dad about 10 minutes later.

Altogether we managed to raise about £2000

Mark Fox