Posted by Sean Connelly on September 8, 2021, 2:22 pm
Hi All,
Peter has been very kind in the past letting me make an annual post asking for support at this time of year but appreciate with the reorganisation of the site that this may not be appreciated/accepted now so if that is the case then I apologise in advance and accept it may be deleted. If its ok then please read on.
I know we’re leaving this to the last minute.......as usual, I hear you all say ;-)
It’s all systems go for us to travel to Newcastle this weekend for the Great North Run. Things aren’t completely back to normal so there are staggered start times and the course now starts and finishes in Newcastle instead of the iconic route finishing in South Shields. All to help reduce the build up of too many people at any one time as a Covid precaution.
We expect the level of support on the course and the atmosphere to be just as great as it has been for our last 19 GNRs. Yep, this will be our 20th actual race or 21st if you include last year’s virtual GNR.
You all know by now it’s our chance to raise some money for a good cause. This year the charity we’ve chosen has a special meaning to me as in December 2019 my Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and with the Covid lockdown her condition seemed to accelerate What with one thing another we’ve managed to get her a place in a local care home where with the continual social interaction she is so much happier in herself now and we all know she is safe and being well cared for.
We would like to help Alzheimer’s Society fund research to find a cure for this terrible disease and to support those living with dementia. Now we’re doing the hard part by running the GNR and would be very grateful if you could help with the slightly easier task of supporting us an making a donation to Alzheimer’s Society on our behalf.
Now back from our trip to Newcastle and already back to work
On the plus side we had a good time and both completed our 20th Great North Run. As mentioned before it was a different affair this year but actually made for a less manic start with it being spread out over the Sunday. Also much shorter queues for the loo’s! We did miss running all the way to South Shields and finishing on the sea front but the out and back route did take us through some of the city centre so plenty of crowd support there. Hopefully next year will see a return to the normal route.
I managed a steady time of 01:37:51 which was about 3 minutes slower than I would have liked but not too bad all things considered. Louise crossed the line 22 seconds over the 2 hour mark which she was gutted about, especially as she had to stop to retie her shoe lace which is probably what cost her the time. It is a good improvement for her compared to the last couple of races and something to build on for next year
We called in at the Alzheimer’s Society charity tent and met with some of the staff and volunteers which was good. The hot cups of tea and some chocolate was most welcome too! They had a good presence out on the course cheering all the runners on.
So far we’ve been able to raise £410 + gift aid from all our fantastic supporters and we’re sure that will rise further. Thank you all for your continuous support year on year. We love doing this event and knowing we get to help a charity along the way is the icing on the cake for us.
I’ve attached a picture taken back in the charity tent for you take a look at.
Please note our charity page will be open for quite a while so still plenty of time to donate. All amounts welcome big or small.