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Run Geordie Run and His Imminent Run

Jul 4, 2021

You may have heard of Run Geordie Run aka Mark Allison and his amazing charity, around the world running he started back in 2007. His mission is to run 20 000 miles around the World to fundraise for charities around the North East of England. Stage X begins on the 12th of July this year and he will be running 50 miles a day around Bamburgh and Northumberland for 5 consecutive days – 250 miles in 5 days to ‘celebrate’ his 50th birthday. I had to read that a few times to believe it! Mark is one of the nicest fellas you could ever wish to meet and we are proud to be one of his sponsors.

With his kind permission, I have taken some snippets from his awesome blogs to explain our collaboration back in April and some support we’ve given since. Mark’s target to raise £500 000 is well under way with a huge £337 466 raised so far – the equivalent of 67% – if you are able to donate please head over to his website here and give what you can. Thanks for choosing us Mark, we think, as you know, you’re lush but bonkers!!

Back in April, Mark introduced us as one of his new sponsors, with some interesting back stories!

“There has been a quite extraordinary response to my request for the commercial sponsorship of Stage X this week. Yesterday’s news was all about finding a main sponsor, Chapman Ventilation. Soon after that, I had a call with one of the owners of a local physiotherapy company. Quite soon into the conversation with Vicky Smith of Taylored Fit Physio I knew that I’d be a perfect fit for them and they would be for me.

Vicky’s enthusiasm was quite evident right from the start. I brought her up to speed with a potted history of the Run Geordie Run journey and she declared that she was more than happy to be on board as a sponsor.

Getting a new sponsor is always an amazing feeling. Knowing that their money is going to benefit St. Benedict’s Hospice makes it all worthwhile. Having a sponsor that shares your same passion, enthusiasm and vision is the icing on the cake. Just like my other sponsors, I firmly believe that Taylored Fit Physio ticks this box and then some.

As an aside, their premises in Langley Park is quite near to where my Dad grew up. They are situated in a renovated old Baptist Chapel. It wouldn’t surprise me if my Dad, who was a professional musician, was once heard on the church organ there. I know that later in life he had a residency at a social club in Langley Park. That was my Mam’s housekeeping money! You’ll please forgive me for getting slightly sentimental, but to have this logo on my shirt means a lot to me on numerous levels.

Now to the nuts and bolts of what my new sponsor is all about. Following the conversation with Vicky it became apparent that her large multi-disciplinary team offer many different services and treatments. I must admit, that some of them were new to me. It is summed up perfectly on their website “….we’re incredibly proud of our friendly, approachable, talented and knowledgeable team. We have combined our years of experience and expertise to create a physiotherapy, health and wellness centre you can trust. Together, we provide physiotherapy, craniosacral therapy, acupuncture, sports massage, podiatry, chiropody, acupuncture and deliver a range of physio led pilates, yoga and aerial yoga classes.“.
 
Owners Mark and Vicky (pictured below) must be extremely proud of the business they have built. It’s not difficult to see how Taylored Fit Physio were award winners at last year’s North East Business Awards.
After speaking to Vicky, I had a good look about online to see what else I could learn. The Taylored Fit Physio social media presence is very informative as it is impressive. As well as reading about the staff, I really enjoyed taking a 3D walkthrough of their “Physiotherapy, Health and Wellness Centre” on the website.
I think this text from the website tells you a lot about the vast array of benefits they offer to their customers both young and old. “We offer a wide range of personalised physiotherapy treatments for adults and babies and run a series of classes, all from our renovated chapel in Langley Park, Durham. 
 
Why are we called Taylored Fit? Because we care about you! We take time to understand you, your symptoms, your aims and your requiements and we and use our clinical reasoning and expertise to ‘taylor fit’ our treatments to suit you and help you get the best results we possibly can. 
 
Whether your goal is to gain a diagnosis or a self-management plan, or if you’re looking for a course of treatment to help you until your symptoms have resolved… we’re here to help. 
 
We also run classes, such as Pilates and yoga, which allow you to have fun whilst reaping the fitness and wellbeing benefits.“.
So that’s the next piece of the jigsaw slotted in as I prepare for the gruelling 250 mile course around Northumberland in just over 90 days time. The spaces on the kit are starting to fill up nicely.

 

Another surprising connection to Taylored Fit Physio comes in the form of one of their current staff who has played an instrumental part in my journey around the world so far. I am, of course, referring to Jason Stobbs (Stobbsy) who was part of my own support team in Australia and Europe.
It seems fitting to finish with a heartfelt thank you to Taylored Fit Physio and also get Stobbsy’s view of things. “Being at Tayloredfit, is a great clinic environment with a multitude of professionals. I thoroughly enjoy being part of the team and love that the staff and the clients form a strong community. The rapport between the clients and the staff is fantastic and I feel like Tayloredfit is aligned with my ethos. I went into this line of work to help people and I feel that Tayloredfit is all about this.“.
We have supported Mark with some niggling injuries over the last few months – this is an extract from his blog in May…
“After I left the hospice I headed west to Langley Park. As well as being a kind sponsor of Run Geordie Run with a generous donation to St. Benedict’s Hospice, Taylored-Fit Physio have offered to keep me in the greatest mechanical shape with regular treatment. The clinic is set in a beautiful old chapel building and it’s absolutely beautiful inside with a really fresh modern look.
I had an initial consultation last week with Mark the physio (pictured below). We mainly discussed my problematic right ankle. I’ve had an issue down there since last July with lots of swelling forming following any exercise. Having rarely been injured in 30 years of running, this is a strange one. My own opinion is that, since working from home, I’ve spent a lot of time barefoot or in slippers. I’ve spent very little time in proper footwear. Also, working long days with only a couple of days off over a 14 month period has seen me become as sedentary as I’ve ever been. It was no surprise therefore that Mark also observed that I had a very “tight back”.

Following the initial treatment last week I’ve been moving a lot freer, the ankle pain isn’t as severe (but is still present) and Dave Fairlamb even commented on a much better posture in the gym. I think the work I’m doing with Dave has contributed to that also.

Fast forward to this week’s visit to Taylored-Fit Physio and Mark’s observation was that the swelling around my ankle wasn’t as thick as a week ago. This was good news and that perhaps goes hand in hand with the “springier” runs that I’ve had this week. I actually felt like a runner during Monday’s second session which was a 10k effort. In terms of my back, there had been a noticeable difference to my mobility during Saturday’s Beach Bootcamp. There is still a lot of work to do but the signs are there that I’m heading in the right direction.
Further treatment on my ankle was given yesterday and I’ve got to say that the manipulation of my back felt very thorough. I feel very relieved and grateful to have this kind of support. A huge thank you to physio Mark for treatment so far.
Being the inquisitive soul that I am I was very interested to hear about the other services that Taylored-Fit Physio offer. One of which is something I noticed on their website called “Craniosacral Therapy”. At first glance, it looks to a lay person like myself as some kind of head massage. It transpires that there is so much more to it than that and it’s used to treat many different conditions in adults, children and babies alike. I bet it would have been beneficial to my Mam who was a regular migraine sufferer. I really can’t do the treatment justice on this blog but I suggest that you have a read here about it’s benefits and the conditions it can help with.
Now onto Stage X support team news and my relationship with Taylored-Fit Physio is becoming the gift that keeps on giving. I’m very happy to report that they are going to be “lending” me sports therapist Jason “Stobbsy” Stobbs (pictured below), during my 250 mile effort around Northumberland this July.

Regular readers will recognise Stobbsy from his time on the support team as I ran across Australia and Western Europe. As well as being a highly respected therapist, especially in the North East running community, he has always brought so much more during his time on the Run Geordie Run Support Team.

The Twitter hashtag #stobbsytales became a regular source of amusement in Australia initially. Some of my favourite #stobbsytales moments from Twitter are worth publishing here as a reminder to the camaraderie and merriment that Jason always brings to the team.

The low point in Australia came when Stobbsy and I had no internet connection for days in the outback. We would often read the details on the tins, bottles and packets that the food we were eating came in just  for something to do at meal times. “Ooh, Ooh, this tomato sauce was bottled in Darwin” and similar cries were often heard.
 
There is even a Lego Stobbsy figure as part of the Run Geordie Run Motor Home set which support man Carlton made after the run across Australia.

I don’t get tired of saying another huge thank you. This time it’s to Jason for once again offering his services on the support team. We’ve been through a lot of tough miles together already. This summer will be no different.

One final thing to close with today and that’s the soon to be printed leaflet that I’ve been working on. This will be a tri-fold out leaflet that will be used to help spread the message of what Stage X is all about.

 

Leaflets have always been an important fundraising tool for me. There’s a lot of info in them and I hope that they help to bring in even more funds for St. Benedict’s Hospice.
That’s all for now. There’ll be an update on Sunday with (hopefully) news of a good week of training and also the next person who will be joining the support team.”
Final extract from April…..
“I had another scheduled visit to Taylored-fit Physio yesterday. Physio Mark Smith (pictured below) has previously been working on my tight back, painful right ankle and sore right shoulder. I’m pleased to report that since last week’s treatment, my ankle has caused me very little pain or discomfort. If I was to put a figure on it, I’d say that it’s 95% fixed. After putting up with it for the last 14 months or so I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have such a good outcome on it. I have trained through the pain and was quite prepared to do so going forwards. There is a lesson too be learned here! If it’s broken, see an expert to fix it.
During yesterday’s session a lot of time was spent on my right shoulder. It can bare weight but I get a shocking pain when it moves in certain directions. There is a lot of tightness there and work will continue next week in this area. I think, again, this has all come about due to the time I’ve spent working at my desk over the last 14 months. Lockdown hasn’t really come into it. The project I worked on would have required that effort regardless. Again, there is a lesson to be learned here. Prioritising work over personal health and well being has taken its toll. What could I have done differently? Taking more regular breaks for one. It’s all easier said than done though when you have constant pressing deadlines. Never mind, I’m back on the right track now. I really can’t thank Mark enough for the progress that has been made in such a short space of time.”
Thank you for taking the time to read some extracts from Run Geordie Run’s blogs – we are pleased to be able to help in any way we can and love shouting about him whenever the opportunity arises. A reminder, if you are able to donate, head over to his website and give what you can.
Good luck for stage X Mark, we’re all rooting for you and we will of course be here when you’re done to assist in post run recovery!
Vicky Smith