Twitter campaign to be #ontheflag

Day 3 completed, another 9 miles done, another 8 'Trek' business cards handed out and just one dog barked at me and one pee'd on the tyre today. That's not happened since a blog entry back in April !!

Used my nordic ski poles again today thankfully so cleaning the leaves out of the tyre was much less fraught which was good as I'd scooped up some dog poop on one of the circuits. Thank goodness it wasn't squished otherwise the stench would have stayed with me for the remaining 6 miles.

Gives the phrase 'needle in a haystack'  a whole new scratch 'n' sniff angle

Anyway the main aim of this blog entry is to let anyone who doesn't already know about the #ontheflag campaign I'm running on Twitter .... about the #ontheflag campaign I'm running on Twitter (is that poor grammar or just rubbish English?). The proposition is: -

If your company donates £50 to my Trek charities via the Virgin Money Giving sites I've set up (or via cheque through my Trek accountants, Bartfields UK,) you can have your logo on a flag I'm having made to take to the North Pole.

It will be photographed and one of the companies will win the flag when I return. Now how amazing an offer is that!?!?!?!?

Note : Minimum £47.50 to charity, maximum £2.50 to make the flag itself. If the flag costs more I'll cover it (on top of the £26000 it's costing my company for the Trek + £1600 for the insurance, just in case you were worried YOU were paying for the Trek, which is a rationale concern for some and a valid question for all).

Don't leave it too late as there are only 120 spaces and it's definitely first come first served.

Come see the flag at the Yorkshire Mafia Conference in March 2012 at the Royal Armouries in Leeds and think how proud you'll be if you have the flag hanging in your reception after April, but you've got to be in it to win it (I'm sure that's a good marketing slogan SOMEONE could use).

Conference webpage link

So far there have been 42 pledges and the first payments are coming in ... and so are the logo's. Already guaranteed to be #ontheflag are: -

@eatatcreate
@callmejoecoffee
@clarky
@MillenniaIT (who has already sent their logo too)
@smartartsUK (yup and so have these)
@boutiquemc
@ipPatrol
@kokino_marvo
@gwdandp
@tassociatesltd (she has too)
@Zinc_Manchester
@RoccaCreative
@VictoriaQtrLds
@SimplyHealthUK
@GRex_Fitness

.... plus many others such as @MafiaYorkshire and @smilessms for their incredible support to date, @Iveridge for their guidance and generosity, and @RushfirthLeeds for just being amazing people.

As Howard @RushfirthLeeds says, having a tall wife means they always see eye to eye

Some companies are also part of it but I can't find a Twitter address yet but they include iSource, Rullion, Touchpoint Change, 3 Co's, Journey Management, London Clubs International and Hermes Europe and then there are the 19 companies who have promised via Twitter and will be paying shortly.

So what are you waiting for, an official invite? Either get on Twitter [@northpoletrek] or leave a message on here or contact me through other known means. Alternatively just write to me at the address below.

...... I'm waiting : )

The 'Involve' ethos
c/o BlueDucks Limited
Round Foundry Media Centre
Foundry Street
Leeds LS11 5QP

In the meantime I've got 4 more days of tyre-hauling to go so I'll be enjoying this vista ...

..... and getting even more like this ......

Well someone's got to look good in Helly Hansen other than chav's ...

..... before my vista returns to this .......

The M62 westbound on a glorious Autumn morning

If only I could do this training and fundraising thing full-time.

A nice guy called Alan (and a 'flag' update)

It's Tuesday evening and today was the second day in a row I've completed 9 miles, dragging a 14.5kg tyre across, up  and down Rothwell Park.

My tyre trails from the first 3 two-mile circuits yesterday

Yesterday was good, if a little hot whereas today started mild but gratefully dropped in temperature after 2pm, but the weather isn't what I'm here to write about. Today it's about 'people' and we'll start with the generosity of a guy called Alan.

Out walking his dog he was kind enough to ask what I was doing (as did 4 others today). I explained and handed him one of the new 'North Pole Trek' business cards that the wonderful Rushfirth Creative provided (what LOVELY people they are). By the time I'd looked down to zip the pocket shut and looked back up there was a crisp £20 being thrust towards me.

MacMillan Cancer Support are the receipients so I'll be sending the equivalent by cheque to the client account Bartfields UK hold for me at Barclays Corporate.

I also had two more pledges today to be #ontheflag (check out the hastag on Twitter); Nicola Hanson from Leeds Victoria Quarter and Sarah Jayne Walker who is supporting London Clubs International both confirmed they will be donating a minimum of £50 to have their respective company logo's on the flag I'm taking to the Pole. That's 42 out of 120 spaces taken and I intend to close applications by 25th February so I can display the flag at the Yorkshire Mafia Confrence in March 2012.

In fact I need to send out the PDF Rushfirth created as they are co-ordinating the creation of the flag; goodness I really am SO very fortunate to have their expertise and involvement.

And now its time for a rest before bed .... and another 9 miles tomorrow.

Nipple rash and my 'flag' offer starts well

It's been a while but here I am again.

Today is Thursday; thought I'd try to post this out on a Thursday evening rather than extremely late on a Sunday night at stupid o'clock to see if it gets more readers. Here's where I'm up to: -

- Last two weekends saw my first two x 24-minute non-stop PT sessions for quite a while (and I mean non-stop; even the rest periods had lower level activity in them) and both Sundays saw a 4-mile tyre-drag (which felt great as not only wasn't it too warm but only one dog went crazy at me for pulling the tyre).

I have a 2-mile circuit now and although I can see it will get  r-e-a-l-l-y  b-o-r-i-n-g   next week when

I try to drag a tyre for 9 miles a day, 8 days in a row!!!!

then at least I know the distance I will have done.

Part of the circuit includes me yomping up an down a particular slope 3 or 4 times in a row which may not sound much but when it's every 1.75 miles it gets your legs when you get back down to the bottom. Oh how it gets your legs !!

The slope of doom (ok so maybe that's a LITTLE melodramatic) and there's an even bigger one I do every two miles

I've also found myself doing PT session (Saturday), 4-mile tyre-drag (Sunday), gym for cardio (Monday night) and gym for strength (Wednesday mornings) so there's a pattern forming I hope to maintain.

Hopefully though in this packed schedule I will have time to relax and enjoy my new DVD; 'Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein', which is a real hark back to my days of youth when I'd watch the Saturday morning matinee on TV which sometimes featured films with Laurel & Hardy, or Jerry Lewis, or Norman Wisdom and some of the old black and white Abbott & Costello films.

I'm not sure precisely what decade that was but I recall it was just before the era of 'Swap Shop' In the mid-late 1970's. Remember that? The stuffed dinosaur 'Posh Paws', Keith Chegwin acting like a demented child after a triple shot of concentrated Red Bull (no change there then), and those bl**dy hideous jumpers Noel Edmonds used to wear that demanded you use sunglasses to watch TV?

YouTube clip from SwapShop

So pleased when I discovered Chris Tarrant and Sally James on TISWAS.

Chris Tarrant before WWTBA£m

Speaking of black and white images of days gone by, my mate Sammi sent me a text last Saturday after several months of radio silence. Presumably she was on her way to some drunken posh party with her mates looking at the photo, probably squiffy already with something she's trying to pass off as champagne. Oh ey ar' Sammi, thas great mayte; a bird from the 'Pool poshing it up : )

Actually you underestimate Sam at your peril; a GREAT commercially-minded Director, a fantastic mother, a bezzie mate to those she cares for and has the capability to make an entire room rock with laughter. She's my notional sister and I'm her 'big bro', offering advice when needed.

She's doomed isn't she. Darn.


- Nipple rash. We now come to the comments about 'rash'. Sunday before last when I did the 4-mile tyre pull, I had the harness a little tighter than usual. OK a LOT tighter than usual (which would probably explain why no blood was getting passed my shoulders and into my arms) and it dawned on me that with every step made the harness scraped on my 'nippular' area. Not in itself a problem because it was only a short drag but it did remind me of the risk of saddle rash we had as we cycled across Cuba.

(Hold on, hold on ... what's a tight harness got to do with the obvious but very different challenge of friction rash when cycling in 85-degree heat on a mountain bike with little suspension ... and is 'nippular' even a word in the Oxford English Dictionary? - Ed)

Sorry about the interruption; as I was about to say the challenge of nipple rash seemed a small but timely point to consider but when I extrapolated the current discomfort by a factor of 20 (given I'll be dragging the sled 20 times further than the 4 miles I was doing) I realised there will be an additional problem over and above frostbite, leg ache and general fatigue.

How will I cope with friction rash in an environment where going for a wee is potentially dangerous to ones appendage let alone having access to areas where cream might be required when you can't leave the area exposed too long for the cream to soak into the skin, not the clothing. At least in Cuba we had time and the weather to allow the cream and affected skin time to gel.

At least while I was thinking about that prospective problem I was enjoying a Sunday night treat ......

Best gingerbread in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD !!!
(and you can buy it on-line too)

The 'flag' offer - Douglas, one of the other Trek guys, has managed to persuade 2 companies to donate £10 000 EACH to an epilepsy charity if he takes a small flag with their logo on it to the North Pole (and photo's them). Great job Douglas; well impressed !

Now I don't move in those circles but figured maybe companies would be interested in donating £50 to have their logo on a multi-logo flag I'd take. The price? £50. The benefit? Immeasurable AND one company will win the flag when I get back, courtesy of a raffle.

Well the initial interest was encouraging (27 companies all asked for more info) and a few have already paid their donation on-line. I think I need to keep this going as the target would be to raise £5000 this way but I must be sure I can carry the flag given all the other weight in my pulk (that's a sled to you non-Polar adventurers).

If you know of any companies interested please either get them to contact me via e-mail which I'll put in code to avoid SPAMbots picking it up hopefully (it's northpoletrek and that's at ymail dot com), or via Twitter which is @northpoletrek or they can search for the hashtag #ontheflag.

Already had a begging e-mail into my 'npt' email address so I hope the above attempt to conceal it works.


And finally - I've suffered a couple of setbacks with fundraising events in the last 2 weeks and probably found myself in an ever-decreasing circle of trying to fit more things in to an ever-decreasing time as I fight to get anywhere near back on track.

Lots of kind words of support from people and a few notes from charity friends who say they too are struggling with fundraising in these economically challenging times, so I found the cartoon below a beautiful way to summarise my current dilemma; two possible targets, one bullet, which 'opportunity' do you fire at to get the best return and who says either of them will give you a return?

And with that I'm signing off tonight as I have my last couple of evenings of freedom before the big slog starts on Sunday afternoon. If you've got any spare time in daylight hours (or at least between 11am and 4pm) next week then feel  free to pop along to Rothwell Park (also known as Springhead Park) and keep me company.

Don't come along (as my work colleagues have suggested) to throw stones and laugh, but also don't come eating cream cakes and crisps either. Think I'd prefer the stones to be honest.

Of course I've got another PT session on Saturday to get through so let's hope I don't pull anything on Saturday !!!!

A third dose of reality; Margo & MS

Over the past 8 months I've joked in my blogs,  I've asked for involvement and sponsorship, I've exclaimed my surprise at the global followers I have, or the number of people around the world who simply mis-typed something in Google (or any other perfectly good search engine) and I've been quite serious about my training regime but the biggest responses to my blog entries via email, text or word of mouth have been about two entries: -

- A Dose Of Reality (the startling contrast in my emotions during my visit to the House of Commons and meeting people with Muscular Dystrophy in their lives)

- Another Dose of Reality (the story of the launch of the cycle ride known as Em2ee in support of MacMillan Cancer Support, but primarily of James Golding; an extraordinary cancer survivor)

I know about these two diseases because of personal awareness, experience and education, but this blog is the third in a small series of 'Dose of Reality' entries and it's about MS; a disease I was only vaguely aware of until a woman I know (from when my girls were at primary school 10 years ago) told me she now has MS. It was then I became interested in raising money for the MS Society.

The internet is a great place to learn more from but, I believe, there is nothing as powerful as hearing from someone who deals with MS to understand more about their daily challenges and to remind those of us who are (currently) healthy just how lucky we are!!

This entry is courtesy of Margo.

Hinge & Bracket, not Margo & Sarah

I was introduced to Margo by Sarah, someone who also has MS and both keen users of Twitter. I call them the 'Hinge & Bracket' of Twitter ............. ah yes, for those younger readers of my blogs you'll have absolutely NO idea what I'm talking about, so feel free to go to YouTube for a clip.

If you're wondering why H&B look a bit butch, it's because they are men in drag. Okay, so now that's out of the way perhaps you can concentrate.

The entry below is Margo's work; I found it informative, utterly readable, concise and thought-provoking so I've not edited any of the words nor changed the flow (but the colours and bold text are of my doing to highlight the points that caught my attention). Please take the time to read it as I promise it's worth investing 2 minutes of your life.

"Multiple Sclerosis is the most common acquired neurological condition in young adults. It’s most often diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40, although increasing numbers of children and teenagers are now being developing it. About 100,000 people in the UK have MS. It’s about twice as common in women as in men. I was diagnosed with MS in 2005, at the age of 43, though I’d probably had it for at least 15 years at that point.

But what actually is MS?

It’s an auto-immune condition: the body’s own immune system attacks the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve, leaving scars called plaques or lesions. This potentially causes symptoms anywhere in the body, depending on where the damage is.

If you think of the nervous system as an electrical circuit, the MS lesions cause the circuit to fuse in places so that signals don’t get through at all, or else distort.

So, for instance, I might want to move my leg – a perfectly sound ambition, I’m sure you’ll agree. There’s nothing wrong with my leg. All the muscles and joints are in perfect working order. But the message “Move!” doesn’t get from my brain to my leg.

Also, my brain interprets signals coming back from my body in the wrong way. My arm (let’s say) is fine, but I experience dreadful pain, or pins and needles, or numbness there because of damage in my brain.

The symptoms of MS are hugely variable. If you asked 100 people with MS, you’d get 100 different sets of symptoms! They can include visual and balance problems, fatigue, dizziness, stiffness, spasms, pain, and problems with memory and thinking.

Many of the symptoms of MS – including some of the most distressing, like pain, fatigue, or bladder and bowel problems – are invisible to an observer. This can cause a lot of problems. I’ve heard of, and experienced, partners, family and friends doubting the validity of what’s being experienced.

Many people find “fatigue” particularly difficult to communicate. Everyone’s been tired, and it’s hard to explain how MS fatigue differs from this everyday experience. I’ve seen MS fatigue defined as “an overwhelming feeling of weakness”. I describe it as being like if the house was burning down, I couldn’t move to get out.

I have very bad fatigue, so I can’t often get out. Much of my day is encompassed by the sofa, the telly, and chatting to (or up!) online acquaintances on Twitter and Facebook.

When I do get out, to the theatre, a gig, shopping, for a hospital appointment, or just to meet friends for a coffee, the planning involved takes far longer than the outing itself. How will I get there? Is the venue accessible for me in my wheelchair? Do I need a carer to help me get around? The previous day I need to rest, and for several days afterwards I’ll be unwell.

Developing MS doesn’t have to end your life. But it’s often a very different life from the one you had planned and hoped for before. The MS Society helps and supports us emotionally, practically and financially, and with advice about care. It also invests a huge amount into research about MS – £156 million in today’s money since 1956. They do vital work."

I'd like to publicly thank Margo for taking the time and making the effort to do this; there was I looking for a little addition, some injection of the humour that makes Margo irresistible reading on Twitter, but her fatigue means she couldn't and when I received the tweet from her saying so, I felt stupid, guilty and selfish for not recognising just how sh*t some days can be for her, for Sarah and others with MS.

So the next time I'm stuck in bed with man-flu (albeit a very serious thing), the next time I wonder if I can be bothered to get out of the house and train for my North Pole Trek in the rain or nag someone else for a donation to charity when the last 127 people have all said no, and the next time I'm just too darn lazy to do something I take for granted, I'll remember how lucky I am not to have MS and I'll push myself to DO what needs to be DONE.

A bit like tonight; with my eyes burning with tiredness for the last 2 hours I was still determined to write this blog entry (despite my PC playing up too). Why? Because even if it only makes a small difference to lovely people like Margo, Sarah or the woman at the gym ..... it's bloody well worth it.

Bedtime now but soon it will be time for: -

- A blog entry from Daniel whose brother passed away recently from Muscular Dystrophy; a chance for Daniel to share his perspective of living through such a trauma

- Hopefully an entry from someone I once knew who, on the outside. seems the very opposite of the stereo-typical Samaritans user but, quite literally, they saved her life about 12 years ago. Something as equally difficult to comprehend but yet another dose of reality.

I hope these entries continue to create a big response.

Sleep tight.  x