Blog No 5
What an amazing night we had at The Tree for our 'Night of Eastern Promise'. So may of you came to support us and we had a lovely evening. The Belly Dancers, Egyptia, were beautiful and I am so grateful to them for entertaining us so delightfully. The food was delicious and thank you so much to Margaret and Liam from The Tree for providing it for us.
The raffle prizes were very impressive, and there were many of them. We raised £930 from this evening. Together with some sponsorship money to be collected and some serious 'cake-eating' our target of £3000 is looking close!!
Thank you all for your support and lots of love to all of you that have helped in any way
Tina xxx
Blog No 4
Well it is all over and we still seem to be in one piece (well some of us are!!)
What an amazing day, but so hot. A big thank you to Rob who valiantly drove the minibus and looked after us all day. Sorry I gave you such a hard time about parking so far away at the end!! Mind you 2 miles was a bit excessive.
Anyway here are the scores on the doors so to speak…
Tom – as predicted the first home in 1hr 46 minutes. Probably the thought of the leg massage from the girl at the Candlelighters tent that spurred him on. Injury – one sore knee :o(
Carl – A fine show – 2hrs 14mins. This after a really bad ankle injury a week or two before the race. Injury – completely cream crackered ankle!!
Karen – 2 hrs 8 mins, amazing Karen. Good job you were such a star at running, you were nothing but trouble all day!! Next time I take you anywhere I am going to put a tag on you!
Nicki – wow – 2hrs 9mins. What an achievement girl! Injury – sore knee and ankles and thighs like lead!
Dan – 2hrs 25 mins, like a bullet – even if you were a bit bow legged at the end. Injuries – too many to mention!!
Emma, Wendy and Tina – The glamour at the back (!) all around 2hrs 45mins – Woo Hoo!! Injuries – Emma a bruised foot, Tina – blistered feet, another broken toe (bit of an exaggeration) and a locked hip (not that I complain- unlike Dan!), Wendy – just aching
Thank you to everyone for your support and encouraging emails, texts etc. like ‘next time run for a bus’ , ‘is that as fast as you can go’ , ‘thought you were running it’. You know who you are ………..
Please do not for get our exciting events:
A tribute night to Robbie Williams is to be held at Fusion nightclub in Knaresborough on Friday 2nd October, doors open at 7.30 and tickets are available from all team members and Pear Records in Knaresborough at a cost of £7.
A night of Eastern Promise on the 14th October at The Tree on Hookstone Chase Harrogate at 7.30.
Tickets only £4 - including Chilli and entertainment from Eygyptia - an eastern belly dancing group. Fantastic value we feel.
Once again thank you so much for your support, Candlelighters is a fantastic charity and will really use the money we raise effectively.
With kind regards from
Team Nick Gill
HBC members:
Tom Broadley - x 1614
Nick Walton -
x 6011
Dan Burdett -
x 6025
Emma Guy -
x 6028
Tina Gill
- x 6044
Blog No. 3
Hi everyone
I've just done my longest run ever today of 8.5 miles so thought it was worth a mention on the blog! My face now matches the colour of my candlelighters t-shirt but I'm so pleased with myself I don't care!
Only 2 weeks to go now and lots more training still to do but I feel a bit more confident about the run now. See all you team runners in two weeks and thank you to those that have sponsored us so far it means a lot to us all.
Wendy x
Blog No. 2
We have some very exciting events coming up to help reach our target!!
A tribute night to Robbie Williams is to be held at Fusion nightclub in Knaresborough on Friday 2
nd October, more details to follow but keep your diary free!!
A night of Eastern Promise on the 14th October at The Tree on Hookstone Chase Harrogate at 7.30. Tickets only £4 – including Chilli and entertainment from Eygyptia – and eastern belly dancing group.
And now an update on the Team’s training efforts (well some are putting effort in anyway!)
Me – Well my training has been interrupted by Leeds Festival, although the campsite was a good 45 minute walk from the main stage (and on top of a big hill) so I did at least get some exercise in between the sparkling shiraz and Kings of Leon
J
Daniel Burdett – Dan is very dedicated (well so he says anyway) and has been giving his new trainers hell.
Karen Maddison – Karen has been living it up in America and had a special birthday so she does at least have an excuse for letting up on the training schedule – but I am sure she wont have.
Emma Marshall (Now Mrs Guy) – Emma is back from honeymoon and has got all that ‘wedding nonsense’ out of her system so is ready to take on the world – and a large supply of jelly babies (just joking Emma).
Nicki Walton – Nicki is on fine form. Putting me to shame as usual but supporting me with encouraging pep talks. Perhaps we will eat chocolate next year and I can return the favour.
Tom Broadley – if you blink you will miss this whizzkid!
Tony Willis – Tony’s brand new trainers have been out once!!!
Carl Murray – ‘The Corporal’ – another Leeds Fest goer, and if he is as good at running the race as he is at downing pints in Bramham Park then he will be up there with the winners.
Wendy Halmshaw – Wendy propped up the bar nicely at Leeds Festival – a real ream player – so looks good for the run.
Robert Gill – Rob has appointed himself ‘Des’ for the big day – a real hero xx
Hopefully you will have felt inspired to sponsor us – if only to shut me up! As always we do appreciate your support.
Love Tina x
Tina Gill
It is my privilege to start the blog. This means I can be as sentimental as I like! I promise we will get less serious as the training progresses but I would like to take the opportunity to tell you about my beautiful son Nick, the brilliant team who are doing the Great North Run with me and of course Candlelighters, the wonderful charity that helped us so much during Nick’s illness.
Firstly Nick – an amazing son, who bounced into this world and hit it running. He was a peace maker, full of determination and grit and above all had a smile that could lift the lowest of spirits. He was also cheeky, strong willed full of fun and extremely clever. He battled spine, lung and bone cancer for 4 and a half years and never complained. He surrounded himself with family and friends and embraced all that life could offer him. He was such good company and I was blessed in spending so much time with him and, believe me, I will treasure the memories of this forever.
Nick had such a happy life, blessed with people who loved him, people who wanted to help him, people who were inspired by him. But most important of all, Nick drew his strength from the love that surrounded him.
He left us with such a legacy of love and light and he showed us that nothing in the world can stop you achieving the things you want to do.
This is why we have to do what we can to help charities such as Candlelighters. They not only help and support the families of all young people with cancer in Yorkshire, they fund massive amounts of research and professionals in order to find cures for this cruel disease.
During Nicks illness Candlelighters supported us emotionally and financially, helping us towards travel, clothing and equipment which was needed to help Nick lead a normal life. They also funded much need treats for him, very necessary for someone undergoing gruelling treatment, knowing that the chances of survival are not good.
Nick died 2 years ago on the 6th July 2007, he was aged 17. His only regret was that he never knew what happened to Harry Potter.
We run in celebration of his life x
Well that is Nick and Candlelighters. Now the team (in brief I promise)
Me – the oldest member of the team. I will be the one bringing up the rear as darkness falls!
Daniel Burdett – One of the three children in my office! Of sound character but not sure of the mind!
Karen Maddison – Karen will be off like a shot, think Tom will be keeping up and perhaps Carl.
Emma Marshall (soon to be Guy) – Emma has been my ‘running’ buddy now for the last 18 months. She has been there for me and fed me jelly babies and faithfully mopped up the tears throughout this period and I know will continue to do so.
Nicki Walton – Nicki has been our (mine and Emma’s) fantastic pacemaker during our 5 and 10k races. Think she will have her work cut out with us for the 13.1 miler!
Tom Broadley – another child from the office!! He is the baby of the team but probably the fastest. He ran the London Marathon earlier this year in fantastic time so I hope he will have the coats waiting for us at the finish.
Tony Willis – Nick’s brother-in-law. Tony will be fast but will think this is an excuse not to train properly!!
Carl Murray – also known as ‘The Corporal’ – hope it is not because he will drill us all! Carl is a very keen athlete and and has done many runs and cylcle rides – hopefully he will tell you about them later on! Carl is a long term family friend and knew Nick well.
Wendy Halmshaw – Rob’s long suffering girlfriend! Another youngster!
Robert Gill – Nick’s biggest brother (in age not height!). Rob has done the Great North run before so hopefully he will give us all some pointers. In the right direction this time Rob!
Well that is the team and we will keep you up to date with the training exploits. Hopefully we will be able to make you smile enough to feel you would like to donate to Candlelighters.
Love Tina x
