So here's the story........

My Dad, Ken, absolutely LOVED the Great North Run - it was the highlight of his year......holidays revolved around it - and despite him saying every year was his last, he kept going back!

One of the reasons he kept going back, was that he didn't discover it until a little later in life, when a good friend persuaded him that he should train for it.......once he had done one he was hooked.....and he was determined that he was going to get 20 Great North Runs to his name.

Along the way he tried to encourage as many people as he could to do it with him....his children, nephews, nieces, brother-in-law, close pals.......he even ran it with my Mum to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.....chained together and dressed as convicts!!!

19 years later the training was well underway for the big one, when he picked up a twinge in his leg. He thought it would go away, so ignored it for a bit - then he tried some physio, then he ended up at the local doctors for some tests.....and the result was the devastating diagnosis that he had Motor Neurone Disease. The prognosis was 5 years - but, as anyone who has had the misfortune to witness the condition first hand will tell you, it is wildly unpredictable. On the 7th of July 2017, just over 2 years after that life shattering news, we lost him.

Whilst it was not of huge significance at the time, it struck me afterwards that he had been robbed of his chance to complete that 20th Great North Run - and that perhaps we could do something to try and put that right.

So....on the 8th of September 2019.... just 7 days after what would have been Dad's 70th birthday, a group of us have decided to go out and run his 20th race for him!  20 of us to be precise....20 runners, running the Great North Run, for Ken - Twenty for Twenty for Ken!

There is a fantastic team of runners who are all connected to this cause, either through Dad, or their own personal stories. We are incredibly grateful they have signed up to help us raise money and awareness.....not to mention taking on the challenge of one of the most iconic races in the country.

Introducing Team 20-4-20-K.

Gerry New / Andy New / Liz Fox / Carey New / Brian Hobbs / Natalie Hobbs / Maria Blythe / Jonathan Holmes / Ross Elsdon / Joanne Elsdon / Jon Meyer / Ed Williams / Stephen Priestnall / Simon Holmes / Sean White / Harry Lyon / Kate Lyon / Justin Rowntree / Paul McCarthy / Jeff Turner!

Motor Neurone Disease is an absolutely awful condition, and at the moment there is no way to control the symptoms, predict the progression, and no cure. Vital research is being carried out, and like all research, this needs vital funding.

I know that money is tight for a lot of people at the moment, we've never really come out of the recession and heaven only knows what Brexit will bring - but if you can spare anything....even a pound, for this great cause then please donate. 

One of the things that has been of a great comfort to all of us since Ken died was the number of messages we received from people, some of whom we had never met, all saying the same thing. How much he cared more about others than he did himself, and how much he really wanted to help people........so I cannot think of a more fitting way to honour him than to raise a ton of money to help others by doing something that he really, really loved.

Thank you for reading.

Andy New (on behalf of all the family)


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