December 2010
1 post
Fundraising Update
The team have now been back a month and a lot of work has been going into finalising the fundraising total for The Gumpathon. The current fund stands at approximately £70,000 or $111,000 but donations are still coming in. Obviously the present total does fall well short of our ultimate target but it will still mean a sizeable donation to each of our charities.
Many, many thanks to everyone who...
November 2010
2 posts
Not quite over yet...
So we had an incredible finish at Santa Monica Pier last Thursday. Thank you to everyone who helped with the finish event. Special thanks to the Jim Harris and his team at Santa Monica Pier, Bubba Gump and Dan Rice and everyone who turned out to support us.
We have a final film which is on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMYBeeXNrgk made by Shoot the Company. Please share this with your...
Final day - thanks to our supporters!
So as two months and 3,530 miles of running are about to culminate on Santa Monica Pier, we wanted to take the time to say a few thank you’s for recent support. The most amazing thing about our journey has been the kindness and support shown from so many different people and for this we are truly grateful. We can’t begin to name everyone who has helped us along the way but you know who...
October 2010
13 posts
Crazy's Blog
Hi there to everyone Crazy reporting for duty.
I’ve been given the privilege of blogging for our last few days which quite simply have been the best days we have had on our journey so far. The Grand Canyon is without doubt the most amazing thing I have ever seen, there aren’t really any words that could describe its sheer magnitude, It surrounds you from every angle and engulfs you with its...
Jamie's Blog
Ok so day 44 over! Its been a tough slog for everybody since my last blog! We are currently in a town called Navajo where the original Navajo indian “windtalkers” from the second world war all came from, we have met a few of there decendants and heard some amazing stories from them and received some fantastic hospitality from the native indians and americans in this area! We are at...
Toady's Blog
Hi Everybody!! well we have just finished another day and we are in Tuba city in Arizona!! The team is doing ok, even though they keep saying “I’m fine” and “yeah good” really what they mean is “ouch my back” and “Damn those blisters”. The support crew are now running at nearly full strength as Kester is nearly at full operating strength....
Claire's Blog
Hi this is Claire and this is my first blog … with plenty of time to think about what to write I thought firstly I would get my own back on the lads. As one of the only two girls out here I have experienced my fair share of ‘pranks’ in the past month or so and this seemed the perfect opportunity for revenge, but on reflection that’s not what this event is about, its about a...
Damian’s blog - In the states in a state?
Well hello everybody, it has been a while since I blogged fully as I have had a welcome reprieve with the team giving their take on the world that is, ‘The Gumpathon’.
I write this at the final changeover point for day 37 on the western edge of a town called Clovis, New Mexico. Yes, we are now in our 13th state of 16. I remember looking at a wall map of the USA with Crazy in Shenandoah, Virginia...
Danny's Blog
Hi folks its Danny here, I’m the new chef and I joined the Gumpathon team seven days ago. So far I have travelled from Memphis to Oklahoma.
We have had a none running day for the whole team, where we have been able to generate a lot of media coverage to help towards the cause. Thanks to everyone from Hanger Prosthetics who have been extremely helpful in organising food and accommodation for...
Halfway Film
A big thank you to Shoot the Company’s Stephen Mulholland (www.shootthecompany.com) for editing our half way film. If you haven’t seen it yet then take a look on our Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/gumpathon#p/u/3/uYMA9NXCmlU
Thanks again to all our supporters - we couldn’t do it without your help!
Day 31 - The Long days....
Hi fellow Gump fans… We have had an incredibly hectic and extremely tiring few days! We have reached the halfway point, 1765 miles and we are currently situated just South of Oklahoma City… A fairly massive electrical storm has just rolled in and this is the first rain that we have seen for quite literally weeks.
I intend to do a much more comprehensive blog after I have attempted to...
Day 28... Lloyd's Challenge Day!
A big hi there to everyone reading; Corporal Lloyd ‘Crazy’ Fenner reporting for duty, I’ve actually stolen the blog from Toddy, as today was my special challenge day.
Bad news I’m afraid, I failed my task of running a Marathon in 3hrs 30 minutes. It took me 3hrs and 38 minutes to complete the 26.2 miles, and as marines we really don’t take failure too well.
So my...
Personal Challenges
We are all going to attempt massive personal challenges between now and the end of the event….
Lloyd is going to undertake his own personal challenge today: He will attempt to run a full marathon 26 miles+ in under 3hrs 30mins over undulating terrain! Watch here for details of how he gets on!
Chunk's Blog
T25 and Team Gump is rolling through the beautiful USA with a lot of speed and motivation!
The runners are feeling really strong … as we powered up the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountain Range. The sights and sounds of the mountain ranges of West Virginia are truly amazing. The people of the Appalachians were really shocked to see runners in their neck of the woods. We got some strange...
MD's blog
This is my first blog because I hate it but the team want me to do it.
Another day on the road for me, today we are running six and a half miles times two which equates to 51 miles as a team. We started in the middle of knowhere in Tennessee. The morning was quite cold and foggy but after a while it brightened up and became hot. Jobbo ran first after his 10 day vacation. No sign of a bad hip...
Nashville
We have had an amazing time in Nashville!
On Wednesday morning Mark ran his mile with his friend Heath Calhoun who is a double above-the-knee amputee, for footage check out: http://www.wsmv.com/video/25217445/index.html
Then in the evening Chunks and Lloyd were joined by over 100 runners from the East Nasty Running Club and Nashville Striders in a run across the Shelby Pedestrain bridge to the...
September 2010
22 posts
1000 miles!
We reached the 1000 mile point today at Tompkinsville, Kentucky only 2350 to go! Thanks to the National Guard Armoury for taking us in and the Tompkinsville Police Department for looking out for us, we’ve had a great evening. Kentucky is surely the home of barbeque and hot sauce.
Gumpathon Concert
For anyone in the Nashville area on 29 September members of the Gumpathon team will be meeting runners at the LP Field side of the Shelby Pedestrian Bridge at 6.15pm to run across the Bridge and up to 305 Broadway, the Cadillac Lounge where country and western singer Matt Steel will be holding a concert at 7pm for The Gumapthon. If you want to run join us at 6.15pm if you want to come to the...
Jules Blog
Teresa woke up before everyone as usual, well before dawn to cook up breakfast, eggs and oatmeal - good job.
The weather much cooler today, I’m sure its going to be a more enjoyable run for the lads.
As the much tighter morning routine kicked off through 11 pairs of bleary eyes, Teresa and I packed up the remants and set off for our daily XX mile drive, my turn today.
We stopped off at...
Toady's Blog
My name is Paul Shearsby I’m the Advance Car Commander, I have to be in front due to the lack of concentration by newly named Kester ‘Sicknote Subway’ Jackson - only joking.
Well we are now at the end of Day 16 and the team are doing OK, Sicknote Subway is on the mend too! Its been an interesting one today. My oppo Mark ‘Rammers’ Ormrod and I have an Anti-Dog Runner...
Our med kit has arrived!!!!
Finally our med kit has cleared customs and caught up with us. Huge thanks must go to Kully at SP Services, Rick at Rescue Tech Wales and Yaniv at Sea and Air International who all helped us with what turned into an epic. We are now fully equiped to deal with bumps, bruises …. and Kester’s back.
Mark's Blog
Today was our first full day of running in Kentucky and according to the weather report temperatures were to exceed 95F …. and they did!
As well as the team covering the mileage there was a Sorghum Festival in one of the towens we were passing through called West Liberty. The team were kindly hosted by the Mayor Jim Rupe, Sally and the local media were there too. It was nice to meet you.
...
Crazy's Blog
YO YO YO! Cpl Lloyd ‘Crazy’ Fenner here reporting from West Virginia USA the Gumpathon.
My task is to write a blog for the website, How am I feeling? What is it like? Best Bits? Worst Bits? Funny Bits?, And everything in between. Where to start? How about today? It’s day 13 and we are approximately 670 miles into our journey. I’m on my rest day which happens periodically for all the runners...
Jamie's Blog
So day 13 now down, only 51 days to go, that’s 7 mountain ranges 3 time zones and 4 deserts…. nearly there! Ha! So guys to say the last few days have been emotional is an understatement! We hit the Blue Ridge Mountains on Saturday… wow all I can say is horrendous. Imagine you see a giant hill stretching as far as the eye can see you, the temperature is between 90 and 110 degrees the...
Kester's Blog
Hi folks this is Kester member of the support crew, aka ‘subway’ due to my propensity to require more sandwiches than the runners. I am the driver of the rear vehicle, a Land Rover Discovery. My role is to transport and protect the runners. This involves spending 10-12 hours driving behind them at 5 mph every day and a need for absolute precision, accuracy, intense concentration and...
11 tags
Day 8 - Problem Solving!
The time is flying by and we are making good progress with our running. We are slowly getting into a regular routine and I will write more about that this evening. I just wanted find the time to send some heartfelt thankyou’s from all of the team to the people who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to help us with our challenge.
The last week has been a bit of a learning curve...
Day 5
We’ve just left Annapolis and are heading to Washington. We will we be visiting the British Embassy and the Pentagon, then on to Quantico.
Heroes Concert
We hope you all saw our film at the Heroes Concert today, if you did please support us by texting GUMP to 70800. Day 3 just completed so 175 miles down 3356 to go!
NYC
Thanks to the British Consulate in New York for their support and guidance.
Yet another thank you - everyone is being so supportive. Dario Cantatore very kindly took the amazing pictures of run start for us www.dariocantatore.com
Day 2 cracked... And Collingdale hospitality...
Day 2 saw us chewing up the turf in and through Trenton, NJ and then into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 3 states already served, only another 13 to do. The run through Philadelphia was particularly interesting and the support for us has been overwhelming thus far. People honking their horns, clapping, cheering and in true Americdan style, Whoop Whooping too…. We love the USA alright!! Each...
Day one in the bag...62 to go!
Well avid Gump fans, we’ve nailed the first day. The send off was awesome, a big thank you again to all of our VIP’s, Sponsors and of course Matt Steel and his band for supporting us on the start of our epic run.
The runs went well for each of the individuals and we expect to have the whole routine battened down in a few days or so. Achilles and Damian had a good run out too and as...
BBC Breakfast
Setting out to run 3,500 miles across the United States would be a daunting task for anyone but for Royal Marine Mark Ormrod, a triple amputee, it is an even bigger challenge.
Mark - who was badly injured in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan - will be joining four British and American servicemen in the charity run. The team will cover up to 23 miles a day, while Mark has a target of a...
Less Than One Hour To Go
In less than an hour we begin The Gumpathon, cannot begin to tell you how excited we all are, nerves, adrenalin……it’s been an amazing week getting all the final preparations in place – but the fact that my dream is about to become a reality, am almost stuck for words. Before we start – I must thank everyone who has helped get us here to the start line…to our incredibly generous sponsors thank you,...
We're here & ready...
Ok so we’re in New York baby! After the full VIP treatment from Virgin Atlantic, including a jacuzzi, steam room, hair cut, massage and 4 course meal followed by the ever so hungry press snapping at us as we got on the plane, we landed 7hrs later in JFK with the all the crew and passengers clapping and cheering us off! We felt like rock stars for the day (Just another day in the Royal...
The Gumpathon Starts Soon
Only 3 days to go until run start, if you are in New York on Friday 10 September come down to the USS Intrepid at 7.30am to see the guys off.
Gumpathon Training
The team will be running around Cental Park today, Monday 6th from around 1pm EST.. Come and join us!
We've Arrived
The Gump team have arrived in the US! A massive thank you must go to all at Virgin Atlantic for looking after us and all of our kit, including Achilles, we know he was quite a challenge for Virgin Cargo who have been brilliant. Tony and his crew were fantastic and we even got to visit the flight deck. We also have to say thank you to everyone on flight VS009 who gave us donations towards the...
August 2010
14 posts
Calories
The Gump runners will use more than 2500 calories everyday when running alone…. That is the average daily intake of a man.
The Gump Team meet Boris Johnson
Damian, Lloyd & Jamie met the Boris Johnson, the Lord Mayor of London, today outside City Hall. See the picture & many others on our Flickr page.
Damian on BBC Radio 2 →
Damian spreading the word on Simon Mayo’s drivetime show. Listen from 1:45 onwards for the interview.
Damian & Jamie live on Sky News
Damian & Jamie were live on the Sky Sunrise programme this morning with Eamonn Holmes. We will post a link to the footage as soon as we get the tape.
Online GQ article... Magazine out next month! →
A sneak peek at our GQ article which is due out very soon… Watch this space.
Damian talking on BBC Radio Lincolnshire (3 parts)
Click here to listen to Damian talking on BBC Radio Lincolnshire who were absolutely fab… The interview is in 3 parts. Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3.
Damian & Jamie talking on BBC Radio Solent on... →
Damian and Jamie were guests on Katie Martin’s show in BBC Radio Solent…. We think she enjoyed it! FFwd to 2:32 into the show, immediately after the song ‘Save the best for last!’
Will Greenwood supports The Gumpathon...Rather... →
England Rugby player Will Greenwood expresses how he would NOT do The Gumpathon… He is behind us 100% though!
Achilles gets pimped again!!!
Mark and his team very kindly did some modifications to Achilles at super short notice and boy did they do a great job!!!! On behalf of Damian, Achilles & The Gumpathon… Thank you so very much to Adage Co Ltd of Camberley
Matt Steel's Album is out NOW!!! Buy here! →
Matt Steel is a fantastic singer songwriter who wrote the official Gumpathon song, ‘Keep Running’. This is the title track from said album… It really is a fantastic album and I urge you all to have a look and listen. Thank You
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Use Virdana as your search engine.... Support your... →
Virdana is an inspirational idea which helps you support your chosen charity by utilising the Virdana search engine which in turn encompasses the Google, Bing and Yahoo search engines. Please utilise this search engine from now on and do just that…support The Gumpathon.
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England Cricketer Stuart Broad supports the... →
Young and spritely England cricketer Stuart Broad supports the Gumpathon. Welcome aboard the Gump-mobile.