Categories
Fundraising

Social Media & Fundraising

Recently I published a series of posts on my Blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. At the same time I put a bucket of sweets with a note attached in a central location in my office.
The intention was to measure the engagement and generosity of people on each of these medium.

The Results are in:
First point is – very few people actually tagged their donations making it hard for me to track anything.
Based on some “creative” analysis – I’d suggest that 66% of the donations came from Facebook the remainder from work colleagues.

Next test:
If you have not yet donated – I’d like to test if you would rather donate via

Categories
Fitness Fundraising MND Running

Need A New Running Watch?

I’m looking to liberate two of my Garmin running watches.

A GPS enabled Forerunner 205 and a non-GPS (foot-pod based) Forerunner 50.

I’m doing a mini-auction with the proceeds going to charity – MND Scotland.

See here for the 205 and here for the 50.

Categories
Fundraising Marathon MND Motor Neuron Disease Running

Day Two Of Acclimatisation

Just like the true athlete that I am what else would I do the day before the loch ness marathon but run another parkrun?
The walk to the event gave me a good opportunity to walk the last mile of the marathon, I doubt it will be that quiet tomorrow!
Here’s to a nice gentle run today, ticking off another Scottish parkrun.

Remember – you can show your appreciation here : http://www.JustGiving.com/MNDScotland or by texting ross70 £10 to 70070.

Categories
Family Fundraising Marathon MND Motor Neuron Disease Ross Running

Dublin Marathon 2012

2012-10-29 08.46.45 Well – that’s my final marathon of the year done and what a way to end it. Fantastic location, fantastic people/support, fantastic weather (cold and dry) and a personal best by over 14 minutes!

You can review my marathon stats here.
The stats make interesting reading (if your into stats or are a runner).
It shows how my pace per mile has changed since my first marathon and also how Chester compared with Dublin (4 weeks apart). It also finally drummed it into me that starting slow DOES enable you to hold a more consistent pace for longer.

Categories
Fitness Fundraising Marathon Me MND Motor Neuron Disease Ross Running

Chester Marathon – My Race

2012-10-07 08.53.04-2

As you should know by know my plan for the year was to run four marathons, one in each of Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland for MND Scotland.

The start of October saw the English leg with the Chester marathon.

Categories
Fitness Fundraising Marathon Ross Running

Edinburgh Marathon 2012 – Did Not Finish

My worst race ever.
Prior to the 2012 Edinburgh Marathon I have only ever not finished one race before – a Strathclyde parkrun when I pulled my hamstring.
Bearing in mind I did the Great Welsh Marathon last month – I was just doing some “easy” runs as I “know” I can “do” a marathon so I was just treating this period as an extended taper/recovery period.
On Sunday the day was very sunny and hot.
I had multiple applications of factor 50 sunscreen – been upping my hydration in the days before, the only thing I did differently was grabbing a tuna sandwich rather than my usual porridge.

The Plan

My plan was to run 12:00 miles in the hope of beating my PB of 05:42.
I knew I’d have to revert to a run walk strategy from about mile 19ish but I should have enough in the tank for about a 05:30 finish.

What Happened

I knew I would start way faster than my planned pace so for the first three miles it was a case of forcing myself to slow from 10:00 to 11:00 until I settled at a comfortable 11:30 pace.
I started feeling a bit “wobbly” at about 9 1/2 miles so I had a walking break, a gel and some water.
This was fine until mile 10 when I “lost” my breakfast – not exactly lost – I knew EXACTLY where it was !
More water and gel and I soldiered on with a walk/jog until mile 12 (15:00+ mins per mile) when I knew if at this point I was having to play mental games to force a jog – there was no way I could continue.
After 20 minutes sitting by the roadside – thanks to everyone who took the time to check I was OK – I started the long slow walk back to the start.

The Future

I have two more marathons in the plan – Chester 7th October and Dublin 29th October so hopefully the heat will not be as big a debilitating factor.
I still “owe” a Scottish marathon from my 4 marathon plan – I have an inkling as to how to address this – stay tuned for more info!

Categories
Family Fitness Fundraising Marathon Me MND Motor Neuron Disease Ross Running

Great Welsh Marathon 2012

This year my fund-raising for MND Scotland involves running four marathons in Wales (Llanelli), Scotland (Edinburgh), England (Chester) and Ireland (Dublin).

Last weekend saw the first of these.

IMG-20120415-00043.jpg

Categories
Fun Fundraising MND Motor Neuron Disease Ross

The ‘Tache Is Dead

As you will have seen from my previous posts, I was growing a mustache for MND Scotland

DSCN1333

All it would have taken is £10 / day for me to keep the ‘tache.

Categories
Family Fun Fundraising Me MND Motor Neuron Disease Ross

Long Live The Tache

DSCN1284

Since Christmas I have been sporting a new look – now it’s the time to announce why!

I have been raising money for various charities by running (I’m doing 4 marathons this year for MND Scotland) but I have finally found a way where your donations can impact ME as well as helping MND sufferers and their families in Scotland.

On Monday the 2nd of April my tache will be “born”.
I will keep my tache for as long as there are donations to support it.
My tache expects £10 per day – if the total raised is £100 then my tache will “live” until 10 days after the 2nd of April.
The more you give the longer it lives – once it’s gone it’s gone !

https://www.justgiving.com/LongLiveTheTache

Categories
Fundraising Marathon MND Motor Neuron Disease Running

1000km Almost There

Ross At Edinburgh Marathon
Thanks to Marathon-Photos.com

For those that don’t know, my eldest daughter Emma Berry Goodman passed away in September 2008 from Motor Neurone Disease. Whilst she was with us we were greatly helped by three fantastic charities: MND Scotland, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Childrens Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS).

For the last three years I have dedicated a years fundraising to each of these charities. This year my challenge was to run 1,000km in 2011 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
If everything goes to plan then I will achieve my 1,000th kilometer when I run in Strathclyde Parkrun –  event number 86 on Saturday 17th December.

I know that this is an expensive time of year but if you could see your way to giving a donation at https://www.justgiving.com/1000k-in-2011 or by texting “Ross70 £5” to 70070 – feel free to adjust the amount as you see fit!
Every £20 raised helps to provide 1 hour of nursing care and I can personally vouch for how invaluable the Marie Curie are!

Thank you all for your donations and your support and encouragement in this past year!

If you would like to see just how far 1,000km actually is have a look here.