Saturday 10th May: The ELECTRIC RUN

This was a debut event for Mum & her family who all took to the streets of Manchester at 9pm to take part in this amazing and unique 5K event! Fancy dress with as many flashing accessories as possible was compulsory and the team did not disappoint! The team consisted of Sam, Carol, Christine, John, Joanne, Paul, Esther, Tariq, Deanna, Kay & Elisha. Claire & Megan were friends of the family who joined the team to complete the challenge! It was a great night aside from the awful rain showers whilst waiting to start and during the race, it didn't dampen the spirits but it's safe to say everyone was totally drenched by the end! Well done to all who entered, especially to 6 year old Deanna who walked the event well past her bedtime! 13 year old Elisha who ran the 5K having intended to walk it initially and this being her first ever event at such a long distance completed it in around 35 minutes-an amazing time, Kay who was a last minute stand in due to injury, and Jonathon for the support on the sidelines! Thanks also go to Megan for travelling from Cambridge to be part of the event.

However a special mention has to go to my mum, Carol who walked the event and who has never done anything like this before. This required some training which she completed, and overcame several associated anxieties to enter & finish the event. She completed the event with ease, Dad would have been so very proud - he actually wouldn't have ever believed she would do something like this and it is a great start - her next event is the Manchester midnight walk which is double the distance!

Well done everyone!

 Carol & Christine Twin Sisters

 The Atkinsons & Claire & Megan

 John looking ace!

 Me loving the wig!

Megan & I

 Paul, Claire, Elisha, Megan, Sam (The runners)

 Team Madness 4 Mike! 

 Deanna, Kay & Joanne

 Deanna & John

Getting soaked at the start!

The End!

BANK HOLIDAY MAY 3-5th 2014


This was a busy weekend for team Madness 4 Mike! We even have a keen swimmer on the team - seeing as swimming the distances is much harder than doing it on foot and there is no equipment used to complete the KM (body only) we are now welcoming swimmers to the team!

•  Saturday 3rd May: 

Camilla Edwards completed her first 5K swim of the season on Saturday 3rd May in Bedford. She performed amazingly well and completed the swim in a time of 01:22:22. She was placed 5th Female, only 2 minutes off 3rd place! This was in the face of extremely cold conditions causing numb feet - Camilla only realised she had cut her foot badly an hour after finishing when the feeling came back to her feet! This was a hugely popular national ranking series race so the team is very proud of Camilla's achievement and contribution - and look forward to following her races throughout the year as part of our challenge.

•   Sunday 4th May: 

Sam & Gill from Cromwell Vet Group entered the Dry Drayton 10K event. Amanda Jakins and her family rounded up other CVG families to take part in the 2.2 KM Fun Run. It was the first time Amanda & Chris Jakins' children Francesca & Eliza had ever taken part in a run being just 5 and 3 years old respectively. They completed it all on their own with just company from mum and dad - and still had energy for the bouncey castle afterwards! Rachel, Esther and Hannah Moore made another appearance for Madness 4 Mike and performed amazingly well in the run both winning awards - Esther for taking their Labrador Daisy around the course and enabling her to be the first dog to finish, and Hannah for "outstanding effort". Rachel this time also took part and ran the fun run with her daughters! It was a great effort by all and we appreciated the support from other CVG staff on the day too.

Before the Race Start: Families ready!

Even Daisy was getting into the spirit of it!

Firstly Gill & I finishing the 10K event on a beautiful but very hot day!

Then the real stars of the day - the Fun Run was 2.2KM long - 1.4 miles! This was first time for mums, dads and kids running at all and I was very proud of all of them!

 Chris & Francesca

 Amanda & Eliza

 Chris & Francesca (running well ahead of Daddy)

 Hannah the first one of the team to finish! Mum Rachel surprised herself by running it too!

Esther shortly followed with Daisy in tow making Daisy the 1st dog to finish!

Some very proud finishers with their medals and awards!

Just a note to say also the youngest team member 3yr old Eliza - completed this huge distance all by herself and it is clear she is an athlete in the making - she has already mastered a couple of necessary skills!

 Waving to the crowd!

Kissing the Medal!

Well done to all and thank you for the support CVG :-) 

• Monday 5th May

Bank Holiday Monday - while most were resting and recovering from the weekend, 2 of our team members David Baker & Mark Lumb entered the Milton Keynes Half Marathon! The longest run of the weekend and they did in style! It was Dave's first ever half marathon and he completed the distance in an incredible time of 1:43:56 - not a time I will ever be competing with! Well done boys the training paid off and we are all very proud of you both!

GOOD FRIDAY STOCKPORT COUNTY COLLECTION!!

19th April 2014

On Good Friday SCFC kindly allowed us to collect at the match v Altrincham organised via St Ann's Hospice in aid of our challenge. Dad was a county fan, with his brother Peter, for over 40 years and season ticket holder for many. I have fond memories of dad taking me to matches from the age of 3! We followed them to Wembly and away matches and the collection brought back many happy memories for myself and the family. It is sad that county are currently striving to get back into the league but County fans are loyal and the turnout on Good Friday was tremendous. We raised a huge total of £641.22 !!! Collecting on behalf of the team were myself & Andy, Mum (Carol), Helen, Dave, Maxine, Alex, Sue, Peter & Andrew, we also were fortunate enough to have 2 lovely helpers involved with the hospice too!

So I can only thank Dave Wardle and the team at SCFC for their support in memory of my dad, and the fellow fans for their generosity. I only wish they could have clinched a deserved win rather than a final score of 0-0. I have no doubt (and I can hear dad saying it too!) they will be back up where they belong in the future. Once a county fan - always a county fan!

Below 2 of the Volunteers Maxine & Alex in the fundraising spirit!