The League Cup Finalists!

Last week before heading to the big smoke for the London Marathon I made a visit to see the St Mirren lads and get some more cup final items signed up for auction and had a pretty good day.  Included in the items signed was this awesome squad signed Team Sheet from the League Cup Final as seen held by John McGinn.  Also signing awesome cup final items were goalscoring hero Isma Goncalves, who is seen with this brilliant photo of him celebrating in the final and captain Jim Goodwin who has signed this awesome 12×8 and added the scoreline to make it an even more unique item.

Last, but by no means least for now is cup final scorer Conor Newton who signed several items including these fabulous shots of him while involved in “Australia Day” at Newcastle. 

Having sorted items from one of the finalists, I headed out today to see the other one, Hearts.  A fabulous day ended with loads of awesome signed items, with the trailblazer being these awesome signed boots donated by Callum Tapping!

Callum had previously agreed to donate a pair and was kind enough to get them for me today so they can go straight into the auctions.  MASSIVE thanks to Callum and to Denis Prychynenko who confirmed that he’s happy to donate his boots at the end of the season and goalie Mark Ridgers who is donating a pair of gloves!

Keeping in the cup final theme, I decided to make use of the multiple Cup Final teamsheets I have from last year and get the players who played to sign for the auction.  Several of the players involved in the game have placed a huge signature on a single teamsheet and added the scoreline to make it a truly unique item for Hearts fans and collectors.  Among those to do so were opening scorer Darren Barr (right) and captain and club legend Marius Zaliukas (left).  All of these teamsheets are going up for grabs this weekend, so be sure to check in and check them out!

The final main items being signed were some more Hearts team posters, following the success at auction last time round, and I was thrilled to get loads of the team to sign for me.  Also included as a bonus was former Hearts star Jean Louis Valois who is training with the club this week.  .  Top quality and just as decent a guy as he was when he was last in Scotland.

Here’s current Hearts manager Gary Locke with one of the posters at the end of the day, with loads of signatures in place.  All in all a pretty good day.  As I said, be sure to check back for these items and loads more in auctions over the weekend   These will be the last auctions until the end of May, so well worth checking them out… there’s going to be a LOT!!

London Baby!

Yup, it’s time for the blog covering the last few days, which have been more than a little bit hectic.  It’s safe to say this is going to be a long post.  I’ve got stuff dating back to Friday to post, but it’s safe to say I am going to start with LONDON!!  It was of course Marathon weekend, and my first time taking part in the big one in London since 2008.  I’m not going to lie, it was tough, I was pretty sick during the second half of the race, and couldn’t seem to hydrate (MASSIVE thank you to St John’s Ambulance for their awesome support) and I finished in 7.19.26  It’s light affected and on my camera phone, but there’s the pic taken moments after I crossed the line.

What a feeling!  Another Major Marathon Medal in the bag.  I’ll say here and now the support from the CWC UK team was amazing, you’re all awesome in every way… from the support points on the course, to carrying my bags from finish line to the reception to having Ribena and a shepherd’s pie on hand for me to munch.  Awesome.

Here’s me in the build up to the race, in a snap courtesy of BBC 1 who broadcast me live (unaware) to the nation.  Please note, I am focused, not worried

The events in Boston played a big role on race day, and the thirty second silence was impeccably observed by tens of thousands of runners and fans.  It was spine tingling.  Every step every runner took was for those who can’t any more.  They caught the second bomber during the night I was travelling down to London, and I’m delighted, time to throw away the key!  Boston, we all ran for you guys, we’re with you every step of the way.

I had not planned to do sponsorship as such for this race, but enough people have asked me in the last couple of days that I will be setting up an online page tomorrow to allow anyone to support me that wants to.  Thanks to those who have indicated they will.

Away from the run itself, wow, what a weekend with some awesome items added to the auction pot and some awesome photos as you’ll see coming up.  An early arrival in London on Saturday morning and a meet up with fellow runner/collector/fundraiser James (HUGE thanks to James for taking most of the photos you’re about to see!) was followed by a quick journey to BBC HQ to try and grab as many of the morning’s guests as possible.  I missed a few I hoped to get, but got some rather awesome items including an a4 doodle from Bill Bailey as seen right, as well as this brilliant pic of me with Bill.

Also among those signing (mostly contributing to the Xmas Card auctions but several contributing to the Olympic Auction.  I decided recently to branch out the Olympic auction a little bit and get some big names from other fields to sign some of the mini mascots very kindly given to me by Mr Darth Sharkey, and those to sign this weekend including an Olympic opening ceremony star and two Skyfall cast members, and not just any old cast members either!

First up was the legend that is DAME JUDI DENCH, who was happy to sign a mini “Pride the Lion” and pose for this pic, as was the latest incarnation of “Q”, Ben Whishaw, who signed his with a stunning signature and posed for a pic with me as well.

The final “Pride” signed on the day was from musician Frank Turner who performed with his band during the London 2012 Opening Ceremony.  He was performing as part of “Record Store Day” in London as we managed to time it just right to nab him in the temporary back stage area to sign, and he was then kind enough to come to the end of the area to pose for a pic as well.  Here’s the photo one of his crew took for me with his signed “Pride”.  I’ve got to say he was awesome with us, and I was chuffed to add him to the Olympic auction.

Earlier in the day some of the other awesome people to sign for the auctions included half of Blue (I did see them all, but with two running late there was no chance of success there), Julian Clary, Gaby Roslin, and Sophie Kinsella.

The dash to the heart of theatreland also allowed a chance for an extra Dr Who signed item from Suranne Jones, who after a comical moment of misunderstanding signed a massive white card with her best known Dr Who quote… “I think you call me ‘sexy’” and added her character name as well before posing for this photo.

From there it was off to the Expo via nabbing Frank Turner, and some of the traditional start of event photos including this one at the Children with Cancer UK stand.  Runner no37220 come on down!  We bumped into Tony Audenshaw of Emmerdale fame at the Expo and then a surprise meeting with Billy Murray (Don Beech in The Bill) in a pub next to the ExCel, I managed a wee photo with him, though didn’t want to bother him to sign items as he was clearly in “private” mode.  Still, a photo with the baddest baddie in the history of The Bill… not bad at all.

The final celeb meet of the weekend was on the Sunday, DURING the race, when I took a breather at Tower Bridge and got this photo with 2000 Gold Medal winning Heptathlon star Denise Lewis!   I tried to resist getting it, but I just couldn’t!  

So there it is, London for a weekend, less A-Z, more M-Q, but still including a thorough tour of the city, some brilliant highs, some hobbling lows, but the smile is still present and the medal is proudly in the collection.

My thanks once again to those who made the marathon possible overall… the staff, the volunteers, the organisers, the emergency services, the charity cheering posts from other causes who willed us on and of course the awesome team at Children with Cancer UK … Ben, Claire, Emily and every other one of you!  You made my day what it was!

Boston Marathon

I would just like to place on record right now that my thoughts are with every single person who is either in Boston involved in the marathon right now, or has a loved one in the area.  I hope more than you know that this passes without any fatalities or serious injuries.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink…

..is currently up for auction, ranging from the awesome donation from Arthur Bostrom yesterday to some brilliant golf items (as I write this the US Masters has gone to a play off – both players involved are supporters of my fundraising!) but what better time to snap up some awesome golf items than now?

Also included are some more amazing St Mirren items from the 2013 League Cup Final including signed photos and another brilliant signed tshirt.  The extra special item for Saints fans this time round is this pair of Marc McAusland’s boots!   There’s also a new awesome photo from Rudi Skacel celebrating last year’s Scottish Cup win and that awesome signed tshirt from Mrs Brown’s Boys!  There of course now more signatures than when this photo was taken right after Gary Hollywood signed it.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS RIGHT NOW

I Was P*ssing By The Door…

Okay, I’ll let you read what you want into the title, but what could be cooler than meeting Officer Crabtree himself, Arthur Bostrom!  Arriving in my auctions tomorrow (and already gathering muchos interest on Facebook) is this brilliant signed card from Arthur which reads, in true Crabtree style, “I was pissing by the door, when I heard two shats”.   You really don’t get cooler than that   Arthur also signed a couple of Xmas Cards for the auction.

And seriously, I pretty much had to prevent myself from going all fanboy when he walked down the street.  Just awesome   I also got the chance to meet Sarah Jayne Dunn, of Hollyoaks fame, and Jonathan Smith who were kind enough to sign Xmas Cards, while I also got a couple of nice signed Eastenders photos from Charlie G Hawkins aka Darren Miller.  Got to give credit to the lad who was suffering from a totally lost voice, and was still happy to sign items and pose for a photo.  For Albert Square fans, this is a nice one as he’s added his character name beneath his signature.

I’ll be listing items, including both of these tonight so please do check back later

It Just Keeps On Keeping On…

Last Monday I spent some time at Maggie’s Gartnavel, as part of their information evening, meeting some new people involved in the charity and showing some guests around the amazing facilities we have there.  I also got the chance to chat to the Dynamite Parties team who are BIG supporters of the charity, and created the “Laughing Loser” as pictured here with me, to honour the Ramsden’s Cup defeat the day before.  I have to say, for a Mocktail that was pretty darned good.

The upshot is I decided to extend my Maggie’s fundraising up to the London Marathon next weekend to maximise the amount I am donating.  This decision was made tied in with the free listing weekend which takes place this coming weekend, and provides the chanee to add a serious amount of cash to the total.  I have a figure in mind which I would like to reach, but I’m not going to set the formal target in case I fall short haha.

After London, I’ll be taking a break for a few weeks before listing again, to kick start things in style.  I can’t remember if I actually commented here, or just on my Facebook page, but I have withdrawn from the Berlin Marathon this year (gutted, totally gutted) as my sister is getting married the same day, which obviously provides a couple of logistical barriers to taking part.  The plan is to run Berlin again next year.

Better than a 147 Break!

Added to the successes I had myself recently, my awesome friends in Newcastle have been adding some more brilliant cards to the pot.  Josh already knows he has my eternal thanks and I’ll post a list of his contributions once I get them in person later this year, but in the meantime the awesome Darren Turner was kind enough to get snooker legend Steve Davis to sign an Xmas card for me and also got this ace photo of Steve with the card.  As always Darren, superstar!

(Pic courtesy of Darren Turner)