Dear Blog,
It was rather sweet of you to offer to become my friend; you may find the position to be rather lonely, however. My last friend said he was just popping out to get some milk, but I fear it is going to be sour by the time he gets back. Did you realise when you made the offer of friendship that there was a downside to signing up? You will be expected to contribute a £1 to my charities as ‘my friend’, because I am a friend in need. The upside is that each £1 allows you to have a guess at what my finishing time might be in the Virgin London Marathon thingy in April. Big deal! You might well be curious about the reason for my asking you to guess my finishing time? Well, excitingly, the nearest guess will be rewarded with a choice of my finisher’s medal, my Virgin London Marathon T-shirt etc., the next nearest guess has a choice from whatever remains, and so on, until all the goodies are exhausted. Cool. I am afraid to say that DNF is an acceptable prediction. DNS is a definite no-no. If two guesses are correct, then the next best guess is the decider. [A subtle ploy on my part to squeeze more than a quid out of you]
Procedure to follow when sponsoring:
WIN A 2011 LONDON MARATHON MEDAL
‘You pay – I suffer’ รจ Decide on the amount you wish to donate in sponsorship. Each £1 allows you one guess at my finishing time.
1. On ‘Just Giving’ choose either Tiny Tims or Newlife (web site links will appear here soon) . Ideally I would like to split the donations fairly equally. Put your name/initial/whatever so I know who to contact if you are a winner. I will publish the winning times on my blog. The official London Marathon chip time will be used. (Any disputes will be sent to Coventry).
2. If you see me around and would like to use the Sponsor Form, that is OK. No problem at all!! Sign the form, predict the time, simple. And pay up ...
I will keep a table of predictions on my Blog Colin Kirkham’s London Marathon Trudge.
Check weekly for updates of my progress.
I am,
Yours sincerely,
Colin Kirkham, London Marathon Trudge.
(Please forgive the formality, Blog, but when we become better acquainted, I feel I will be able to become a little more familiar. I shall attempt to keep up our correspondence if time between jogging and sleeping allows.)
P.S. Perhaps you would take it upon yourself to encourage your friends’ friends to invest a quid in this worthwhile cause. You never know, they may win a photograph of me crawling across the finishing line, which of course, I shall sign - the photograph, that is, not the finishing line, although while I’m down there, it should not take all that h extra effort. Blood, sweat , tears or ink?
