Mark Rutherford
Mark Iz Running
Fundraising for Newcastle Hospitals Charity
Story
This year, on Sunday 23rd May, I will be running the Edinburgh Marathon.
I have decided to dedicate my participation in this event to the memory of Sir Bobby Robson - a true gentleman, a local hero, and somebody I feel very priviledged to have met.
One of my earliest, and fondest, footballing memories is the Italia '90 World Cup, when Sir Bobby led the England squad to within a penalty kick of glory. I was 8 years old and I remember being allowed to stay up late to watch the dramatic semi-final against West Germany. That was the tournament that made me fall in love with football.
I was fortunate enough to be a season ticket holder at St James' Park during Sir Bobby's term as manager, during which he brought exciting, fast-flowing football to the region and took us to the knock-out stages of the Champions' League. In 2009, I was also on the terraces at the England versus Germany rematch, held in aid of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, which the great man himself organised and attended, only days before sadly passing away.
This is my small way of thanking Sir Bobby for some great footballing memories and also for his fantastic work away from football, in setting up the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation in the North East, which is dedicated to finding new ways to detect and treat cancer.
Thankyou for visiting my JustGiving site... if you would like to support this fantastic cause and give me some extra motivation to tackle the marathon (I need all the help I can get!!) then please dig deep and help me to achieve my sponsorship target.
Cheers, Mark
About the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation:
Sir Bobby Robson fought cancer an incredible five times. Sadly, 17 years after his first diagnosis, he lost that long and courageous battle on 31 July 2009. He died very peacefully at his County Durham home with his wife and family beside him.
During the last 18 months of his life, and after retiring from football management, Sir Bobby worked hard towards a new goal - fighting cancer through his charity.
The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation focuses on the early detection and treatment of cancer and the clinical trials of new drugs that will eventually beat it.