Good old Boris! What a guy! I write to ask him to sponsor my charity run in the London Marathon, and back comes the offer of 44Hp a word for a Spectator diary. So here it is (those last few words work out at more than 20p a letter – brilliant). And Boris being so personally loaded with his multimedia earnings, like columns, books, quiz shows, supermarket openings and appearances in Parliament, there’s no doubt a big personal cheque to follow. Top man.
Boris is not the only press magnate to respond to my appeal. Mark Seddon, editor of cash-strapped Tribune, has offered a great item for auction – George Orwell’s stapler. Given Tribune’s continuing financial problems, that really is an act of generosity. Bids for the said item, ladies and gentlemen, are now open. Our biggest fundraiser so far has been a Manchester United shirt signed by the Champions League-winning squad, which raised a £15,000 reserve from the Daily Mirror. Higher bids welcome. And, thanks to my old friend and BBC Breakfast colleague Bob Wilson, I’ve also got an Arsenal shirt signed by the entire squad (bids for all these items to Cathy Gilman on 0207 269 9004). Meanwhile, I’m trying to get my hands on the boot that cut David Beckham.
I’ve done more than 1,400 miles since I got a mileage-clocking pedometer for my birthday last May. But the key at this stage is the long runs to build up stamina, and expectation of the agony to come. The Iraq workload is not making it easy, so once we got back from the Prime Minister’s speech in Glasgow, I took advantage of the big march to ‘go long’ as we call it, safe in the knowledge that the media would be fully occupied with the peace rally. I did nine miles out along the Grand Union Canal towpath, and nine miles back.
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