Former Sunderland manager Peter Reid has said he is "honoured" to take on the Great North Run at 70 years old for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. Reid, who played for England under Sir Bobby at the Mexico 1986 World Cup, is raising money for the charity's new world-leading cancer drug trial centre.
Funds for the Sir Bobby Robson Institute
All funds raised will go towards the £30million Sir Bobby Robson Institute, part of the Newcastle Hospitals Charity, which is estimated to directly impact 3.5million people locally. Donning a football-themed Sir Bobby's Team t-shirt alongside the rest of the foundation's supporters, Reid will be running on Sunday, September 13.
Reid, who turned 70 in June, said: "I last did the Great North Run when I was at Sunderland. In fact, I think I wore a red and white shirt with a monkey's head on the back to wind up the Newcastle fans!"
Personal motivation
"I also started the run alongside Sir Bobby, which was very special. I've done a few 10ks over the years but when I heard about The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, and everything it's trying to do building this new institute, I wanted to help."
"My 70th feels like a landmark, and I quite like working towards goals so this felt right. You read so many things about cancer and obviously we lost Sir Bobby and more recently Kevin Keegan to it. Really, you think, there but for the grace of God go I."
"My daughter had cervical cancer and thankfully her treatment was successful but cancer is something we all live with. We can fight against cancer together and I'm proud to be running for Sir Bobby's Foundation."
"He was a wonderful man, a really warm man who was always great with me. It will be an honour to do the Great North Run for his charity."
Sir Bobby's Team runners
Other fundraisers taking part in the run under the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation banner include his family, cancer patients, clinical trial researchers, and the construction workers who will be building the institute. Many are running to pay thanks for cancer treatment their loved ones are going through, and in memory of those they have lost to the disease.
Mark Robson, Sir Bobby's son and Chair of the charity, said: "The Great North Run is important to us every year, but there's no doubt this time will be extra special for our runners as we push hard to finish fundraising for the Sir Bobby Robson Institute."
"Dad called his foundation his 'last and greatest team', and we're very grateful to everyone taking on this challenge for us. It's especially meaningful that, 40 years after playing for Dad at the World Cup in Mexico, Peter is still playing a key part in his team."
"We love the idea of all our runners running under the banner of Sir Bobby's Team and hope they all love our football style running t-shirts as much as we do."
Fundraising progress
So far, an initial £20million was raised to complete the Sir Bobby Robson Institute by long-standing supporters and fundraisers, with a group of generous funding donors, including The Barbour Foundation, bringing the total raised for the institute up to £28.5million.
