Paul to tackle Great North Run to raise money for Guide Dog puppy

Gateshead runner Paul Bambra will have a double target when he tackles the Simplyhealth Great North Run for the third time on September 8.

Paul, 43, who works for GB Lubricants in Gateshead, aims to beat his personal best time of one hour fifty-one minutes while raising a lot of money for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

The charity has been adopted by GB Lubricants and its parent company, Paterson Enterprises in Shrewsbury. The group has pledged to raise £10,000 during 2019 to name and pay for the training of a guide dog puppy.

Ex-soldier Paul, who lives in Low Fell, Gateshead with his wife Vicky and children Bobby, aged six and Poppy, aged four, has worked for GB Lubricants for 16 years as a bulk oil filler. The company has been manufacturing premium quality lubricants in the North East since 1877.

Paul will be easy to spot on the run, as he’ll be the runner wearing a special GB Lubricants shirt. On his two previous Great North Runs, he has raised money for the Prostate Cancer and Sue Ryder charities.

To boost fundraising for Guide Dogs for the Blind, Paul and his workmates have been running in-house competitions and raffles, including a star prize of a day off work.

A fitness enthusiast since his six years with the former 1^st Battalion Light Infantry, Paul runs six miles from home to work and back every day and his training schedule for the Great North Run is going to plan.

“I have run up to 10 miles so far and I won’t do the full 13 miles until closer to the event,” he said. “Running is something that I’ve always done to keep fit and I played cricket, rugby and football in the past.

“The Great North Run is a great event to run in because the crowd is brilliant. I hope to beat my personal best time this year and raise a good sum of money for a very worthwhile cause.”

GB Lubricants’ managing director Paul Booth said: “It’s fantastic that Paul is willing to do the run for such a great cause and everybody at the company is right behind him. Guide Dogs for the Blind is a very popular choice as our adopted charity this year.”

Televised by the BBC, the Great North Run is a half marathon, covering 13.1 miles from Newcastle’s city centre to the coast in South Shields. Last year, 43,000 runners entered and this year’s event s another sell out.

You can donate to Paul’s cause by heading across to his Just Giving Page by clicking here..