They think its all over... (25/09)

Well almost a week has passed and your wondering where have the fabulous trio disappeared to.... well surely someone out there is wondering ?? well at least my Mum asked me !

Theres been plenty of admin stuff going on in the background - raffle prizes and auction prizes now with their rightful owners - American Graffiti outfits washed and ready to be returned - my muscles no longer ache.

What happens next ...

Well very shortly a plethora, lovely word not used often enough, of photographs will start to appear on this blog to round off what has been an amazing success, we will try and add suitably witty captions to delight you as well !

Would we do it all again ?

Wait and see......

x

Pics and Totals (Friday September 19th)

We will keep adding the money as it comes in, can you believe that it already stands at over £10,000. Fantastic.

It will take a while to get all the results up as there are rules and regs regarding collecting the money and physically counting all the buckets of coinage is a huge job in itself. It took me and my daughter over half an hour to count a portion of the half bananathon money so I can't imagine how long this is going to take.



Loads of pictures were taken on the way from various parts of the route by Dave and Darren Nelson, but we won't have them for a few days as Dave is off in Germany taking pictures of Metallica. To say these two gave up their Saturday free gratis is just amazing. Thanks gents.

Piccadilly Gardens Lucozade Stop

Rod Hull and Emo

The Lucozade Sport support van was a vital part of the bananathon, carrying fuel to keep us going throughout the arduous event. I for one drank five or six bottles during the day and it really helped the team of support runners to keep hydrated. Tom the banana would have flaked out had he not kept drinking as temperatures soared into the seventies ripening his yellow skin.

Foxy pays homage to Primark

The idea of a fitness class in the middle of Piccadilly Gardens had been a great one, but with complexities of gaining a licence, not being able to advertise in the immediate vicinity and unavoidably losing our fitness instructor with two days to go it didn't turn out quite as originally planned.

Fay wonders if she has slipped into a parallel universe

Sunshine studios came to the rescue in the shape of Fay, who hours earlier had taught us how to pole dance. She grabbed the megaphone and barked out orders to the crew whilst a crowd of over-excited Emos grabbed the only parts of me which were left covered as I attempted to work muscles that had been on the go for over seven hours. Fay did a brilliant job leading us through a routine comprising star jumps, lunges and, most evilly, situps.

We collected some money at this point also as we chanced upon Stockport Harriers Coaches Beav and Tooley who were on their way to watch Manchester's footballing version of the Harlem Globe Trotters.

Big thanks to Lucozade Sport and Sunshine Studios.

Tarzan

x

Morrisons (£650)

Reddish Vale on the recce

The route from The Fir Tree to Morrisons gave us our only glimpse of proper greenery as we worked our way through Reddish Vale. Stockport has a wonderful network of pathways alongside canals, rivers and lakes that are a haven for runners, If you know your way around you can run in the countryside for miles whilst always being close to a Greggs.

Last one through the arch gets walloped

Through the magic banana archway was the haven of Morrisons Bredbury where our task was to pack shopping into customers bags. The chap who bought a sliced white loaf, a bottle of vodka and two cans of Relentless was happy to make a donation as I realised that cashiers must be akin to doctors or hairdressers in their knowledge of their customers lifestyles. The checkout operators were decked in Leukaemia Research t shirts and one worker came in on his day off and dressed as a banana to join in. Whilst Jane and the banana continued judging the eating habits of Stopfordians I was lured outside and squeezed into a shopping trolley for the sake of art.

Rear right. Support driver Talib holds up a supermarket

A combined effort of staff fundraising and a tillside collection brought in a staggering £650. Thanks and well done to Morrisons Bredbury

Off my trolley

Tarzan

x

Sweatshop (£298)

Attacked by a pack of hungry Puma.

(Tarzan had asked for a pair of size 10 PUMA Complete EUTOPIA to cover up his modesty - however we found a size 3 was sufficient)

By the time we reached Sweatshop in Hyde at just after 1pm we had already covered around fifteen miles and passed the highest point of the course at Smith Knight Fay in Gee Cross. We were running a minute late at this point as we had stopped for a loo break at Woodley precinct (both traps were occupied much to the Banana's disappointment) and popped in to say hello at Bowlacre Home where bizarrely Emmerdale was on in the day room.

The Sweatshop team had done us proud with a table laid out at one end of the store with drinks and that well known runners fuel Jam Doughnuts. Des Gibbons, whose lookalike we had seen earlier at the entrance to Stockport Merseyway Centre entertained us with a rap:

"After over three hours on your feet

This Homer food will be a treat

Hey pretty lady, take a seat

Do you shave your legs or do you use Veet?"

You will go to the ball - only PUMA Complete INFINITUS would fit !

We pulled a raffle for three fantastic prizes (if you haven't heard then I am afraid you didn't win), there was much hilarity when East Cheshire Harriers legend Harry Kelly won second prize as he had coached 'Jane' when he/she was in his teens.

The Nelson brothers took a load of great photographs, including the two shown here and we went on our merry way with Leukaemia Research having an extra £298 to spend.

PS I made it up about the rap.

Tarzan

The Fir Tree - £1050

On the recce the week before

Well the legs are well on the road to recovery and Tarzan, Jane and the Banana have already been out running again (Jane stupidly doing a recovery run at 10pm on Sunday night).

One of the noisiest parts of our epic journey was through the busy street of Reddish - a combination of a bear on a motorbike, Tarzan, Jane and the Banana and a plethora of volunteers following brought the centre of Reddish to a standstill - this called for a dual strategy of collectors on both sides of the road getting the cars as they stopped at the traffic lights - it worked a treat - with people shouting, car horns beeping we saw our next stop The Fir Tree and were greeted by the amazing Bananathon Cheerleaders.

Inside the the pub the place was hotting up as preparations for the two big football matches of the day got underway, we even found time to share a quick pint of lager !

A fantastic amount of money was raised over Friday and Saturday night (£1050) as the pub donated the door takings for both nights.

Lots of photo opportunities with Tarzan sprawled across the bar, one lucky punter positioned herself stage left to have a good gawp at his chimp-pants (was it Stotty in disguise?) , 10 minutes later we were on our way again....

Lets hear it for the The Fir Tree Reddish !!

Manchester Casino - £1000

Well the money has now started to roll in good style - over £5,000 with only a couple of the venues included so far.


One of my favourite stops on Saturday has to be Manch235ter Casino - real James Bond stuff (not like any of us were dressed like or looked like James Bond).

In through the smoked glass door, with what looked like an excellent restaurant to our left, and then upstairs to find out what our task would be - remember by this time we had run approximately 30 miles so we were hoping for something not too hard and difficult.


We were led by Miss Moneypenny (I cant remember the ladies real name, but Miss Moneypenny fits...) - she led us to a roulette table and asked the croupier to hand each of the three of us £250 in chips (A big of fish and chips would have been welcome at this stage of the day also).


So with £750 in chips we were told we had one spin of the wheel and could bet on evens bets (red or black, odd or even numbers) - after much deliberation we opted for Tom putting his on black and me and Tony on red (Tom Holloway suggested Red because it was LRF's colour)... the wheel was spun, the ball expertly thrown in and with the magic clunking noise the roulette wheel makes as the ball jumps around it landed on........ red !!!


One thousand pounds in the bank !!! Ooohh yes !!! Result


It was counted out for us in crisp new fifty pound notes.

Thank you Manch235ter Casino.

Ebay auctions (15/09)

We have two ebay auctions on the go for two fantastic donated items. Both are boxed and new.

Verity Rushworth aka Emmerdale's Donna Windsor Dingle Modelling The Watch

Auction One is for a Versace Fabourg Watch donated by Chisholm Hunter. This retails at around £750 and is currently without a bid at a reserve of £400, an absolute bargain for such a beautiful timepiece. There are a number of pictures and a full description on the ebay page.




Auction Two is for a Farida Bass Guitar donated by Dawsons Music in Manchester. This item currently has one bid at £100 but bought from Dawsons would go for £160. Another bargain. Again, details on the ebay page.

If you are interested or know anyone who might be, please bid.

Tarzan x

Silence is golden... (16/09)

Tarzan head over heels at the auction results

Well the first results are starting to roll in so lets start with the silent auction at Tiger Tiger, some excellent prizes donated by some wonderful people. Initial bidding was slow but as the evening wore on and the drink started to flow so did the bids.......


Laptop - £150 - John Hulse
Man U vs Bolton Wanderers - £70 - 'Jane'
Blackburn Rovers vs Man City - £300 - Mike Jackson
Gold Guitar - £120 - John Hulse
Emmerdale script - £151 - J Abbott (Blue Rainbow)
Fine Dining at the Midland - £105 - Tom Holloway
Lucky Voice Pod at Tiger Tiger - £30 - Andy Murphy
Coronation Street Tour - £151 - Will Hannah (Blue Rainbow)
Blue Rainbow - £60
Signed picture of Joe Jordan - £5 - Andy Murphy
Signed picture of Bryan Robson £20 - Chris (Badger) Craig


An amazing total of £1162 - outstanding !

Send us your pics and thoughts

If you have any photos, videos or thoughts about the day, that you would like to share on the blog then please send them to us at bananathon@hotmail.com. Whether you were involved in the event as a volunteer, venue, partner or just enjoyed party at Tiger Tiger your input will help us find out what you thought of it and maximise the effect of the event.

Keep watching

Tarzan

x

Bananatastic! Saturday September 13th 2008

Wahaaaaaay! We did it! What a day! What a night!

During the week we will fill you in on all the stories and events from the day and let me tell you, there are many ( one of my favourite moments was talking to Dominic as he DJ'd, he suddenly shifted his gaze to outside the window and shouted "look at that guy" as a man dressed as a gorilla/monkey/creature off Doctor Who passed by on a motorbike, "Oh, that's Brian, he's with us" I replied).

We don't have a total yet, but will have by the end of the week, so keep reading.

So for now it's just a list of Thank You's. If I miss anyone off, I'm sorry, there are so many people to remember.

Thanks to everybody from the half bananathon and all the support we have had from the Media in the build up to the day.

Thanks to everybody from all the venues, we will name people individually in the reports during the week, you were all fantastic, thanks so much for embracing the event as you did (I know two venues who have raised £1,000 so far, amazing!).

Thanks to Suzy Dee and all at Tiger Tiger for a great party. To White Van Man, Lee, DJ Grimesy, Drase (the Manchester Beatbox Champion), FTAV Sound of Harrogate, Charlie & Dom.

Thanks to Puma for the sports wear, Lucozade sport for the support van and product, to Dave and Darren Nelson for photographing the whole event and Channel M for covering the early stages. Blue Rainbow for the beautiful apartments.

Thanks to Talib and Brian for the support vehicles and all the fantastic support runners from Stockport Harriers who carried buckets and collected on the day, some of them running the whole distance; Steve, Gerry, Simon, Andy, John, Sharon, Tony and Lee who also designed and printed the tickets and drank the most Cider at Tiger Tiger.

Massive thanks to the Leukaemia Research Team and all the volunteers who collected, especially Gill, Tom, Serena, Sally, Kate and Alex who took the brunt of the many jobs that needed doing in the build up and on the day.

Thanks to Sean and Tom who have worked so hard for this event over the last few months and to our partners and families who have had to put up with obsessed strangers for the bulk of it.

Thanks to everyone who donated to LRF. You did yourselves and Manchester proud and your money will be well spent.

Now, time for more sleep

Tarzan x

Blue Rainbow the morning after, In Steve Jones' pants.

The night before the big day - (12/09)

What a ridiculously long day - and the marathon due to start in less than 10 hours !

6:00am start to be at Channel M studios, dash across Manchester to the BBC studios, Tony off to Granada, me and Tom some last minute checks at the venues Manto, Sunshine Studios, American Graffiti and to pick up some evening wear from American Graffiti.

Back home for a quick change, back down Manchester for a team meeting/briefing session, quick bite to eat into Virgin Active to meet a nice chap called Martin - dash down the A6 and A57 putting up posters - bring it on Manchester, bring it on !!!

The last post

what a day

Channel M Breakfast first thing, then on to Becky Want's Coffee Club on BBC Radio Manchester. Lots of last minute phone calls and emails, a couple of wind ups thrown in for good measure. Another auction prize, donated by Blue Rainbow Apartments, an auction prize changed (if you fancied bouncing on the trampolene, it is now a dining set with chairs courtesy of B&M)

Sunshine studios have organised dancers in The Printworks with DJ Grimesy presenting the bananathon's finale. So be sure to get there for about 7.10 to enjoy the spectacle.

Fingers crossed we will have some extra entertainment in the evening in the shape of Manchester's finest beatbox Drase.

We will be signing autographs at Debenhams Children's department, learning to pole dance at Sunshine Studios and playing roulette for charity money at Manch235ter.

After midnight, really must get to bed....see you tomorrow

Thanks to all who have made this event possible x

Time for bed

We also have an eBay auction for three items up and running, but in the morning the three of us are on Channel M's breakfast show and have to be there at 6.45am, then on to Heather Stott's Coffee Club on BBC Radio Manchester at 9am.

Tomorrow will be a long day with our first get together of the entire team in the evening (perhaps we have left it a bit late), so it's time to catch some sleep because on Saturday we have a marathon to run....with a difference.

PS. Just had a great email asking for 30 tickets for Tiger Tiger

And don't forget, scroll down and you can get a great offer at Blue Rainbow Apartments in Manchester. All the One Bedroomed apartments have now gone, but you can still bag a 5 star luxury apartment for only £95 including VAT for the night of the Bananathon. Go on, treat yourself.

Tarzan

x

Auction Two

At Tiger Tiger on Saturday September 13th throughout the night there will be a host of items to bid on in a silent auction. What's a silent auction? It's an auction where you write your name and bid on a piece of paper and hope that your bid is the biggest. Here are a few of the tempting treats up for auction. For best results get absolutely leathered before you bid.

Framed photographs of Manchester United Legends Bryan Robson and Joe Jordan with signatures.

Matchday Package for 2 people to watch Manchester United v Bolton Wanderers on Saturday 27th September 2008. Package includes Official match ticket, Match Programme, Megastore Discount Voucher and Meal Voucher for Harry Ramsdens. Donated by Co-op Travel, Denton


Matchday Package for Blackburn Rovers versus Manchester City on Sunday 28th December 2008, with a host of extras supplied by Blackburn Rovers FC

A gold Farida electric guitar donated by Dawsons Music. This guitar will be played by White Van Man's very own guitar legend The Twad for one song during the Tiger Tiger

Fine Dining Package at The Midland Hotel. Overnight accommodation in a deluxe Twin or Double RoomFour Course Dinner For Two in the French Restaurant (from the Gastronomique menu)Wine & Chocolates in your room on arrival and a pre-dinner glass of champagne in the Octagon Lounge or Wyvern BarFull English Breakfast in The Colony Restaurant the following morning.This prize is valid until 13th March 2009 and subject to availability.Donated by The Midland Hotel
Signed Emmerdale script of the Tom King Murder episode screened on Christmas Day 2006. Signed by Patrick Mower (Rodney), Sian Reece Williams (Gennie) , Steve Halliwell (Zak), Tony Audenshaw (Bob), Andy Devine (Shadrack), Alex Carter (Jamie), Paula Tilbrook (Betty), Billy Hartman (Terry), Duncan Preston (Douglas), Nick Miles (Jimmy King), Steve Farebrother (McNally) and seven more artistes.

Brand new Intel Celeron notebook with Windows XP Home and MS Works plus full one year warranty selling for under £200 (Inc VAT) • Intel Celeron M 350 (1.3GHz) processor, 256MB DDR RAM • 40GB hard disk and combo CD-RW/DVD ROM • 14.1" TFT colour display (1024 x 768 resolution) • Touchpad pointing device, integrated sound and speaker • 4 x USB 2.0 ports, parallel, serial, VGA and PS/2 ports • Internet and e-mail hot keys, Kensington lock security slotSupplied with MS Windows XP Home, Microsoft Works 8.0, NTI CD/DVDMaker and Bullguard Anti-Virus (trial version)

With bonus USB Wifi attachment.

ECS Elitegroup are a large Taiwanese OEM manufacturer of motherboards and notebooks - supplying many household names in the computer trade.
Brand new One year warranty
Further details on the ECS website

Donated by Morgan Computers

Auction One

Ape and Apple, John Dalton Street, Saturday 13th September 2008. 6.20pm

Three items in a ten minute auction as part of Tarzan's Bananathon

Lot One: An Emmerdale script signed by 16 cast members

Lot Two: A framed photograph of Manchester United Legend Norman Whiteside with signature.

Lot Three: A gallon of beer, provided by the Ape and Apple.

Shopping spree... (11/09)

My last two runs in full costume had proved difficult from a make-up point of view with most of it running down my face - so today I have treated myself to some Rimmel 8 hour colour mouse for my eyes and some Rimmel alarm red lipstick.

I've even tried it on and I look great !!!

What was slightly worrying was how easy I found it to put it on.

Jane

x

Great Yorkshire Run - (11/09)

The Tarzans Bananathon team took to the streets of Sheffield in style last Sunday and here's a few pictures of them during the day - what a great LRF team effort on the day and what a great welcome from the people of Sheffield !

Bad hair day !

We also finsihed first 'costumed' athletes as well - whoop whoop !

Ticket sales - (10/09)

Blimey (as they say in Dick Van Dyke films) - all I seem to have done all day is deliver tickets sell tickets, collect tickets, lose tickets, find the tickets I though I'd lost, then write raffle tickets out for people, explain what the raffle prizes are, explain what they are again - great fun though !

Raffle tickets for the draw at Sweatshop Hyde are going down a treat but Party tickets for Tiger Tiger are going even better - don't forget give Tony, Sean a Tom a shout for your tickets for Saturdays Party or you can pay on the door, but get there early to avoid disappointment and perhaps having to watch through a steamed up window !

Did anyone see the fabulous trio (Tarzan, Jane and The Banana) on Channel 5 last night ?

Music. The Third Instalment.

The Tiger Tiger After Bananathon Party will be a feast of musical delights with Dominic Brunt playing an early evening set at 8pm, followed by Charlie Hardwick playing Motown and Soul at 8.30pm.

Once White Van Man have finished strutting our stuff at around 10pm, Dominic will get to work on the decks in the VIP Lounge with Charlie on a busman's holiday from her character's Woolpack role serving drinks to customers. Who knows who else will be tempted to spin their favourite tracks?

Music (The Second Instalment)

White Van Man rehearsed our Tiger Tiger set last night and I have to say we sounded pretty darn good. We will be playing for an hour at 9pm prompt at Tiger Tiger .

At 5pm we will be playing the three song gig in the window of Dawsons Music on Portland Street.

You can vote for the song you would most like us to play by visiting a special page from Dawson's website here. You can also vote in the shop by ticking the box next to the song you would prefer to hear.

Later in the week you will be able to bid on a fantastic Farida bass and electric guitar.

Music. The First Instalment

If you want to start supporting Tarzan's Bananathon on Friday 12th September then get down to the Fir Tree where Paul Hand is playing a set and the proceeds of the door are going to Leukaemia Research Fund. The same goes for Saturday night where, if you are not at the party of the year at Tiger Tiger, Gizell is in residence.

Tarzan's Bananathon get to The Fir at 11.35am on Saturday for 10 minutes, so be sure to be there to have a pint pulled by the team and stay around to watch Man Utd play Liverpool.

Who wants to be Number 1 - (08/09)

Ever wanted to have that number 1 race number on your vest or t-shirt in a race ?

Well now is your chance !!

As part of their fund raising for Tarzan's Bananathon Sweatshop in Hyde are running a raffle with a runners dream of a prize list :-

Running shoes of your choice

25% discount off Sweatshop for 12 months

Free entry for 5 years into The Stockport 10, Offerton 10K and Trafford 10K races

.... and

Number 1 race number for all these races also - awesome !

Excellent runner up prize list also with shoes from Puma and Mizuno and free race entries.

If anyone wants to buy a raffle ticket pop into the Sweatshop store on Market Street, Hyde or also available from Stockport Harriers.

Prize winners will be drawn lunchtime Saturday 13 September

GOOD LUCK !

Spooky

For some reason, Mistaken Identity has posted after Rainbow's End. Make sure you scroll down and have a look at our wonderful accommodation partner. Blue Rainbow Apartments.

Tarzan

Mistaken Identity (Saturday September 6th)

Teresa and Alice with their special guest.

Now, I have been mistaken for a few people in my time.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, Kevin Rowland from Dexy's, Figo, Shane Ritchie, Nigel off Eastenders (when I carried a bit of weight and had curly hair) and Steve Strange to name but a few. But the ladies at Gala Bingo in Belle Vue set their sights a little higher when they saw me chatting to Gala's Joanne Parfitt and LRF's Gill Edwards this week.

"Ooh look who it is"

"What's he doing here"

"Why is he at Gala?"

"I never thought I'd see Prince Charles in here"

Prince Charles! I think studying those bingo cards must have affected their eyesight. The lovely ladies above were not so easily fooled. I am "Him whose missus is inside".

There will be a lot more snippets from Jane and The Banana over the next few days, well from all of us really, from Monday on expect multiple posts every day.

Tarzan x

Rainbow's End (Sunday September 7th)

Lounge

If you fancy stopping in five star luxury accommodation after the Bananathon Party at Tiger Tiger at an amazingly low price then you will be pleased to hear that those lovely people at Blue Rainbow Apartments, (Winner of the best serviced apartments in Manchester award from hotelsofmanchester.com 2007), are offering a special low rate for supporters of the event.

When I say special, I mean really special, Five Star apartments at one star prices.

Bedroom

If you go to www.bluerainbowapartments.com and quote 'Banana' you will be eligible to pay :

just £75 (inc VAT) for a one bedroomed apartment that sleeps two

and just £95 (inc VAT) for a two bedroomed apartment that sleeps four.

The offer goes live on the internet on Monday morning, but if you can't wait until then phone in your booking (again quoting 'Banana') on 0161 236 6439.

Kitchen (Attractive woman with tea towel not included)

Not only that but Blue Rainbow are the official accommodation partner of Tarzan's Bananathon and as if they weren't already doing enough, for every room booked at this special rate they will donate £5 to Leukaemia Research.

These apartments are absolutely fantastic, have a look here to see what you get in the rooms. The two bedroomed apartments have two bathrooms, so only the kitchen and lounge is shared. Four people for £95. That's less than £24 each. It's amazing.

Book early to get the most out of this wonderful offer.

Big, big thanks to Jane at Blue Rainbow and to Suzy at Tiger Tiger for the introduction.

Tarzan

The Final Venue (Friday September 5th)

Here we are with a week to go, announcing the final venue.

It's a house in Reddish where Tarzan, Jane and The Banana will be serving a barbecue to guests in the front garden. (Unless the marvellous Manchester weather decides otherwise)

We started naming venues way back in June with Manchester Royal Infirmary where research programmes are funded by the charity and we finish with the house of someone whose life has been changed by the work of Leukaemia Research.

Let's leave it to Dan Makin to explain why he is involved with Tarzan's Bananathon.

"I feel very privileged to be contributing to the Bananathon, it will be an incredible accomplishment for Tony, Sean and Tom. They really should be congratulated on all the hard work they have put in.

I was diagnosed with ‘Hairy Cell Leukaemia’ last year. It is quite a rare form of leukaemia and usually affects people much older than me (I’m 30)

Unfortunately, at this stage there is no cure, but the chemotherapy I received last year is keeping the levels of cancer cells in my blood at a low level and as a consequence allowing me to live as normal a life as possible.

Hopefully this will last for a few years at which time I will have some more chemo which should have the same effect. That is unless a drug is developed which can cure this type of leukaemia once and for all.

It is through the Leukaemia Research Fund that future developments in treatment and cure of leukaemia are discovered. It is therefore a charity which is very important to me and my family.

We are so proud to be taking part in this charity event which no doubt will raise a fantastic amount of money to help the thousands of children and adults affected by leukaemia.

Good luck Tony, Sean and Tom!"

And good luck to you Dan, thanks so much for being involved.

Right, that's it 26 venues in place. Over the next week there will be multiple posts covering all facets of the bananathon. We have some great pictures and lots of exciting news to reveal so keep reading

Tarzan x

Tickety Boo (Thursday September 4th)

With all but one of the 26 venues revealed, ticket sales for the after Bananathon Party at Tiger Tiger have become our priority. Posters are popping up in all sorts of places advertising the event (above is one from the front door of Sunshine Studios), by the middle of next week Manchester will be awash with them. About 500 tickets are already spoken for, which isn't bad for a Saturday night early evening, but we want to sell many more. Tiger Tiger doesn't usually charge on the door until 10pm, so every penny of the £5 entry fee goes directly to Leukaemia Research. It's no good paying at the door at five past ten to get in, get there nice and early to enjoy the fun.

What's on offer?

The usual Tiger Tiger hospitality and great choice of rooms and food.

A few surprise celebrity DJs (fans of a Yorkshire based ITV serial drama may be familiar with them), names to be revealed next week. (I am particularly looking forward to the soul and Motown set)

A raffle and silent auction (ie not one of those boring ones that go on forever) with prizes and items including two guitars, a laptop computer, a £500 Debenhams clothing voucher, a fine dining package at the Midland Hotel, a matchday package at Manchester's richest.....er second richest football club where Cristiano Ronaldo should be playing his comeback game and an 8ft trampolene with enclosure!

The chance to see how much smaller some people off the telly look in real life.

A gig from the band that Simon Cowell gave 0 out of ten 10 to, yet played to 3,500 people earlier this year at Blackpool Empress Ballroom and were so well received were asked back to play next year. Yes, John Underberg, Alan Varnish, Dave Thunderchild, Elvis Whitevan and THE TWAD aka White Van Man will be blistering their way through a set of tunes including songs originally done by the likes of The Killers, Pigeon Detectives, Kaiser Chiefs and Dolly Parton. As seen on Stars In Their Eyes, Emmerdale and at The Royal Albert Hall. For one night only. White Van Man play Tiger Tiger.

If all that is not enough for you, why not splash out £25 for a VIP ticket where you get all of the above plus:

A fancy wristband

A seat in The Lounge

Use of the VIP loos (ideal for those with a weak bladder and a penchant for wanting to feel important)

A delicious meal (served between 7.30pm and 8.30pm)

The chance to be served by someone off the telly

The satisfaction of knowing that the bulk of your ticket money is going to Leukaemia Research.

Click here to see how to upgrade to a VIP package.

Please spread the word about the party, it's a simple equation, the more people we get in Tiger Tiger, the more money we raise. If we fill the place we will take £7,000 in tickets alone and LRF can really make use of that money, so please tell your mates. If you would like a poster advertising the event for your works common room or canteen, whatever, just contact me, Sean or Tom and we will get one to you post haste.

Personally, I have felt really tired and demoralised this week. I didn't really recover from the half bananathon on Saturday and was a bit like a zombie at work on Tuesday resulting in me getting more and more stressed about the event as the week has gone on. I have just felt like I have been getting on people's nerves in badgering them to do stuff and not achieving anything myself. Everytime I cleared one job another two seemed to surface and I couldn't see the wood for the trees

I had a meeting tonight with my wife Ruth and Tom the Banana. Two hours later we have a list of jobs and things that we need doing that we have split between the team up here and LRF head office. It's like a massive weight off my mind and I feel re-energised and hungry for the challenge again.

My on screen character Bob is going through the mill on screen at the moment and if you don't watch Emmerdale you can get a pretty good idea of what is going on by watching the ITV interview here. Nothing about the Bananathon, but plenty of stress and a good deal of nostril flaring.

Tarzan x

235 is 25 (Wednesday September 3rd)

Venue 25 to be named is Manchester 235 Casino. They are keeping their donation under wraps, even the activity is a mystery although we can exclusively reveal it will be roulette related.

Those who remember casinos as smoky holes where desperados head for an after hours pint will be amazed at the style and luxury of Manch235ter. It is in all in one contemporary venue with two restaurants, bars, a live music and comedy room and of course a host of gaming. Tucked between Peter Street and Deansgate in The Great Northern, it is a veritable Tardis and well worth a visit for a great night out.

The 'no fancy dress' policy may be an obstacle to overcome or an added incentive to visit at about 5.50pm on Saturday 13th September as Tarzan, Jane and The Banana may end up appearing there in the buff.

Big thanks to Manch235ter. One more venue to go.

"After six and a bit hours of sheer hell, you're going to get thirsty..." (Tuesday September 2nd)

....isotonic Lucozade Sport" as John Barnes used to say before he kicked his can into the bin. Well he's not the only one who'll be drinking the sports fuel that 'gets to your thirst fast' as Lucozade Sport are really getting behind Tarzan's Bananathon in a big way. Not only are they supplying product to keep us going throughout the ten hours on our feet, they are providing a branded support vehicle to transport our gear through the streets of Manchester.

But that is not all, because at about 4.40pm on Saturday September 13th they will be laying claim to a corner of Piccadilly Gardens and holding a fitness class with Tarzan Jane and The Banana. This is an ideal opportunity to come along and join in with the Bananathon and get some exercise at the same time.

The Lucozade Sport website is really flash and well worth a visit, I've been using their gels for years in marathons and have a strategy of taking them with water at mile 8, 13, 18 and 22. For the bananathon we have been advised to use Lucozade product and little pots of savoury food little and often en route. Tom the Banana particularly is going to have to watch his hydration wearing that hot costume, so we reckon he will slurp the most.

Eleven days to go, two venues to reveal....................it's nearly Bananathon time.

Tarzan

Thank You (Monday September 1st)

Just a big thank you today to everybody involved in Saturday's Half Bananathon. You helped to raise £714.83 for Leukaemia Research. Which means our total so far as shown on www.justgiving.com/bananathon is £1,212.03.