The British Airways Jumbo thumped the runway at Heathrow. I looked up, half asleep and gazed out of the window. Rivulets of rain were pushing across the glass in an uncharted fashion as they tried to make their way to the bottom. It reminded me a lot of my journey over the past year.
It was cold, grey and overcast – a fairly typical warm welcome to London. The plane braked hard and then veered off the runway to find its nominated stand space among its brothers and sisters.
I was exhausted . . . knackered . . . fucked.
This was my second New York roundtrip of the week and everything I had worked so hard for rested on the next few hours.
I had gone over the pitch a thousand times during the very short night but still felt really nervous.
This has to work.
I had no luggage – just a small bri...

For the next few weeks I’m going to give you all an insight into my new book – ‘I Ran The World‘ – with some chapters, photographs, videos and some extra juicy bits of information you definitely don’t know.

For those of you who have followed me for some time on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you will know that I truly believe we can all affect the world in which we live. We do not have to just accept the status quo, sit back and watch policymakers shape a world they think we want to live in.

Change the World

Global populations grow quickly, wars and hostility continue to rage, refugees are constantly displaced and religion continues to divide us. Stubborn disbelievers ignore the reality of climate change, melting glaciers and warming oceans...

This year, almost 4,000 people have crossed the English Channel, in more than 300 small boats. There was a new record of at least 235 arrivals on 6 August. This will only get worse until we address the heart of the issue.

In my book ‘I RAN THE WORLD‘ I describe how this specific issue caused me to write my book:

CHAPTER 21

It was September 2015 and it was my birthday.

I was 61 years old and when I looked in the mirror my dear old Dad looked back at me.

I turned on the BBC news and something incredible happened.

On the screen was a heart-breaking photograph of a dead three-year-old boy. His body had been washed up on a beach in Turkey. 

“Aylan Kurdi and his five-year-old brother, Galip, drowned after their overloaded boat capsized off of the coast of Turkey.” 

I have written my book in the hope that it might inspire just one person (or more) to pick up my Sport Aid torch and RUN THE WORLD again. We need to do it for so many reasons.

This weekend (August 8th/9th, 2020) I am making my kindle version free and hope you all download it and in some way, feel inspired if you read it. Enjoy and let’s change the world together!

Download here

35 years ago today, I was at Wembley Stadium to watch Live Aid. It was an incredible event that changed my life. That day changed everything and life suddenly took a completely new direction.
I write about it all in my book I Ran the World. Chapter 4:

I stood in the crowd at Live Aid just in front of the mixing tower to the right. The view was great and the atmosphere even better. It was a hot, sunny day and the place was buzzing.
This was supposed to be the culmination of a week of fundraising events for Africa. That had been Bob’s plan when we met back in February and I was supposed to have put on 10 sponsored runs last Thursday. 
It didn’t happen.
I was glad.
Sport can do more than a few sponsored runs in the UK.
I look back now with such fondness on what was one of that decade’s mo...

Madonna was a big supporter of Sport Aid ’88 and the Race Against Time and helped launch the USA races by attending a press conference with Mike Tyson. The only thing … Mike didn’t turn up!

Extract from page 218 of ‘I Ran the World’.

Madonna and Mike Tyson agreed to be at the press conference and CARE USA was very happy indeed. On the day of the press conference Tyson was late showing up.
Madonna called him on her mobile phone and told him to ****** hurry up!
Not bad for a little lady.
Tyson was about to take on Michael Spinks to become the undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion!

Read about this and the incredible Sport Aid story in ‘I Ran the World’ out now.

A new challenge from Harlington man who founded Sport Aid

On the surface Harlington entrepreneur Chris Long is a regular guy. But scratch a little deeper and you’ll discover an astonishing secret: this dynamic director of Earthdive, a company devoted to protecting our oceans, was the founder and force behind Sport Aid and Run the World, the biggest mass participation demonstration our planet has ever seen.

Inspired by Bob Geldof and Band Aid, Chris organised this game-changing event 34 years ago. It involved almost 20 million people in 89 countries, running simultaneously to demand action for the famine victims of Ethiopia and Sudan.

He has now written a riveting book on how it all happened...

. . . including the great town of Gateshead. If I remember correctly, the great Steve Cram and Brendan Foster helped a huge turnout in the North East of England – supporting the starving in Africa in Sport Aid and Run the World.

Roberto Perrone interviewed Chris Long about his new book – ‘I Ran the World’ on BBC Three Counties Radio on Friday 29th May, 2020.

Chris is a regular panelist on Roberto’s Family Panel show and takes this opportunity to talk about his book, Sport Aid and more . . .

Click here to listen

To celebrate 34 years ago on May 25th we are giving away a free kindle version of ‘I Ran the World’.

19.8 million runners in 89 countries delivered a petition of blistered feet to the United Nations in New York on this day and we want to celebrate that amazing event.

Just click here to get your free copy (only on the day – May 25th 2020).