Run With Dennis in 2009

By John Freeman on January 1, 2009

So Christmas is over and the New Year celebrations are a vague memory, even if they only were last night. Your 2009 Dennis The Menace calendar is set to January, the Beano and Dennis annuals are both read and you have started the excellent History Of Beano book whilst wearing your Christmas presents of Dennis and Gnasher socks and sipping your warming coffee from your Beano mug and the New Year is stretching out in front of you. Feel like doing something a little more active this year?

Mencap, the British learning disability charity, have used DC Thomson’s Dennis The Menace character for some years to promote their activities and continue the theme in 2009 by entering Team Menace in various marathons and shorter runs around the UK and further afield. They will be at the Flora London Marathon, the Bupa Great Manchester Run, the Bupa Great North Run in Tyneside and are even planning to field a team in the ING New York Marathon. Mencap entrants for these events receive a Dennis The Menace team vest as well as training advice and guaranteed entry to the runs.

More details of the runs that Mencap will be participating in in 2009 are available on the Mencap website.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.