I did something really silly and entered the ballot for the London Marathon. Unfortunately this was successful, and I now have to actually run 26.2 miles.

Having never run a marathon, or a half marathon, or actually much farther than Klute, this is a slight issue.

But, as of yesterday I have finally reached the half way mark, and thus feel I can legitimately say I am 'running' the London Marathon, as opposed to crawling it. (Although I am still looking into the possibility of wearing heelys.)

Being the nice person that I am, I thought I can't possibly take all the benefits that this amazing opportunity brings, I must give something back. (Not a hint of sarcasm I assure you) So I am running for the charity 'Hope Against Cancer Foundation''

It is a local charity (for me anyway) and something that my family has been very involved in, and feels very close to since my mum began her fight against cancer in October 2008. Without meaning to sound too doom and gloom, cancer is something that will affect us all in some way or another, and I can say from first-hand experience that charities like this really do make a difference, they really do give you hope. Cancer research charities rely mostly on public support as they get very limited funding from the government.

Hope Against Cancer aims to raise money to fund cancer research, treatment and care in the Leicestershire and Rutland area, and currently supports numerous PhD research posts, clinical fellowships, and a nursing fellowship.  For more information: http://www.hfcr.org/

Thus I ask of you 2 things:

1.) Spare a few pounds to a very good cause and in the process make it even harder for me to find an excuse out of it.

2.) If you see me in the bar, glass of wine in hand, take it off me and send me home. Running when hungover just doesn’t work, in fact, it is horrendous.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.