I turn 40 at the end of October and I wanted to mark the sad occasion with something memorable. It was my intention to run a half Marathon this year and perhaps run a full Marathon next year.

Always one to be a bit bold I have decided to cram 20 Weeks of training into 12 and commit to a full Marathon this year. I have not just chosen any Marathon ( if there is a thing! ) I have chosen what is widely considered the hardest European Marathon. Starting from the base of Mount Snowdon its a 4 mile road climb then a 17 Mile road Traverse then the final 5 miles its cross country with steep climbs and decents.

I have chosen a charity called Myeloma UK they have been a regstered charity since 1997 and they support the care and research into a type of Cancer of the white blood cells. All of us have or know someone close to us that have been affected or are being affected by Cancer and I ask you to give generously.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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.

So please dig deep and donate.

Updates;

Week 1 - Training went surprisingly well so on track.

Week 2 - On Holiday only had 1 run so bombed out a bit!!!!

Week 3 - Back on track completed an 8 miler this week, my pace is a bit slow but I am getting old!

Week 4 - Completed 10 Miler on Monday, my pace is picking up a bit now and I climbed Snowdon on the weekend and viewed the course.

Week 5 - Completed 1/2 Maraton at reasonable pace this week, pace still picking up and training going really well. Entered a 10K in Stratford in a couple of weeks.

Week 6 - Completed a 15 Mile run this week, GEEZ!!!! Was a bit weary at end. I have entered a half Marathon at Kenilworth at the start of October as a warm up to the big event.

Week 7 - Ran 16 miles in my long run this week, was a lot easier than the 15 last week. The training is getting harder now as the light is going in the evenings. My body has started to get a few aches and pains that stick around a bit but I guess that's to be expected.

Week 8 - Clocked up over 30 Miles this week and started TaeKwonDo with Lucy on my rest days. Had a 10k Competition on Saturday and came in at 51 mins, 3 minutes under what I have been doing in training so that gave me a boost. Lost my running buddy Kelly this week due to a stress fracture which was upsetting for her and us all but she will be back running in no time. ( Just noticed that my weekly updates are getting longer each week! )

Week 9 - Ran the 18 miler on Saturday - was not in good shape as it was so hot! But somehow dragged myself around it, there is no doubt coming this far that I can and will complete this now. So I will start to send out for sponsorship now, please donate all you can..... Surely paying to see me to go through this pain has got to be worth something!

Week 10 - Ran 20 miles on Saturday, was quite a good run apart a dodgy moment that I had between 17 & 18 miles but soon got back on track. That's my last really long run till the race so I was glad to get it completed.

Week 11 - Ran my first Half Marathon at Kenilworth, in training the best times I have hit were around 2h 7mins, but I finished at 1h 55mins so was very happy with time. Have a bit of a achiles pain at moment but will rest it a bit this week or get some physio on it. (Less than 3 weeks now!!!!!) 

Week 12 - Finished my back to back Half Marathons, completed Birmingham in 1h 48 Minutes placed me at 2500 out of 12,000 starters. Was a great day and I was very pleased with the time. I have starting to think about the sub 4 hour mark in Snowdonia now which would have been fantasy a few weeks ago. No big runs left now till the big day!!!!!