I've been planning to enter the Highland Cross since I moved to Inverness in 2007 and have finally got round to entering - and was accepted.

The event is a 50-mile duathlon going from Kintail on the west coast to Beauly on the east, 20 miles running off-road on some rough and steep terrain and 30 miles cycling from the head of Loch Affric to Beauly.

You can keep up with my training adventures here and on my website www.BL6.co.uk, Facebook (www.facebook.com/BL6John) and @BL6John on Twitter (www.twitter.com/BL6John).

The Cross has a fine tradition of fundraising for local projects and charities so I hope to raise at least £1000 for this year's nominated charities:

Calman Trust
Cantraybridge College
CCAST Highland
Lucky2BHere
Pufffin Hydrotherapy Pool
Seaforth House

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.