<p>26.2 miles or<br>42.16 kilometres or<br>46,145 yards</p> <p>However you look at it, the marathon is a really long way and on April 29th 2012 I'll be standing at the start of the <a title="Greater Manchester Marathon" href="http://www.greatermanchestermarathon.com/">Greater Manchester Marathon</a>, which is back after a ten-year absence, ready to spend over four hours running without a break.&nbsp;</p> <p><br>Preparing for the race means embarking on a six month training schedule,&nbsp;straight through the winter months in wind, rain, and snow.&nbsp;I'll be training five times a week,&nbsp;running up to 35 miles every week.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I am running my first marathon in aid of&nbsp;a charity that I have been involved with since leaving Manchester in 2007. The <a title="Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group (SWVG)" href="http://swvg-refugees.org.uk/public/">Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group (SWVG)</a>&nbsp;has been helping refugees across Hampshire since it founded in 2001.</p> <p><br>After visiting asylum seekers housed in Winchester Prison in 2001, seven volunteers trained and set up a pilot scheme befriending refugees in Southampton. In the last ten years over 150 visitors have worked with 250 clients, over periods that have lasted several years.&nbsp;SWVG is solely a volunteer organisation, meaning the vast majority of donations go straight to helping refugees rather than paying administration costs.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>For the past three years, I've been a member of the fundraising committee and acted as a visitor for two clients from Kurdistan and the Congo. This has allowed me to&nbsp;<span>see first-hand the incredible work SWVG continues to achieve with minimal resources. As a small charity, SWVG's continued presence is reliant on personal donations and its own fundraising activities.</span></p> <p><br>Ensuring SWVG's work continues into 2012 is motivation enough to keeping me going each step of the way. Please dig deep to sponsor me and directly contribute to the fantastic work carried out for an often-forgotten and mistreated group in society.<br><br>You can follow my training progress every day on <a title="Daily Mile" href="http://www.dailymile.com/people/JamesT7">DailyMile</a> and see the schedule I'm following&nbsp;<a title="here" href="http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/novice2.htm">here</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>