<p>**Update**</p> <p>Very pleased to report that I completed the London marathon in 4 hours and 20 minutes (and 30 seconds). I'm a bit sore today, moving slowly, two toenails are turning black, one huge popped blister, and a bit of sunburn on my nose.&nbsp; I am also very, very pleased with my run. Thank you all very much for your generous donations.&nbsp; A more detailed report by email (if I know your email) will follow in due course...</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: &amp;amp;quot;Arial&amp;amp;quot;,&amp;amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;amp;quot;;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p>In 2005 a friend of mine was rushed to hospital with a headache so severe that he was still in pain after morphine was administered. It turned out he had a benign tumour&nbsp;on&nbsp;his pituitary gland which had started bleeding and causing pressure on his brain and his optic nerve. He had an emergency operation and was very ill for a while. He lost the sight of one eye for a few weeks. He's fine now, though he has to swallow pills, rub on gels and inject himself every day - it's amazing just how much is controlled by the pituitary. He and his wife told me often just how much they had depended on the Pituitary Foundation for information, help and support. I was already running then and I told him that if I ever got a place in the London marathon I would use it as an opportunity to raise funds for the Foundation. Now the opportunity has arrived.</p> <p>It has been over 4 years since I ran my first marathon in Dublin (raising sponsorship for Shelter) and since then I have been injured for more time that I have been fit.&nbsp; However, this time last year I started to build up my training very, very slowly.&nbsp; I set out at first running 2 miles, 3 times a week and with a very careful build up found that I was back at full fitness in time to take part in Cardiff half marathon in October.&nbsp; I managed to achieve my first sub 2 hour half marathon at that race - something that I would never have believed possible in the March of the same year.&nbsp; I have since repeated this with a sub-2 hour half at Wokingham this February.</p> <p>I am hoping very much to achieve under 4 hours 30 minutes at London.&nbsp; My training so far has gone to plan, but I am well aware that any marathon distance run can be completely unpredictable so ultimately I simply want to complete the distance and enjoy the experience of the big city event.</p> <p>Pituitary disorders can impact people at all stages of life and the Foundation aims to provide support and information to all those impacted including patients, their relatives friends and carers. I would very much appreciate any sponsorship that you are able to give.</p> <p>Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving &ndash; they&rsquo;ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they&rsquo;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&rsquo;s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.</p> <p>So please dig deep and donate now.</p>