Thanks for reading my JustGiving page. I hope that it resonates with you, either as a parent, somebody's son or daughter or just as a fellow ageing would-be-sportsman whose joints have suffered from years of abuse in the quest for ultimately unrealised sporting greatness!

I decided to run the London Marathon as the father of two wonderful kids, Lauren (25 years) and George (30 months). Both have been fortunate to have been born into loving and stable families, where health, home and sustainance were a constant. There are many troubled children, in this country and others, who have not enjoyed unconditional love, and many who run away from unhappy home lives with no-one else to turn to. The Children's Society is working to support those unfortunate kids. And I want to do so too.

That's where my left ankle comes into the picture. Years of pretending to be a better footballer than I really was took their toll on my skeleton, and my aforementioned joint bore the brunt. Frankly when I decided to start running again it was so unhappy we nearly parted company! I have no ligaments in the outside of my left ankle, so it's angst is not without foundation.

That said, I do like running relatively long distances.....well, I did like doing so. Before commencing training for this project the longest distance I had ever run was 10 miles. That was in 1978, the year of my sporting peak, which was the last time I ran 5 miles too! Thirty five years will have passed by the time I cross the start line.

So, in short, I will carry the burden of further skeletal erosion if you will support my efforts with hard cash. In doing so you will be improving (possibly saving) the lives of young people who haven't had the advantages that you have enjoyed. And you will also make an old man very happy!

Many thanks,

Nick