Hello! Thanks for stopping by. You are no doubt a close friend or family member who is intrigued by me and my utter ignorance to the fact I am willing to destroy my legs for charity.

As many of you know, I will be running the London Marathon this year and this is going to be second attempt in smashing an under 4 hours time. I am running on behalf of NSPCC and I wanted to get a little help from my friends to get closer to my goal.

TLDR: If my friendship, my "sob story" and my threat to beg at your feet doesn't convince you. I am offering some fun incentives for you to get involved in. Read on!

Well, this won't be my first marathon. My first was two years ago, and it was through my running club, the London Frontrunners. I've told many who felt obliged to ask about my horrific journey that had me smooth'ish sailing until the half marathon of Tower Bridge and then epicly having my engine stalling so much that I had to jog... very slowly... to a point where a man in a Rhino costume got cheers as he come up from behind me, only to see him power walk past me! I blame all this tragedy on the fact my training was half-assed (to be honest). I was not making the fundamental long runs. I was not watching my diet and I was blitzing the alcohol without a care in the world, thinking it would be all fine. Well it wasn't.

This time, I'm going to attack the marathon with vengeance. I am making sure I make every long run, running at least twice a week and monitoring my consumption of junk with a watchful eye and mindful brain. I'm already seeing results. I am pacing faster than expected (although I am yet to do longer runs to prove that I can keep it up). So I am hopeful that I can get this sub 4 hour marathon, whereas before I didn't have hope.

So thanks for reading so far. You're probably thinking, what's in it for you. Well, see the below hierarchy of awesomeness:

1) You will have my 'eternal' gratitude. "Pwah!!! that means nothing!" I can hear you think. Well then... read on.

2) I will be turning 30 this year so hitting this target, this aim will mean a lot to me. And a lot more if I know people are vouching for me. Also I just wanted to play that card too... "Everyone gets old." I hear you say. OK then... read on.

3) I will show you a dedication like none before. Civilians of Humanity often do Movember for a month. I plan to keep my rug under my chin until I run the marathon for the sake of charity! Wait, there's more. Civilians also do a Dryuary... I will do one better, well 4 better and vow not to drink alcohol without a good reason (because a cold turkey is a bad turkey) until my marathon. I'm basically going to do a Forrest Gump. "Growing hair? Meh, as if that's hard!" I hear you shout. Alright, alright... read on...

4) I'm offering some incentives... firstly, let's play a game. For every £1 you donate. You can choose Option A) Increase the amount of days I keep my beard by a day or Option B) Decrease the amount of days I keep my beard by a day. Just include (A) or (B) in your comment when you donate. Secondly, any donations above £10 will get a personalised piece of creativity from me. (A hint: a drawing and a poem ~ whether it will be good or not is another question) as a symbol of gratitude. Anymore... and I will basically take it as a proposal! "OooooOOooooOOh! Take all my money!!!!! (for a good cause)" I hear you scream. Finally..!

And that's it, if you read this far. You are an amazing person to care. If you actually skipped all the text to see the bottom.. Well you're still probably amazing in my eyes. So click donate and I'm excited to see how this pans out.

Yours, with faith in humanity,

Simon