Hi all, as anyone who's ever played football with me will attest...I HATE RUNNING...Forrest Gump I am not. Nevertheless, I've signed up to run 13.2 miles as quickly as my legs will let me to raise a bit of money for a charity that will unfortunately help all of us (or people close to us) at some point in our lives.

I'll be doing this in the memory of my Grandma May and Auntie Carole, who both had their lives ended far too soon by this awful disease. Perhaps more importantly, I'll also be thinking of my Cousin Lewis and close friend Hannah, who have both suffered from different forms of cancer in their early lives and won their respective fights thanks to an innate strength of character allied with the different types of treatment that Cancer Research continually strives to develop and provide.  

I appreciate that there's a lot of these requests around these days but if you have someone close to you that you'd like to give in memory of, and can afford to do so, please donate through 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.

The run takes place on Sunday 9th October and will take me through four of London's Royal Parks - Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, St James’s Park and The Green Park. I'm hoping that their autumnal splendour will take the edge off my heaving and panting for the spectators there to watch. Obviously anyone who donates is more than welcome to come and meet me at the finish line for a well deserved boozy brunch,

Many thanks
Tom