Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am sure many of you were just as surprised as I was to find out I was running a marathon, so firstly thank you Wendy for coercing/threatening/bullying me to the point of agreement. For those of you who know me well, I am as I'm sure you'd agree decidedly more suited to comfort rather than speed, and although I am aware that I should use this section to tell you how much I have enjoyed the endless, exhausting training schedule and the 300+ miles I will have jogged, walked, crawled during this process, and yes that is all before I get to run the 26.2 (don't let that .2 fool you either, this will be the point at which I am hanging onto Wendy's lycra running shorts hoping she will drag me over the line), and the realisation that my new best friends during this process are super strength nurofen, vaseline (yup chaffing another joyful discovery), and ibuleve  gel, and that despite her appearance Jo is not to be trusted, so if I hear one more time on my long runs "it's just round the corner Val" I swear I will not be responsible for my actions, but you know what they say, revenge is a dish best served cold - Wendy/Jo take note (and Nicki you too are on the list). Seriously though this whole experience has been an immense learning curve for me, and I can think of no better way to endure this  (I honestly did try to think of a more positive word at this point but failed miserably) than to raise money for a fabulous cause, therefore I would like to ask you to dig deep and sponsor me to raise money for Banardo's, who consistently perform essential work across the UK, supporting vulnerable and at risk children, in the hope that they can secure a better life in the future, and if the thought of that doesn't keep my little legs moving around the 26.2 miles then nothing will. Thanking you in anticipation, Val (aka the tubby trotter).