Firstly, many of you more sporty types will have set up similar pages yourselves in the past, and I've always been very impressed with the efforts you've gone to in putting in the miles, and raising the dough. I am not a natural athlete - I may have chosen a fund-raising event for which my beer-belly forms part of the costume, but I'm serious about running a time I can be pleased with, and even more serious about raising some rupees for my chosen charity - The Nepal Trust.

I spent a month in Nepal last year, trekking in it's beautiful mountains, and visiting the many temples of Kathmandu. Nepali people are warm, friendly and hospitable. Culturally, it is richer than any other country I have experienced, nevertheless Nepal remains economically one of the world's poorest.