UPDATE 15th April: What a terriffic day! Despite the occasional downpours the atmosphere and support form the crowd was superb. I managed to do 'the distance' in 4:18 which i'm very pleased with for a first marathon. Things were looking up for a faster time till the 18 mile mark when I got cramp, took some time out to do a few stretches and then finished a slower pace. My wife was there to greet me at the end and Asthma UK laid on a superb reception at the Institute of Directors just round the corner. I hope you enjoyed tracking me using the SportsoDo site. We will be turning that into a video case study in due course as an example of Software plus Services in action. All in all, a great day & many many thanks to you all for your kind and generous sponsorship! 

UPDATE 2nd April: With less than two weeks to go, I am really looking forward to the big day on the 13th. Apart from an occassional twinge in my left foot/ankle I feel in good shape as I taper down my training after the gruelling last few weeks. I am already looking forward, with great anticipation, to sleeping in once the marathon is over. It looks as though we may even have our friends at SportsDo provide us with real time monitoring of my progress (or lack of!) around the route via Virtual Earth - cool eh!

UPDATE 16th March: Well its only 4 weeks to go and its going to be tough. I had an unexpected stay over in India - out for almost 3 weeks when I was expecting to be out for 1 week and that has set me back a bit. I need all your support & encouragement in the final few days! I covered 21 miles yesterday and think I can go on and do the distance but it was hard work. On the sponsorship side, I have added in the Microsoft element (MS will graciously double the amount raised).

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. I am running in the London Marathon to raise money for Asthma UK. Please dig deep and sponsor me online.

I have had asthma since my early teens and two of my children also have it. My first (thankfully only) asthma attack was a very frightening experience as no one in our family had come across it before. I really thought I was going to die as I gasped & fought for each breath. Since then, by seeking advice & using preventative medicines I have managed the asthma and it has not been much of a hindrance at all.

The occurance of asthma has been growing over recent years. Today 5.2m people in the UK have it - about half of them having severe symptoms. On average 1 person dies every 6 hours yet 90% of these deaths are preventable. Unfortunately too many people do not understand the seriousness of asthma and end up not managing it well and so can get very ill. This is where Asthma UK comes in by providing personal advice and guidance through trained medical professionals. Asthma UK also funds research into Asthma. You can find out more about the work of Asthma UK at http://asthma.org.uk

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Asthma UK will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support.

Gurprit