For those of you know me, I'm not exactly the fittest or leanest of people, however I've worked really hard and sacrificed a lot over the past few months to make sure I can be competitive as possible for the annual Dubai Marathon. The Dubai Marathon takes place on January 22nd, starting at 6.45am, and goes up and down Jumeirah Beach Road in the Dubai heat. I've never run competitively in the past, but I'm aiming for this to be the first of 5 or 6 runs over the next year in order to raise as much as I can for The Magic Bus charity. This is just a 10k run, but there's a series of half and full marathons over the next 12 months that I'll be participating in.

The Magic Bus is a charity based in India which provides under-privileged and impoverished children all over India with activity-based learning opportunities and sporting chances which they would otherwise never have access to in their lifetimes. It's a charity which is close to my heart and deserves as much fundraising as possible to support the work of the volunteers there and to grow the programme from 3,500 children to even more in the future.

Please give as generously as you can, every single bit counts - regardless of how small or large - and please continue to spread the word of the work of The Magic Bus in India.

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 - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now. I am aiming for a minimum of GBP 650 (or AED 3,900 or USD 400) from this run, so I'd really appreciate your help and support.

Thank you so much,

Manoj