This years Bristol Half Marathon will mark a milestone in my running history as it will be my 100th Half Marathon.

I have completed 99 half marathons and am now training for my 100th in Bristol on 14th September 2008. I am celebrating this achievement with 99 other runners, some who have never completed the distance before. They have agreed to join me and will run the 13 miles with me when I complete my 100th.

I am aiming to raise £10,000 for Weston Hospicecare. That's an average of £100 per runner.

I have chosen Weston Hospicecare for many reasons. Weston-super-Mare was the place of my birth, well over 40 years ago and it's the place where I grew up. I lived there for 21 years and would dearly love to give something back to the town. I went to school in Weston and ran my very first half marathon (starting and finishing at my old comprehensive school) in 1983. This means I have been running half marathons for 25 years! Many of my family still live in Weston,including my brother and sister in law who, until recently, both work for Weston Hospicecare. My mother, who lives in Weston, has had and survived breast cancer and 20 years ago, my mother in law died from cancer in Weston, and I'm sure that having a place like Weston Hospicecare available to us at that time would have made her life more comfortable towards the end.

For these reasons, I am asking you to sponsor me and my fellow 99 runners, many of which will be running the half marathon for the first time. The 100 people are made up of friends and family, colleagues and running partners. All are paying their own entry and have committed to make the day memorable and help me to reach the stretching target I have set myself.

Thank you so much for your support.

Mark