"Oh goody!" I can hear you thinking it now. "Another chance to hand over cash in return for the pleasure of knowing how much Dan will be hurting for the next several months. That's worth a tenner of my money."

I'm supporting maggie's, a cancer caring charity, for the 2010 London Marathon. Yep, the same one I was *going to* support last year before my leggus knackereditis (that's the proper medical term) put paid to my ambitions of elbowing Haile Gebrselassie out of the way at the three-mile point before romping home in the first sub-2 hour marathon seen by human eyes. That'll be the highlight of this year's marathon and something to look out for. I'll be the one with the surprised look on my face.

maggie's is a charity that gives counselling not just to people with cancer, but their families as well. It helps them think about their priorities and to deal with what's happening to them.

Whether or not you believe in life after death, there's one thing we all have in common: we're all, sooner or later, going to kick the bucket. (I, personally, won't be reaching that stage for another 200 years or so, you understand.) maggie's helps people come to terms with life and death -- I heard the charity described as

"like coming in out of the cold and sitting in front of a warm fire in your favourite armchair"

My cousin Teresa is currently in remission from peritoneal cancer and tells me that maggie's made it possible for her and her family to cope. She lives in Nottingham, but the maggie's centre she and her husband visited is way over in Edinburgh. Every penny you can give will go towards a new maggie's centre being planned for Nottingham. They rely entirely on donations to operate and don't get any money from the NHS.

A new maggie's centre sounds pretty good to me!

And it doesn't stop there. Oh no. When you donate and make a commitment to Dan Schleps Across London 3.0 you also get -- as an added and completely free bonus -- the comedy gold of seeing me injuring myself in imaginative ways for the next three months. Bleeding nipples? Check. Unlikely-sounding twangs as my calf muscles tear? Check. Mrs. O'C sighing as I sleep through yet more weekend afternoons? Check. Now that's what I call value for money.

So whaddya think? Are we going to do this thing, or what?!

Donating through this site is secure and also the most efficient way to sponsor me: maggie's will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your donation.

So anything you can give will make me love you just that little bit more. Not as much as I love my angelic other half or Halle Berry, obviously, but I'll be very fond of you indeed.

Thanks for anything you can give.

Update: have a look at my training runs by clicking HERE.

Some information on the foundation of maggie's here and here.