Thanks very much for visiting my 2007 Flora London Marathon page. Please sponsor me and help me raise as much as I can for Sobell House Hospice Charity.

Sobell House provided great help and support to both my uncle and my godfather before they died. Sobell House aims to ensure those with life-limiting illnesses are offered as much dignity, peace and freedom from pain as possible. It also offers vital support to the families of those with such illnesses when they need it most. To find out more, about Sobell House's work, visit http://www.sobellhospice.org/

I will be updating this website regularly with how my training and my fundraising are going, so if you want to know how I'm doing, which bits are aching, and how much cash I've raised please visit again.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me, and Sobell House will be able to make use of your money faster. Don't forget Gift Aid: if you sponsor me and you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax can be added to your gift at no cost to you.

Update: 22 April 2007 - Done it! That was hard... Finished in 3:49:26, a couple of minutes slower than last year, but it was very tough today. And I finished 6837th as opposed to 8111th last year, so that's an improvement!

So I didn't beat my time target. But I did beat Gordon Ramsay (he narrowly beat me last year) and, further to Andy's comment below, I beat Mark Bright (ex-Charlton footballer we used to go and watch) by over an hour! I also beat Matt Dawson by 45 minutes... so a pretty good performance under the circumstances. Not actually sure I enjoyed myself though, it was more about getting through it without walking - which I did (just).

Thanks to my Bow, Hackney and Wapping friends, to Sarah, Jonesie and Steve, and to the QM HR Department for coming to cheer me on - sorry I didn't see you, QM folk!

Next year? I kind of swore to myself at mile 18 (I was finding it very tough and still had a long way to go) that I wouldn't put myself through this again and I might quite like to watch instead. But already the pain is fading and the memories becoming nicer - so I will be back.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me, and thanks too to my physio and strength coach David - without him I would have been on the sidelines this year.

Update: 21 April 2007 - 24 hours to go... Today is a day for bread, potatoes and pasta. And sitting down. Nice. Looking forward to tomorrow, although the weather forecast says it will be hot. But the physio work has all paid off so even in the heat I should be fine. I will also have at least two groups of supporters lining the route and they will be a big help too. If you're looking out for me, my number is 46546. Huge thanks to everyone who has donated, you are all most generous.

Update: 16 April 2007 - the final few days. Ran the last long-ish run this morning, all feeling OK. Am looking foward to the big day now. Fingers crossed it's not too hot...

Update: 26 March 2007 - less than 4 weeks to go... Enjoyed most of the Reading Half Marathon yesterday, although the last couple of miles were tough. I wasn't quite as quick as I'd have liked, and I was beaten by someone dressed as a Playboy bunny girl, but I'm still making good progress and finished in the top 20%.  Two weeks of solid training required now, then it's time to ease up a bit and tuck into mountains of pasta. And cake.

Update: 21 March 2007 - real progress. Physio is working and now feeling much more confident. Ran for 2 hours on Sunday, first time since September I've done that, and no real problems afterwards. Really looking forward to Reading Half Marathon this Sunday (25 March). Meanwhile my mum has collected loads of sponsors and donations for me in Oxford, so big thanks to her.

Update: 25 February 2007 - half marathons are not easy... Just done the Roding Valley Half Marathon. Very hilly indeed, was tough. Really pleased to complete it, and not too shabby on the time given some of the injury problems I've had. But I'm going to be OK come London - found a very good physio who's also helping me with strengthening exercises to avoid injury in future. All makes perfect sense, don't know why I didn't look into it before! Off skiing again on Saturday, then the final push begins, including a (hopefully flat) half marathon in Reading.

Update: 31 January 2007 - smarting a bit... Getting there fitness-wise, but have had some trouble with my calves this week so less running and more in the gym. Am going to get another physio to take a look at me soon. Off skiing again on Saturday, then back to full training - hopefully with some physio too.

Update: 18 January 2007 - back in training.... Gave the legs a decent workout on the mountains of St Anton last week, now back in full marathon training mode and all is going OK so far. Not as fit as I need to be, but making progress. I've also entered two half marathons, one in Feb and one in March, which will be useful training milestones.

Update: 22 December 2006 - I'm in! Again! Firstly huge thanks to everyone who supported me for the London Marathon in 2006. I had such an amazing time and received such great support, it was a real life-changing experience. When I heard that Sobell House were looking for runners, that sealed it. I had to do it again. The official training programme hasn't started yet, but I'll be getting out and clocking up a few miles in Dorset and Oxford over the Christmas holiday.