You can also follow my training progress on twitter @simon_p_w

I am running the Reading half marathon for Blue Skye Thinking. I will be running alone, but as part of what I hope will be a large team supporting Blue Skye Thinking.

Sally , Skye's mum, has been a friend of my wife for over 15 years, and she was integral in us getting together. The Hall family have been part of our lives, our children have grown up together, Skye taught us so much about childhood and living life to the full, aspects that we try to instil in our lives. 

Sally and Andrew are my daughter, Eva’s god parents. We were deeply touched when Skye fell ill, 2 weeks before he had been playing at Eva’s first birthday party with Jesse, and nobody had any idea of what was lurking. Skye’s attitude, his braveness and stoicism throughout his illness were truly inspirational, as was that of his parents. We were lucky to know Skye and to experience his vibrancy and love first hand – the fact that he was able to get that across to thousands of people who never met him was beyond amazing. He was giving for as long as he was able, and when we saw him 2 days before he died, still insisted on a kiss goodbye, as he always did. Skye’s message was to make the most of what you have – from playing a make-shift pass the parcel on demand (having missed Eva’s 2^nd party) to getting three generations of my family making loom band chains, he has made me determined to do the same.
It is easy to raise the profile of charities that do fabulous work to help children who are ill, and to support their families. Research is harder to connect to in many ways, it is harder to see the results, but is absolutely essential to improving treatments.