It started off as a bit of banter in the office, then the next minute we did it, we were all signed up for a half marathon. It happened before we could think it through.  I've never run before, the quetion is: Can I run?  Let alone run a marathon, even if it’s half a one!  Read my blog to see what happend next.

The Bath Half Marathon is 13.1 miles (21.1km) and according to their website it’s quite a flat run and good for runners of all abilities.

I have chosen to run for the RSPCA Bristol Clinic and Bristol Dogs and Cats Home. The clinic is the biggest branch veterinary clinic in the country, delivers over 12,000 treatments to sick and injured animals every year.

Bristol Dogs & Cats Home provides care, shelter and a rehoming service for nearly 2,000 unwanted dogs, cats and small animals a year. This charity struggles to cope with the ever growing demand for its services and is badly in need of support.

My cats Billy and Pepper both came from Bristol Dogs and Cats Home. Billy – a 6 month old kitten – and Pepper at 14 years, had faced an uncertain future.

Billy, whom we found in an isolation wing with suspected cat flu, had spent all his life at the home and was desparate for a family of his own.

Pepper is a reserved and mature cat. She found herself unwanted after her last and only owner died. I simply couldnt leave her behind.

Both cats had suspected cat flu and they were being kept in a isolated wing of the home.

Pepper wasn’t a planned adoption, Billy was. But I’ve always been taken with older cats, as they are usually easier to live with than hyperactive younger cats. So on agreeing to take Billy and seeing Pepper in the same predicament, I decided that Pepper was coming home as well, to the surprise of my husband.