Right, so I guess this is where I explain what I am doing and why...

As many of you will possibly know, I took up running back in 2013 following a pretty early diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes as a way to get my weight down after a chat with the GP. After coming through the NHS couch to 5k programme, I started regularly taking part in Aberdeen Parkrun and then opted to enter some 10k races to provide me with a longer term goal so that I would stick with my routine.

Enjoying those, I then moved on to complete a couple of half-marathons in September & October 2014. By now, I had reached the point I never expected to and was really enjoying my running and after being unsuccessful in the ballot for the 2015 London Marathon, opted to enter Edinburgh for my first foray into running the full distance of 26.2 miles, and the fact the race takes place on the day of my 32nd birthday just a fitting coincidence.

I was initially going to just take part in this for fun and to test myself, but then started to give thought of raising some funds for charity at the same time. 

As it was my diagnosis as a diabetic that prompted me to take up running, meaning that without it, I would never have got to this stage, coupled with the fact that the progress I've made since starting to run (see the photo gallery for comparison) led to my last checkup with the nurse seeing me told I was at the point some would call 'reversed' - I thought Diabetes UK was a just cause to support in my first marathon.

Please consider donating what you can, I've been lucky in the way my condition has been handled, but others are not as fortunate.