People who know me will have spotted I've changed quite a bit in the last two years or so. That's because I took up running and, well, stopped being a bit fat.

Having lost five stone and turned out to be surprisingly alright at running around a bit, I decided running the London Marathon was the next logical challenge. I hate logic.

Since this is my first marathon it seemed a great chance to raise some money for the South West Children's Heart Circle, a great charity that is very important to me.

The SWCHC uses donations to support the families of children with heart conditions in the south west of England, and to help upgrade hospital facilities. Any donations will be well spent.

I was born with a hole in my heart, and the SWCHC provided brilliant support to me and my when I underwent heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. Without the fine efforts of the SWCHC and the BRI, I certainly wouldn't even be able to contemplate running a marathon today.

For reasons neither of us can really remember, my friend and work colleague Matt Burt is also running the marathon for the SWCHC. Feel free to sponsor either of us: I honestly don't care, because whoever you support, the SWCHC gets the money. Either way, please click the Gift Aid box, because that means more of your donation goes to help the families of children undergoing heart surgery.

Oh, to read more words I've written about running around a bit, visit https://attersgoesrunning.wordpress.com.

Thanks,

James