I've been thinking about running a marathon for years. After completing a charity cycle from John O'Groats to Land's End with my son Robert last year, I decided 2014 is the year to do it. And as Athens is the home of the marathon, it was the obvious choice.

Both of my parents had a stroke – my father didn’t survive it and my mother struggled on for about 3 years afterwards. About 2 years ago my wife, Meg, had a heavy fall which led to a stroke - fortunately, she has made a pretty good recovery.

Over the last 20 years stroke care has improved a lot – the number of people dying has halved and more people now make full recoveries. Stoke Association has been a key part of this progress and it's their ambition to make stroke preventable and improve the quality of life for people affected by it.

I'll be raising funds for Stroke Association in Athens to support their ambition. I'd really appreciate your help – every pound you give will make a difference.