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Many years ago, I used to be a runner. Well to be more precise, a sprinter. I competed a lot at school and spent hours running for pleasure. Ankylosing Spondylitis put an end to that. Then, after 15 years of struggling to stay on top of my AS, my wife gave me a book about fell running and the lunatics who do it. All the emotions I had used to feel when running came flooding back and I decided I had put running back into my life. Within 18 months of reading the book I was taking on what some consider the biggest challenge in fell running, the Bob Graham Challenge.

Some of you know the runs I have done since; you may remember me running 50 miles across the Malverns, or doing the whole of the Cotswold Way in one take. Last year it was 50 miles in 35c temperatures in Cyprus and then the Lakeland 100. I finished them all. Battered, sore but triumphant.

But Bob had beaten me. Actually, Bob didn’t just beat me, it absolutely chewed me up and spat me out. I hadn't had the due respect for it and it had even less for me.

Bob is only(!?) 66 miles long and you have to finish the circuit within 24 hours of starting for it to be considered a challenge completed. The stumbling block? The 42 Lake District peaks you have to bag on the way of-course! By the time you finish (if you do finish, because not doing so is a real possibility) that you will have done the equivalent of the ascent and descent of Everest. Yup, close on 28,000 ft of schlepping up and running, walking, falling down.

So, this Saturday at 6pm I’ll be heading off from Moot Hall in the Keswick and my second attempt to take on Bob. Why? Well, because it's a challenge that combines two of the major loves of my life; the Lakeland fells and running.

Six years ago when I was preparing for my first attempt at this challenge, I discovered the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society and I decided to raise money to support other people living with the same condition as I have. NASS is an amazing charity with a tiny team that represents over 200,000 people with AS. It’s celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year working with its members to make the voices of those who have AS heard from the grassroots in hospitals and hydro-pools, right up to Parliament. June will mark my second anniversary as chair of the organisation and it is an honour and a privilege to be able to play a role in such a dynamic charity.

So it seems fitting that when taking on Bob for the second (and my wife says FINAL) time, I am also going to be running for NASS. For their research, for their lobbying but most of all for their support of people with AS and their families. If you have nothing better to do on Bank Holiday weekend, you can watch my progress on a live tracker (http://live.opentracking.co.uk/bg2016/?n=16) and my family will be posting pictures and messages on social media when they can and so all I need now is some sponsorship. Every penny will be gratefully received.

Thank you!

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