Here is a photo of me after the Oxford Half Marathon last year - I'm smiling on the outside, but crying on the inside; I was hoping to run a sub-1 hour 30 minute half marathon. My finishing time was 1 hour 33 minutes and 33 seconds. The last two miles were not pretty!

Anyway, this year I am back and aiming for the same; with less training than last year it's going to be a challenge but I love challenges!

What makes this year even more special is that I am running for OCCTOPUS, a charity which has helped my family in the past.

Oxford Colon Cancer Trust is a very practical charity. Our bye line is “making new treatments happen”. Whilst national high profile charities fund work on how cancer cells go wrong, OCCTOPUS has a more immediate focus. Originally formed in 2003, it aims to fund practical advances in treatment, education and research in these areas - the 3 “C’s” Colorectal cancer, Colitis and Crohns, as well as Continence.We help the colorectal team at the Oxford University Hospitals keep right up to date with, and even ahead of, advances in tools and techniques.