I've always wanted to run a marathon, but I've been too fat and unfit for the last 25 years for this to be realistic. I've ignored some health scares that should have prompted action earlier, but in 2016 I finally got myself into better shape.
If anyone's interested, I used the MyFitnessPal App to drop the initial weight, then built up my fitness by joining the Back to Hockey Scheme (now playing regular league games for Redditch HC's 4th team) and gradually developed my running capabilities by completing Couch to 5k. My first run on 22nd June 2016 started with 60 seconds' running, now I can keep going for 80 minutes, but will need to run for 6 hours to complete the marathon!
I've raised money for Jeans for Genes each year for over 15 years from bake sales and a denim tax on work colleagues. The offer from Jeans for Genes' parent charity, Genetic Disorders UK, to run the London Marathon on their behalf is my opportunity to tick off this challenge from my to-do list before my knees finally give out.
My fund-raising target is quite challenging, but for a really worthy cause. I hope you can be generous - and if you can encourage your friends to chip in too...