As many of you will know, I have historically been stupid enough to run a couple of London Marathons, but due to a little altercation with a man-hole cover at the end of last year, my dream of running in three consecutive marathons was dashed - Hence on Sunday 20^th September I will once again be tackling the Great North Run.

In previous years when I have taken part in these endurance runs, I have been somewhat selfish as I have run solely against the clock in an attempt to beat a personal time goal, but on this occasion I am running in aid of Cancer Research and am asking for your support to help me achieve my goal of raising £1,000 for this very worthy cause. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated!

To make things a little more interesting, mainly because I am a little bit competitive when it comes to running, and as I cannot resist, I have once again set a personal time goal of sub 1 hour 30 mins to cover the 13.1 miles distance. However, in the spirit of not losing sight of the primary goal of raising money for a great charity, I will pledge £250 of my own money if I do not achieve my target time – a horrendous thought for me dipping into my own pocket, being a tight northerner!!

To put this time challenge in perspective when I last ran the race in 2006 I completed the course in 1hr 35mins 32secs and finished 1,279th out of c35,000 competitors, hence if I achieve my time goal, I predict I will be in the top 5% of runners - so no pressure on me!!!!