Back in 2014 I took part in the Windsor Half Marathon. Those who know me well would be rightly forgiven for assuming that it would be the last time I would take part in such an event, given my general preference for avoiding pounding the streets for hours at a time.

I have, however, recently signed up for the Standard Chartered Singapore Half Marathon, which will be taking place on Sunday 3rd December. Whilst it starts at 4:30 a.m., the heat and humidity will still be quite severe and so I need something to keep me going as the sun comes up at the end of the race.

With this in mind, I will be trying to raise as much money as possible for the speech therapy unit at Ayr Hospital in Scotland, for two reasons very close to my heart:

As a boy, I suffered from quite a nasty stutter. The therapy that I received went a very long way in helping me with my speech and boosting my confidence as a result. I was (and still am) grateful that I was given help when it was most needed. More recently, in July of this year, my father sadly passed away. He had suffered a stroke some years ago and, as part of his rehabilitation, he had attended speech therapy sessions at the speech therapy unit at Ayr Hospital which had been of very great benefit to him during some difficult times. I am certain that his memory will keep me going during the final stages of what I expect to be a very tough run.

I hope that you will be able to support me in raising funds for the unit.

Thank you.

Thank you all in advance for anything you can donate to this worthy cause.