For those of you that know me, there are probably a few things that spring to mind when you think about what I likely spend my free time doing - running is definitely not going to be one of them! However, as an early midlife crisis (perhaps) I decided to apply for a place in the London Marathon this year...

Once i'd gotten over the shock of actually getting a spot (1 in 37 odds apparently) and realised that I'd never be able to live it down if I pulled out without at least trying, I wanted to find a really worthwhile charity to benefit from all my generous friends who will no doubt be paying huge amounts of their hard earned cash to watch me run/walk/crawl/get carried through the finish line.

I started thinking about what was closest to me at this point in my life and the obvious answer that came to mind was Sophia, my 14 month old daughter. Myself and Hannah have been lucky enough that, to date, Sophia has been a super healthy little girl and hasn't had any need for care from the likes of hospitals and doctors. However, the great work that Great Ormond Street Hospital does, day in and day out, is massively important to many families and the reassurance that there are great organisations like this to help should we ever need them made it the perfect choice in my mind to raise money for.

Thank you for any donations received... if nothing else this marathon should be a laugh for you all to hear about after!

(The reason that this page is set up as a crowdfunding rather than direct to GOSH is because my employer, Google, will match any donations I make to a charity as long as it is a personal donation and not through the mechanisms of Just Giving/Virgin Money Giving etc... Any questions, let me know)