In March we will be heading to Northern Tanzania to undertake a 12 week research project as part of our Masters in Global Health. (Oh, and to run a casual 43km at the start...)

Claire: Anyone who knows me well will know I'm a bit of a sucker for a challenge so when I saw that the date of the Kilimanjaro Marathon coincided with our first weekend in Tanzania I thought it'd be rude not to give it a go! I've already climbed the mountain so now it's time to run around it...

Zoz: After much persuasion and procrastination on my part, I have finally given in to Claire and signed myself up to this crazy endeavour. Having done all the training with her for the last few weeks, I realised I couldn't let Claire cross the line without me, although I had slightly hoped my first marathon would be a little less hot, humid and hilly!

The only way we could take on a challenge this big (and painful!) is knowing that it's all for an amazing cause so we have decided to run the marathon in aid of two incredible charities that are very close to our hearts: Light in Africa and Médecins Sans Frontières.

Light in Africa is a grass-roots organisation who work in the Kilimanjaro region to provide a home and education for children in the area who have been orphaned or abandoned. Not only this but they provide medical outreach, educational programmes and food kitchens for rural communities where access to care is almost impossible. Claire has supported and visited Light in Africa a few times over the last 6 years, with Zoz visiting too a few years ago, and we can both honestly say the work they do is invaluable to all those they support. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) is an international NGO who provide medical aid and support to those affected by humanitarian and natural disasters such as conflict, famine and disease epidemics. They are independent, impartial and neutral and in many instances respond to emergencies that have been ignored by the rest of the world.

Training so far has not been easy and has been slightly set back by numerous knee injuries, a chest infection and attempting to pass exams at the same time. Training in the coldest and darkest of North East winters for a race that'll take place on the equator at 30 ºC and 3000 ft altitude is something else we still haven't quite got our heads around! We are determined to do this though, even if it means crawling to the finish line, so any donations would be hugely appreciated to make the cold, dark and painful runs worth it!