On September 18th 2017 the Carribbean island of Dominica became the first country to be hit by the full force of Hurricane Maria, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record.

The hurricane completely destroyed the island's power and water supplies (as of December 19th, 90% of the population were still without electricity and 33 schools had no drinking water) and destroyed or damaged 95% of the buildings on the island.

Dominica is slowly rebuilding and to help raise money for the island, I have signed up to run the 'Country to Capital Ultra' - a 45 mile race starting in Wendover (Buckinghamshire) and finishing near Paddington Station in London, on 13th January 2018.

As the longest race I've ever completed is a half marathon (unless you count a fairly disastrous attempt at a 15 mile race, where I got lost and ran over the finish line from the wrong direction), this isn't a small undertaking for me. Especially as my very high mileage training has mostly taken place in some of the less scenic parts of East London.

So I'd really appreciate it if you'd sponsor me, mostly because the people of Dominica really need all the help they can get but also because if no one sponsors me then I'll just be running 45 miles in the cold and (probably) rain for no reason.

All of the money raised will be donated to The Dominica Hurricane Maria Relief Fund (www.dominicarelief.org), as suggested by the Dominican High Commission.