I am running the Leeds Half Marathon this May, and there are two reasons why I have chosen to get my running trainers back on.

Firstly I like a challenge. Its been a while since I did a long distance running event but I want to put myself through the pain barriers to give people more reason to donate to this great charity.

Secondly and most importantly, I am running in memory of Matthew Huggett. Matthew was a student who studied Sports Journalism at Leeds Trinity University and I was fortunate enough to not only meet the guy, but also work alongside him in some of my lectures.

Now to say goodbye to someone for the summer and wish them well, and then come back to the news that one of us had been struck by a terrible illness was pretty horrific. Even more so when we all heard that after battling long and hard, Matthew sadly passed away just before Christmas in 2013.

It was an eye-opener to us all at University and everyone affected by it. You could be a healthy, active and young person, loving life and working hard into the night trying to get an assignment done at the last minute before the deadline for submission. Looking forward to what prospects may come from obtaining a degree in something you are passionate about, and possibly be the face of Sky Sports or the BBC.

But it doesn't make you immune from being diagnosed with cancer.

This is all the more reason why we need to raise as much money as possible for not just Marie Curie, but for Matthew as well. And I know that cancer effects everyone in some shape or form.

All I ask of you who visit this page is please make a donation. You are hopefully reading this and thinking about making a donation....JUST DO IT! You are here now, you may as well make it count! GO ON! Just make a donation of some sort and help reach that target and go beyond it!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.