Thanks for taking interest in my JustGiving page.

Horatio's Garden (http://www.horatiosgarden.org.uk) is a charity which funds the design & building of bed accessible gardens for the UK's Spinal Rehab Centres. These gardens allow patients to get outside and have a break from the white walls & ceilings of their hospital ward. 

My father suffered a spinal injury 5 years ago. He spent 2-3 months in Salisbury's Spinal Rehab Centre and the garden there was a much needed reminder of the outside world.

So far gardens have been built at Salisbury and Glasgow and Stoke Mandeville's is due to open this Spring. Planning is already well under way for the next one at Oswestry. Horatio's Garden hope to be able to provide gardens at the UK's seven other Spinal Rehab Units as well.

The Spine Race is recognised to be Britain's most brutal race (https://thespinerace.com). The Spine Challenger is it's baby brother - 108 miles, non-stop from Edale in the Peak District to Hardraw in the Yorkshire Dales and is recognised to have a similar degree of difficulty of the full race, it's just shorter! I'm hoping that I'll complete it in about 40 hours, but the terrain, weather and lack of sleep might all conspire to push me towards the 60 hour cutoff. 16 hours a day will be in darkness. I've even grown a beard for weather protection!

Oh, and the furthest I've ever run before is 50 miles!

My wife & family think I'm mad and are desperately looking forward to the end of the 11 hours a week training I've been putting in over the past 6 months.

PLEASE make a donation if you're able to, however small. At 4am on Sunday morning, when the mud is up to my calves and the temperature is below 0, your support might just be the factor that keeps me pushing on.

Anyone wanting to can track my progress via the Montane Spine Challenger website (http://live.thespinerace.com/). The start is 08:00 Saturday 13th January. My race number is 379.

Many thanks, Michael

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.