You all know my backstory. There is no reason to repeat it. 

Every year, I ask you to dip into your pocket for some cash to support the charity which is Anna's legacy. My wife was a woman who lived a full life, a girl with a strong moral compass who showed me the meaning of love, devotion and selflessness. An epic fund-raiser for deserving causes in her own right, Anna fought every challenge head on - in every context. She had the heart of a roaring lion, she took no nonsense and demonstrated an incredible positivity even when faced with the most overwhelming of circumstances. She epitomised the best of humanity. I look back on our 17 year marriage through the lens of  retrospect and realise that I was a lucky man. I got to experience my entire young adulthood with someone who supported me, loved me and was proud to be my partner. 

As I move my life forward fearlessly, there are a few things left on my to do list. I aren't going to request sponsorship for finding a good woman to share the rest of my life with nor am I asking you for cash to celebrate bringing the kids up properly. But I do crave your contributions for this endeavour.

A few weeks before she died, Anna posted on social media about wanting to regain her health sufficiently to run a marathon. We'd talked about it previously - the romantic story of Philippides in 500 BC, the Athenian herald  who was sent to request help from the warriors of Sparta when the Persians landed at Marathon, Greece. 

Philippides is said to have run about 150 miles in two days. He then ran the 25 miles from the battlefield near Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia in the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) with the words "hail, we are the winners" and then collapsed and died. 

As some of you know, I hit rock bottom in April 2017. My mental health had deteriorated and the grief was winning. I was sinking. 

But the Verricos love challenges. And so I am going to run that distance, that course, that race for Anna. I do not plan on collapsing and dying at the end (although it would doubtless do all manner of good for the fundraising on this page!). I haven't run a marathon before - the furthest ever is 13.1 miles for me. It won't be easy, but it is nothing compared to the struggles that many people which the charity interfaces with face on a daily basis face. Why run? Because, right now, I can.

I've spent May talking to my friends and trying to find some solid ground. My close circle tell me I need to get up and get outdoors. I need to reconnect and think. Training for these events gives me the kick to do so. And gives me a challenge that I can face down and win. I'm asking my wider friend circle to support me by joining me for a training run here or there so that I have some social contact to lift my mood. It is a good challenge all ways round. 

As Chair of the volunteer charity Team Verrico, I was privileged to watch as a little band of decent people act as a vector for other kind souls to pay it forward - assisting families like mine, where the bogey man of cancer assails all that is right and good, assaulting, marauding and indiscriminately killing parents, leaving devastation and heartache in its wake. Supporting with second opinions, medical tests not available on the NHS, picking up the pieces when households are left fractured by grief and loss. 

Having cancer is a long, hard and mostly joyless journey. At the initial diagnosis you enter a dark tunnel of grief, guilt, anger, denial, fear, isolation and anxiety all colliding together in a hideous kaleidoscope of blind terror. Then there is chemotherapy - the world's worst vigilante, hunting down bad cells and destroying good cells in its wake.The quest to get better is a journey filled with monsters, cliffs and bogeymen.

I've made friends and lost friends along the way - Scott Eastwood; Keith Ellick; Jon Chapman, Hana Szczepkowski to name just a few. 

Names - people who survived longer than an initial prognosis due to the efforts of our charity, but who still perished at the hand of the remorseless murderer that is cancer. 

Friends who deserved better than a random mutation of cells which conspired to kill them. Their memory and their courage in facing down challenges will pound every mile of the North Lincolnshire flatlands with me as I train. 

If you are skint, can I ask you just to pledge £1 to the cause. To give me your nod of approval. To spur me on and remind me that you understand what I am doing, you get why we Never Give Up and that you believe in this Team. To me, completing the race represents hope. It represents new beginnings. It represents getting well. It shows that you believe. 

I'm going to run in the spirit of my wife, a creature of determination, fire and air who brushed aside niggles and nonsense, who lived ever to excel and who I was proud to call my own. 

We are Team Verrico.

PCV