I have run competitively since the age of 12. Back in the day I did sprinting and long jump but by the age of 22 I realised that the Olympic Games were not beckoning and instead I took up jogging to keep fit. I am not naturally good at long distances but I enjoy it from a physical and a mental health point of view.

About 10 years ago I thought my running career was over after a horse riding accident led to knee surgery but after a long period of rehab I made it back to running. Since then I have never taken the ability to run for granted. I entered the ballot for the London marathon thinking I would never get in on my first application but I did so here I am.

As I was stupid enough to enter the ballot and accept the place I thought I would try and raise a bit of money for a cause close to my heart. About 3 years ago one of my really good friends Rachael was diagnosed with MS. This was a real shock to all of us. If running the London marathon is a small sacrifice that I have to make to help improve the lives of MS sufferers then it seems a worthy cause to me. You never know how quickly medicine can advance maybe one day Rachael will join me out running again....although Rachael has always been far more intelligent than me and would never be as idiotic as to chose to run a marathon! So this is for Rachael and all the other people we all know who deal with MS on a daily basis.