Mark Dolby: So, why on earth would I want to run a marathon?

14 years ago this year my Mum – my fantastic, beautiful Mum – lost her eight-year battle against cancer. You have never met anyone braver – she loved life and wanted to live it to the fullest. My Dad would say that Mum wouldn’t want to see what was at the top of the hill, she wanted to see what was on the other side.

The last thing my Mum saw was my 2-day old daughter Poppy and she smiled and said she was beautiful. I’ll take that.

It took a long time to recover from Mum being taken away at 58 years old, but little did we know that ten years later in the very same room that my Mum had passed away, my Dad would be joining her.

Dad went down hill very quickly and within a matter of weeks was gone. The only way I can describe my Dad is that he was my hero. Even writing this now is hard. Friday 13th November, the same day as the terrorist attacks in Paris, Dad passed away in his sleep and went to join Mum. A pretty bad day, I think you’ll agree.

There is nothing like the love between a parent and a child. One hug from Mum and everything would be alright. To have a drink with your Dad and listen to the banter with your friends, can never be taken away.

Since Mum passed away, I was determined to do all I can to try and change the world and most of all stop Cancer from taking away more of our loved ones. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a great deal of success so far!

I jumped out of a plane at 12,000 feet and may have been a bit sick on the way down. I think I scarred the tandem parachutist for life! I shaved my head with the unstoppable Mr & Mrs Killick but ended up scaring the life out of my kids when they thought someone had snuck into Mummy’s bed in the morning! And I’ve run half marathons, almost collapsing and needing oxygen at the last attempt. 

I expect to be far more successful this time (well, here's to hoping anyway!) Thank you, as always, for all of your support. We couldn't do this without you.