On Friday morning I'm going to set off at the crack of dawn and run from London to Milton Keynes along the Grand Union Canal. The distance is 111K from Lock 1 and my end point will be St. Andrew's Church in Great Linford. 

I've been inspired to set myself this personal challenge for a variety of reasons but above all to honour Lily, our "bestest" and the most wonderful mother-in-law in the world, who passed away last year. Unlike the usual stereotypes about mothers-in-law, I struck gold and ended up with the kindest, most angelic, beautiful person. She battled cancer on three separate occasions over the past 20 years and I was incredibly moved by her endless courage and how she never complained of her pain or the fear of leaving us. 

The run from London to Milton Keynes is also a nod to my journey over the past few years. Leiba and I moved with our young family to Milton Keynes from London a couple of years ago to be with Lily and when the opportunity arose to help open a new office locally for Hollis the move was absolutely cemented as the right decision for our work/life balance which Hollis proudly promote. We opened 18 months ago in a serviced office and due to our rapid growth, we are relocating to larger permanent offices premises next week. Hollis are kindly providing me with the time off along with funding the logistics of the event. 

Please donate if you like the idea of me struggling - and struggle I will - because as you know I am rather partial to one or two (packets) of biscuits and I only took up running very recently because it was cheaper than buying new clothes when I could no longer fit in my work suits. 

More importantly, please donate if you knew Lily and recognise the importance of the support provided by Willen Hospice, I can personally vouch for the fact that your help towards this great cause will have an incredible impact for when people need it most.

Thank you for reading and a very heartfelt thank you if you feel so moved to find your credit card details.