I am glad to announce that I have decided to run my first marathon in Paris on April 11th! I have never thought about myself as a marathon runner but about 3 years ago, together with my older brother Ron, I started exercising and was looking for challenges. The first one was a Sprint triathlon, after which I did 2 Olympic ones. A marathon seemed like a huge challenge but every week I found myself adding a few more kilometres to my runs. On the 11^th of April it is going to be the first time I will try to do the full 42.195 kilometres - and if do it why not do it in Paris!

As this is such a unique experience, I have decided to add a worthy cause to it and to raise funds for Get Kids Going! (www.getkidsgoing.com) which also helped me in securing my spot in the marathon.

Get Kids Going! is a charity which gives disabled children the wonderful opportunity of participating in sport. They help promote sports for disabled children by providing them with specially built sports’ wheelchairs so they can do marathons, triathlons, tennis, athletics, mountain skiing, rugby, basketball etc.

Should you wish to join me in supporting this worthy cause, kindly donate to Get Kids Going! below. The money raised will be matched pound for pound, up to GBP 750, by my workplace as part of the Barclays Community Investment 'Charity Begins at Work' programme. 

Please note, your donations will go directly to Get Kids Going!. JustGiving is a not for profit organisation and will claim gift aid on a charity's behalf for every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer.

I really appreciate all your support and thank you for any donations.