Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Last year, after a postponed April marathon, I trained for and ran the VLM, as you may know. That was a hilly, windy and rather wet run, but with amazing local support, I completed my first effort in 3:48. Yesterday, I finally ran the race I’d begun training for nearly two years ago - and it was brilliant to finish it in 3:26.

Since I last updated, during lockdown and Covid, I have kept up my running around the muddy trails of Wales, even entering (and winning!) the occasional virtual and most recently real races. So my mid-life crisis continues apace.

For both the VLM and the real, in the flesh London Marathon 2021, I continue to support a very worthy cause: Monmouth Aid.

For those of you who haven't come across this terrific local charity, it's my hometown's off-shoot of ActionAid, which over the years has funded endless worthy projects, changing the lives of communities in some of Africa's toughest neighbourhoods.

Monmouth Aid’s current project is to help build three new classrooms for Cordlana Primary School in Mozambique. At the moment, 600 schoolchildren have access to only six classrooms; this means that many lessons take place outdoors, where they are at the mercy of the elements, not to mention the unsolicited attention of voracious insects. Indoor classrooms, free of unwelcome distractions, would really help these students achieve better educational outcomes: a cause close to my heart as a former teacher myself.

With your generous donation, we can help put this right... so please get clicking! (Avoid getting hit by processing fees by checking the right box.)