It’s 2012 – London's Olympic year. It’s also the year that I’ve decided to take up the challenge of running 26 miles and 385 yards across our capital city in the London Marathon.

It’s always been an ambition of mine. Perhaps it’s because the race is usually run on the weekend closest to my birthday – a time when I’m generally feeling full of life while I watch images of the masses of people, the costumes and the personal stories on the TV.

This year I will be among those people, and for good reason. In 2010 I lost my grandfather to prostate cancer, after he suffered for 5 years with the disease and the effects of an experimental treatment gone wrong. As a child he was a wonderful, caring grandparent, but as I embarked on various attempts to set up a business as a young adult his help and advice became invaluable to me. Few people understand the reality of running a business, but he was one of them. I made mistakes, but he was always there, always encouraging, unfailing supportive. He has been an important role model to me and a model of who I hope to be as a Grandfather. One day!

In his memory I have joined TeamPB, the official running team for two really great charities - the Prostate Cancer Charity and Breast Cancer Care. The Prostate Cancer Charity aims to support men and their families affected by cancer and to educate people up and down the country to the early warning signs.

This is not going to be an easy task - in fact I'm not entirely sure I'll make it to the end yet! Cold dark mornings are not the most motivating of conditions for an 8 mile training run. Every penny that you can afford to give will really help me to find the energy needed to put those running shoes on! 

In addition to my personal fundraising efforts, my business Buyometric will be supporting the Prostate Cancer Charity and Breast Cancer Care through April, making a donation for every sale made through the site. If you enjoy finding great deals online then come and take a look at what we do here!

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Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Once you donate, they’ll send the money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.