This will be my second marathon having ran my first one in the UK in April 2012.  To be honest after the harrowing and painful ordeal of my first marathon, I vowed never to run another one.  However three years have elapsed and I've not quite forgotten the mental and physical toll of the previous marathon but because it's a challenge and running a faster time appeals to me, I'm willing to give it another go.

Plus, I entered this 30th edition race at 30 years old so I thought this would be an apt event to participate in. Santa Monica is also one of my favourite destinations and so I don't mind finishing the run there.

This race is called the stadium to the sea course which starts at Dodger Stadium, passes through areas such as Downtown LA, Hollywood, Rodeo Drive and Brentwood and ends by the Santa Monica pier. (Some could call this sight seeing the hard way).

I'm now at the latter stages of my training which will have to be enough to prepare me for this gruelling task that lies ahead. So far my longest training session has been 17 miles in Lanzarote where the 21 degrees weather provided a nice respite from the cold UK winter.

As an added incentive when you donate you can also guess my finish time and whoever picks the time closest to my actual one, wins a prize. (Prize - Free entry into a marathon of your choice - "only joking" )

If you can spare a few pounds to support SENSE and help me reach my fundraising target, I would appreciate that very much. Please have a look at the work they do at http://www.sense.org.uk/

What can your donation do for Sense?

Below is a small sample of activities that your donation can pay for:

£5 – could buy a set of musical bells to help stimulate even the tiniest amount of a deafblind child's hearing in music therapy.

£7.50 – could pay for a deafblind child to experience sailing and feel the wind on their face on their Sense holiday.

£15 – could pay for a tactile book for use at a Sense family centre to develop a child's sense of sight and touch.

£25 – could buy an interactive light tube to help stimulate a deafblind child's remaining sight.

£50 – could help pay for a deafblind child's vital first assessment.

£250 – could kit out a home with sensory 'trails' enabling the deafblind residents to identify specific rooms, stairs etc, enabling them to live in a safe, secure environment.

£500 – could pay for a child to undergo a specialised educational development assessment to establish what their learning abilities are.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.