And so, we are doing it: the "Meadows Men" (Alex, John, Olly and Stephen) are running the LONDON MARATHON 2018.

Here's the story so far:

• Crohn's and/or Colitis has run in the Meadows family for some years, culminating in a diagnosis for one of our youngest members of the family earlier this year.
• In response to this and in support of the 300000 other sufferers in the UK, the entire family embarked on a year of raising awareness and funds for the excellent support and research offered by Crohn's & Colitis UK.
• Emma, Rachel, Julie and Sally (our respective wives) raised over £1000 running an inflatable 5k earlier this year before Ruth and Richard (the in-laws) raised nearly £2000 with a sumptuous garden party in the June sunshine.

We would be eternally grateful if you were able to make our blisters worthwhile by donating as much as you possibly can and support us in reaching our mammoth target of £15,000.

A sum like this is huge to a small charity such as Crohn's & Colitis UK and is sure to help fund further research or enable them to offer the best support to those that live with this debilitating illness. With your help together we can fight inflammatory bowel disease.

For more information of the superb work carried out by Crohn's and Colitis UK, please follow this link - https://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/.

Thanks for reading. Below you will find some personal and details from each of us:

The courage and bravery shown from the members of our family that suffer with this illness is inspiring. Up until the 30th April 2017, the furthest I had ever ran outdoors was 800 metres. So you can see I have a lot of training a dedication in front of me. Your donations and support will help me get through this...thank you so much in advance.

Alex 'built for comfort/not speed' Buckle  

My wife Rachel was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2004. As those of you who have lived with or are currently living with this disease or its related conditions will know, it's painful and intrusive. Rachel contends with the   constant juggling of medications, which have varying side-effects, and all before those things that normal life throws at you. Yet, ever since I have known her, she has stubbornly refused to be downed by this horrible condition, always remaining positive. In fact, her depths of empathy and compassion come from the challenges this disease has brought. Running a marathon barely registers on the scale of difficulty when compared to living with Crohn's or Colitis but it is our way of acknowledging the struggles of those who contend with these conditions as part of everyday life. I hope you feel you can support us in this and help us reach our huge £15k target. Thank you.   

John "this is eating into my nap time" Roberts 

I am not going to lie, five years ago I knew very little about Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis and next to nothing about the chronic pain its sufferers indure. Now that I know an awful lot more I remain astounded and inspired by family members that manage this illness day to day whilst also managing incredibly successful lives and careers. Not least of these is our superstar niece who is coming to terms with a life-changing illness with astounding strength and positivity. It is for these people that I will drag myself around London, safe in the knowledge that my pain will be temporary whilst, as things stand, theirs will last a lot longer. Any money you can spare will help Crohn's and Colitis UK fund research in the hope that one day a permanent cure can be found. Know that I appreciate your support and recognise that you are giving up your hard-earned cash. Thank you - I hope to do you proud. 

Olly "pasty on the finish line" Pengelly

For those of you that know us well you will realise that our daughter Poppy was the latest member of the family to suffer from this condition.  Nothing prepares you for when your child becomes really sick and then goes on to develop a long term condition that will stay with them for life.  It shook our family to the core but we are determined to turn that into a positive and help Crohn's & Colitis UK help support people like Poppy and hopefully find a cure that will mean no-one has to go through what Poppy went and goes through. Poppy is A ROCK STAR, she is my inspiration and I am SO proud of her.  I want to make her proud of me so that she knows I support her. It's not going to be easy, I'll have to dig pretty deep to get this one done, dig deep with Poppy and I into your pocket and support us and this great cause!

Stephen 'I should have done this 20yrs ago' Lyons

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.