I'm running the Berlin Marathon this September, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support! I've got 16 weeks to train, and that's going to involve about 700 miles in training. (Scale: the distance from Cambridge to Berlin itself is about 550 miles.) 

Time to 

* Want to sponsor £1 per mile of the marathon? That's just £26!

* Want to sponsor 2p per mile I run in training? That's just £14!

* Want to sponsor 1p per beat of 4/4 dance I listen to in training? That's an unimaginable sum!

All the money I raise will go straight to Macmillan (I'm getting to Berlin and back under my own steam). And if you donate online through JustGiving and are a UK taxpayer, then JustGiving will reclaim Gift Aid on your donation, so that your donation will be worth about 20% more. But if you would rather just write me a cheque, drop me an e-mail or facebook message. And if you want to come to Berlin, and cycle alongside me to cheer me on, that would be Rad.

Below is a little training miniblog thing.

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Week 13. 50.7 miles, including 21.8 miles in 2;34:14, and submitting my PhD thesis. Woo! All in all, a pretty awesome week.

Week 12. 56.1 miles. Agh! I got stung by a bee on my thigh while running! For the rest of the week, I had to run with my left leg rolled up obscenely high, to avoid rubbing the angry fist-sized sting! Now there's a mental image for you...

Week 11. 47.3 miles, many of them in Manchester. I think I quite like Manchester now.

Week 10. 40.7 miles: a nice, relaxing week, which ended with running 8 miles as fast as possible. As one of my role models once said: "Woo! My paws are burnin baby, they're burnin, I gotta tip toe! Tip toe tip toe..."

Week 9. 54.4 miles. That was a tough one. It paid off though: just finished a 20 miler in 2:27:54. Feeling good, but I might well be immensely sunburnt!

Week 8. 45.1 miles, with a (comfortably) sub-1:30 jelly-baby fuelled half marathon to finish. Ace.

Week 7. 41.7 miles. And the 18-mile long run felt good. Though it turns out that jelly tots are a bad choice of sweet to eat while running (far too chewy). Jelly babies next time, I think.

Week 6. 41.6 miles, and waaaa it's too hot! 16 miles just now was shattering...

Week 5. 46.8 miles, most of which were run in Dublin! I'm quite smitten with the city.

Week 4. 39.1 miles; less than previous weeks because this time I had my first rest day. And what a difference in made. The negative-split half marathon at the end of the week was a positive pleasure to run!

Week 3. 44 miles in the heat! Plus, things are feeling much smoother. No longer permanently tired; but still permanently hungry.

Week 2. Much better! Managed 46 miles this week. A little bit cramped today, but that's for largely unrelated reasons...

Week 1. This couldn't have gone much worse: I was hospitalised on the very first day! One night in hospital (with lumbar puncture) later, I was banned from running until further notice. I managed to get out on the last day, very tentatively, for a few miles. At this rate, I'll have to pull out altogether... but I will not be defeated.