On 13th April 2008 I join another 30,000 elite athletes, c-list celebrities and grannies and grandads to run the London Marathon.

I accidently conned Shelter into giving me a Gold place, silly me thought I'd been donating £20 a month to them since 1999, but turns out my cash was going to a different (but equally deserving!) charity helping the homeless. Anyway, I figure I have eight year's worth of £20's to make up for, so with your help I'm aiming to raise £2,000 for Shelter.

You'll get some minor entertainment for your money, as I kept a marathon blog at http://www.hallard.co.uk. Having now completed the race, there's a full report on my big day, and a few photos posted.

Donating through Just Giving is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Shelter will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So dig deep and sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support.

My offline donation total is now up to £620, many thanks to HSBC, Has and Mike Conway from the Loose Cannon, Jason and all the staff at Franco & co, and Eva, Narinder, Graham and Tony for their generous support.

Luke