I am running this year's London Marathon...in full academic dress!

I am raising money for Helen & Douglas House, because they are an amazing Oxford-based charity helping terminally ill children live life to the full. Over the last few years, I have learned more about the extraordinary and positive impact the hospice movement has on people's lives and yet how under-funded it is by government.

I have chosen to run in academic dress because I'm an Oxford professor and I'm passionate about the way in which universities can use sport to build connections to the wider community.

I will attempt to break the world record for the 'fastest marathon dressed as an academic'. The current record stands at 3:31, and was set last year at the Berlin Marathon.