Green Man Ultra, a 45-ish mile race around the community forest trail that loops around Bristol, was one of the first ultramarathons I attempted. It didn't go well, with Helen discovering me passed out at the side of the road 30 miles in to the Summer edition of the event. And on the way home I redecorated the inside of her car. Undeterred, I returned to attempt the Winter version of the event and managed to drag myself around, more by luck than judgement.

Buoyed by confidence, I entered the next Summer edition of the event, motivated by the thought of a special buckle you get for doing both. Three quarters of the way round I stopped to help a runner who had not taken any electrolytes on one of the hottest days of the year and was close to collapsing with heat exhaustion... It was the least I could do but caused me to miss the cutoff for the precious buckle I wanted.

I thought I would have another bash at the Winter version, but overtraining gifted me a stress fracture to my foot and I was destined to limp the route (though to be fair, my running pace isn't much faster!)

This chequered, love-hate relationship with Green Man Ultra led me to swear never to set foot on the trail again... Until I saw the opportunity to lay the demons to rest and raise some funds for Avon Wildlife Trust.

Founded in 1980 as a charity to safeguard precious green spaces, Avon Wildlife Trust was Britain’s first urban wildlife trust, focusing on people and wildlife habitats in Bristol, Bath and other urban areas across the West of England.

Avon Wildlife Trust continues to champion urban wildlife, promote landscape-scale conservation, manage nature reserves, stand up for wildlife against inappropriate development and other threats, work to influence decision-makers locally and nationally to put nature and wildlife at the heart of policy, and inspire people of all ages to connect with nature in their everyday lives.

If you could pledge a few quid towards my fundraising, I pledge to do my best to train sensibly and perhaps, my attempt to run the Green Man Ultra will, for once in my life, go according to plan.