In April next year I will be running the London Marathon. After declining to run such a distance for many years, there were a few reasons to change my mind this year. A person close me became unwell and got through a tough time with the help of others. And what fabulous inspiration from Sifan Hassan in the London Marathon this year. Whilst choosing a suitable charity is a difficult choice, I will be running for Barnardo’s, the children’s charity, which has a fantastic heritage in helping children in difficult situations. If you can spare some sponsorship money to meet my target, your donation will be appreciated and it will provide me with a lot of motivation.

As for my training, it is going well with some long-distance runs completed. I’ll keep you posted over the next few months.

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.