It was four years ago that I limped through the London Marathon. Carrying an injury, it took me an agonising seven and a half hours to complete the course. It was important to me to complete it as I was marking the 10th anniversary (to the month) of my slipping into a coma and subsequent brain surgery, following a brain haemorrhage that almost ended my life in April 2009. It seemed fitting at the time to raise money for a brain injury charity. However, my preferred charities are those that help homeless people. Those living on the street mostly get a raw deal from life, can be treated very cruelly, and I believe that nobody is better or worse than anyone else. It is all about circumstances, and there, but for the grace of whatever we choose to believe in, go all of us.

With this in mind, I have opted to attempt to raise at least £500 for the homeless charity, Shelter. On Sunday 1st October, I will be participating in the Cardiff half Marathon. I still struggle a little with the old injury, but I'm finding ways around it. It may hold me back a bit (I have to stop and stretch my leg muscles from time to time when I'm running, to keep it at bay), but I'm still hoping to do it in two and a half hours. To be honest, I'm hoping for better than that, but in reality it is primarily about completing the course.

If you can support by making a donation, I would very much appreciate that. If you can't, that's fine too. Just sharing this post is as good as a donation as the more people it reaches, the better.

(Cover photo: Me chasing a pizza during this year's Barry 10K)

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