Most of you that know me know that I have applied for London Marathon 15 times via the ballot since I took up running in 2010, and finally am in!

I am running for NSPCC as it's a charity I love & I believe strongly in what they do. Running the marathon is a one time deal for me & so this is the one and only opportunity I'll have to raise money through such a large event & the only time I'll hassle people for sponsorship 😃

I have trained really hard since January, I've been following a 16 week training plan. I have been travelling lots with work & so has been tough at times, getting up at 5.30am running around areas I don't know in freezing weather in pitch black, it's not been fun!

Adjusting to a training plan was quite challenging because of all the variety I'm not used to & the sheer volume of running. I usually just go out door and run, the training plan has been intervals, strides, Fartieks, slow runs, hill runs, basically training in right HR zones.... It's been enjoyable but definitely a learning curve at times, I didn't even know what a stride was 10 weeks ago! But I've followed the plan to the letter of the law & not missed one training session 😃🏃🏃🏃

I didn't want to put out a sponsorship form until well into training in case I got injured or something.....

Below is my Strava link, I've run 363 miles & counting

Check out Neill Martin on Strava

https://strava.app.link/m9KF6a0JKRb

Really appreciate anything you can donate to help me to my target of £1000, thank you for supporting this amazing charity 🏃🏃🏃