I am a supporter of INSPIRE and want to help it raise funds for research into spinal cord injury. Now aged 44, I have been married for 17 years and have 3 children. After putting on a lot of weight - at one point I was over 20 stone - I got to 37 and decided I had to lose weight for my health.

I started dieting, and joined a gym. I managed to get down to 17 stone and then I started using the treadmill. I liked running as a teenager but not as an adult!. After a couple of drinks one night I signed up to do the Great South Run. Oops, then the reality hit me - I was in no condition to do this.

I decided to just go for it, training as much as I could. When the event came round, I was down to a much slimmer 14 stone and completed the run in 1 hour 25 mins. From then I was hooked on running, joining a running club called RunAltus, who have been brilliant. I run whenever I can, taking part in the Great South Run last year, completing it in 1 hour 11 minutes.

This will be the 2nd marathon I have competed in but the first with actual people, since my first one was the virtual London marathon in 2021.