Dear friends I need your help! I've been dragged into this mad, mad Oxfam charity thing by my best friend Ash a couple of months ago. Having never actually walked or run more than about 40k (a couple of years ago, at my athletic peak!), I have in a moment of sheer madness, agreed to walk 100k (ONE HUNDRED!) on July 19/20 in the South Downs Way. And we've got to do it in 30 hours. Please don't laugh, this is serious business! Indeed, some of you may have spotted me around Richmond park, on a bike, lycra tights and all, panting and sweating my way along the tracks, building that endurance that will come in handy. Why o why am I doing this to myself? Well, it was sold to me as one of the toughest team charity challenges around. (As if a marathon is not enough of a challenge, they had to come up with this equivalent of 2.5 marathons on country paths!!) Gullible as I am, it seemed glamorous at the time, and the word 'fun' was also thrown in the mix. Above all, it's organised by Oxfam, something credible in my books, judging from their record, their apolitical stance and transparency. Although in no way an excuse for not going and getting my own hands dirty in areas where Oxfam do some amazing charity work, I thought this would be my way of contributing to raising funds for them. So yes, here comes the moment I need to ask you good people for money, as it makes the world go round, and Oxfam can't do anything without it. We are aiming to raise £2000 for Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust, so please please please, donate generously! justgiving.com is an easy and safe way of donating online. If you are a UK tax payer it adds 28% to your donation, which is fab. I'll be updating you with how the training is going! It would also be great to hear from those of you I unfortunately don't get to see too often! Saj ____________________________________________________________________________________ UPDATES: Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all your donations so far. It means a lot to us and gives us a real boost to have so many of you backing us and our charity. Last month we did a BIG one. 55km walk between Manchester and Sheffield....ovenight! Took us just under 12 hours, in fairly poor conditions. It did hit the system hard, but we came out of it the stronger (and even managed to go to the Radiohead concert a few hours later!. Last weekend, we did 25% of the actual track on the South Downs (the real thing!) in about 5 hours. It was a glorious day, and the views were amazing. No room for complacency though, as we don't know what conditions are going to be like on the day. So D-DAY is this Saturday, and the adrenaline levels are high! You'll hear soon of our adventures! Thanks again for your support. Sajir