Hello my lovely friends, family and those that come close to being one of the two! 

After giving up alcohol for 5 days and running 10k twice I seemed to think that this qualified me as a professional athlete and for some strange reason, probably after several large gin and tonics, I seemed to think it would be a good idea to run the London Marathon with my little not gay mate Stewy. 

This really did seem like a good idea until I ran 6 miles and realised that a marathon is 4 and a bit times! This doesn’t seem much as I type it but believe me 26.2 miles is a whole lot of pain and suffering.  Now after training for two weeks, running at all hours in the dark cold nights when it’s pouring with rain, I am beginning to realise the amount of pain that goes into this. That said the pain and suffering that I am going through to complete a marathon is nothing like the pain and suffering that 1000’s of families will be going through tonight. 

Whilst I am out tonight, running in the dark and the rain listening to Pharrell Williams on my ipod, life is not so happy for some.  As tonight there will be 2,000 Marie Curie nurses working across the UK caring for terminally ill people in their own homes.  These Marie Curie nurses are providing hands on care and vital emotional support during their final hours.  Last year Marie Curie nurses provided more than 1.3 million hours of nursing to 31,558 people as well as supporting their families during this very difficult time. 

So mine and Stewy’s pain is nothing like the pain that these families will be going through tonight. 

I am not a strong enough person to become a Marie Curie helper but I am a strong enough person to help Marie Curie. 

Sadly, as many of you know, we lost one of our long term employees, Dave Berger, to cancer and this is something I will never forget.  He was a much loved person with a big heart and a massive personality. Those who knew him were blessed and will never forget him. He wasn’t even 50 when he died. It is for this reason that I will always support Marie Curie and the reason I will be running the London Marathon on the 26^th April this year. 

£20 buys one hour of nursing from a Marie Curie nurse, which equates to 77p per mile. I am aiming to buy 250 hours of Marie Curie nursing with my 4.5 hours of pain. I am not asking you to go through any pain, nor run a marathon, I am making it so much easier for you.  All I would like you to do is simply donate whatever you can and help me through the marathon by knowing my pain has bought 250 hours of nursing for terminally ill people across the UK, making someone’s pain a little less painful with the support of a Marie Curie nurse. 

Thank you all so so much for your support, I couldn’t do this without you.  

Thank you

Terry x