Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

This will probably come as something of a shock to you all but - stop the clocks - I am running the London marathon! Yes, it is me, and no, I haven't been training...if last week is anything to go by then I will be aiming to reach the finish line in about 7 hours. 

Any money that you can donate, even if it is £1, will be amazing and if nothing else, I'm sure you will get your money's worth by seeing this fatty trying to run! 

In typical YY fashion, I haven't trained or prepared, I'm just starting now. I am a man in my forties, I have never exercised in my life, and it's just dawned on me - I'm running the marathon and there's only a month to go! 

So why am I doing this?

I have been truly blessed to have known an incredible young woman called Baraka Khan, who passed away on 18th February 2016, aged just 24, a day before her master's degree graduation ceremony at Cambridge University, after a two year battle with lung cancer. 

Baraka was a genuine ray of sunshine in the lives of everyone she met, and has always been a inspiration to myself. She was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer over two years ago - a shock for everybody since neither she nor her family had ever smoked. Despite this, no matter how bad the situation, she was always smiling and trying to help others, putting them before herself. She had done amazing fundraising work for Macmillan Cancer Support among other causes, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I was so touched by this that I promised Baraka I would try to emulate her good work by running the London marathon, and needless to say she was a shocked as everyone else! 

Any money you donate will go to Macmillan, and will be ring-fenced for projects close to Baraka's heart, such as promoting lung cancer awareness, particularly with young people. 

Thank you all so much for your support.