What do Paula Radcliff, Forest Gump and Claire Gamble all have in common? No, not peeing on the side of the road ... they are all great runners. Well, the latter is working on it, but it's all about having a positive mindset, isn't it?

As you may or may not have heard, I have signed my life away to run the Brighton Marathon on 10th April. Yup, that's right. I'm running a marathon. If you know me, you'll know that I'm not exactly a natural runner. Short stumpy legs, technique similar to that of a penguin, phobia of sweat... oh dear.

But fear not  I am taking this challenge head on (or should that be foot on?)!

*Queue Rocky theme tune*

I've been up at dawn, sprinting around Manchester, leaping up and down flights of stairs, pumping iron, eating nothing but carrot sticks, fighting bear cubs, drinking raw eggs, snapping steel bars in two with my teeth, doing underwater yoga, hopping up mountains (yes, one legged!), taking on Mike Tyson in the ring and generally treating my body like a lean, mean, marathon racing machine.

*Fade out Rocky theme tune*

OK, not quite...

But training is well underway and I'm now counting down the weeks until the big day. And this is where you lovely, generous people come in.

As well as to set myself a challenge, I'm also running the Brighton Marathon to raise money for Parkinson's UK. For over 40 years, the charity has been working to find a cure and improve life for everyone affected by Parkinson's UK, which includes my Grandma (hello Grandma!).

Any donation large or small will be greatly appreciated and will go a long way in supporting the fantastic work that Parkinson's UK does.

Thank you very much for your support. I'll keep you up-to-date with how my training goes and also if I actually manage to survive the marathon itself!

Love Claire x

PS I need to point out that I didn't exactly know what I was signing up to when I entered the Brighton Marathon. I thought a marathon was 21 miles. Turns out it's 26.1 miles. I bitterly resent that extra 5.1 miles.