What a day! I managed the course in a reasonable 06:08:27, of which Im quietly chuffed with to say the least!! Thank you to EVERYONE who has been so supportive throughout. I cannot thank you enough for all your generosity, it's truely heartwarming! Something I will treaure the memory of for the rest of my life. That is after I've had some sleep :)

***UPDATE*** We raised a staggering £354.30 at the coffee morning!! Thank you all!!

** Due to a very generous donation we raised another £60 towards the total!

** Ann has kindly pledged £10

** Bill has kindly pledged £5

**John Horn has kindly pledged £25

I enjoy a challenge. After all I am a mum to a testing little boy, that in itself should be enough but OH no.. No.. This Mum is a case of fruit and nut completely. After successfully completing the half marathon in Cardiff in October I have  been able to secure a place in the London Marathon!! A dream come true!! But this DOES mean that I need you all to dig deep for me. (and of course for me to actually train to a decent level to be able to get round this course without flaking out!) I managed the 13.1 miles (Cardiff Half Marathon) in 2:33:30 and I am aiming to do the London one in under 4:30:00 (of course.. this again depends on my ability to tell Starbucks that I am not going to be able to offer them the pleasure of my company every morning but instead go out in the wet streets of Ely to train).

Children's lives have been turned around by the good work Barnardos have done over the years and long after these children have gone on to lead 'normal' lives the wonderful work carries on within the aftercare when they are well into their adult lives. Barnardos have been a favoured charity of mine and I would like to thank them in allowing me to run for the in the London Marathon this year.

It has been a dream of mine for a lot of years to be able to run this and knowing I am doing it to benefit a charity who have been wonderful for my father and other old Dr Barnardos boys and girls I would like to give something to help them continue their good work.

It takes a lot of time through finding these children that need the help and it doesn't stop when they do. There is the care throughout  and also a lot of aftercare which all needs people's generosity to keep running.

My Father is my inspiration for running this and selfishly I am doing this to achieve a goal I didn't think would ever happen. Thanks to everyone who helped me raise over £1000 for the half marathon in October I now have the chance to fulfill one of my lifelong ambitions!

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me in these last few years. It's been tough.. I'll do you all proud! I'm READY for this challenge. Now... how deep are your pockets? And remember to tick gift aid if you can as Barnardos will be able to reclaim 28p out of every pound sponsored ensuring more money going exactly where YOU want it to go!

Many thanks on behalf of Barnardos, Myself and of course my Dad.

Marina.