Over the last 2 years I have watched in admiration as friend after friend have completed marathon after marathon and its a really wonderful thing that these Just Giving pages are becoming very familiar.

Im running the New York Marathon on the 5th of November for three different charities.

1) The Alexander Janson's Foundation

A charity that aims to fund the very limited research into the causes, prevention and cures for the heart condition - Myocarditis. This is an inflammatory condition affecting the heart that can cause heart-failure, sudden death and major rhythm disturbances. I had never heard of this condition until the end of last year when, completely out of the blue, I suffered a heart attack as a result of myocarditis.

The most frustrating and scary part of the 2 months I spent in hospital was the general lack of understanding and awareness of what caused this condition, how to prevent it and most importantly how to cure it.

Approximately only 1/3 of patients will go on to recover. This a terrifying statistic especially as it primarily affects young healthy people. The Foundation has been set up to gain insights into the scale of this problem and to produce a research paper to be published in medical journals. The knowledge gained from the research will add to the body of existing knowledge and increase the understanding of the Myocarditis disease and how it can be prevented and cured, saving lives in the future.

2) New York Road Runners.

Probably the only real epiphany I had when I was sick was to not take health for granted. This charity gets kids to do sport and to realise the mental and physical benefits of running around.

3) Crawley Coaches

My amazing friend George Crawley has gone out to Rio to start his own charity to help inspire, educate and change the future of young underprivileged children through teaching them tennis and life lessons. He is a real hero and is doing incredible work.