Hello, thanks for visiting my page.

Last year I went from a non-runner to completing the marathon. I ran the London Marathon 2010 in 5:38.21 and ran 500 miles in training. I imagined that after the race I would never want to run a marathon again and would cross it off the list as things I had wanted to do. However I actually feel like I need to do it again both to raise money for a cause I am passionate about and to improve my running and ultimately improve my marathon time.

This year I have chosen to run for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, MND is a disease you have probably heard of but probably know very little about. To see a better description of the disease than I can ever give please click this link http://www.mndassociation.org/life_with_mnd/what_is_mnd/index.html. It really is a very serious disease but relatively little is known about it.

Please help me to raise money for this very worthy cause, every penny donated will help people with this terryfying disease as well as funding research to find the causes and therefore a potential cure so less people will have to endure it.

Again I am entering several races for the year and am asking for sponsorship for all of them in one go with the main focus being the marathon. As I said I ran 500 miles last year, I plan to run 700 miles this year and also to set personal best times for 10k (Currently 1hr 2m) , Ten Miles (1hr 44m), Half marathon (2hr 26m) and marathon. I have already registered for a 10 mile race in May (Great Baddow 10), a half marathon in September (Run to the beat) and a 10k in October (Run 10k) and will be adding several races to the list as they become available (Felstead 10k, Brentwood Half, Kilomathon etc).Thanks in advance and wish me luck!

Jus
Progress.
So far with 5 months to go till the big day progress is slow but steady. I have taken part in two 10k races, one a disaster in Hylands Park on a wet windy and muddy day (yet also bloody hot!!!) , my time was about 1hr 8mins and is one of the worst times I have posted at 10k distance but I fell over once and the park was like a mud bath so I wasn't too down about the time and was just happy I finished.
So far I have done about 200miles of training and my times and stamina have been improving gradually which is encouraging, I feel fitter and a bit faster than last year so am on track for where I want to be. However there are lots of hard miles ahead. I did the Saucony 10k in Chelmsford on Sunday (21/11/10) and managed to break the hour mark for 10k which was one of my goals and gives me massive encouragement going forward. Please continue to donate, I can't tell you how much I and MNDA appreciate it!!!

23/03/11
Less than 2 months to go now and training is getting very tough! Unfortunately the two races I was going to enter pre-marathon just don't fit into the training schedule as they are not long enough races for the training I need to be doing, hence the Braintree Skyline 5 and the Brentwood half are out! It's a shame but unfortunatley every mile counts at the moment and the weekend of the Braintree 5 I have to be running 18 miles and the day of the Brentwood half I will be doing 20-22 miles in my last long run.
Training at the moment consists of a short (5-8miles) run in the week, some interval training on the bike and then a long run at the weekends. Last Sunday I did 14 miles  and will be doing 15 this Sunday.
It is a horrible time of year to be training and is generally cold and wet so hopefully soon we will get better conditions whcih will make the runs more enjoyable. At the moment it is a hard slog and after 2 years on constant training is getting harder and harder! Can't wait till about 15.00 on April 17th so I can have a rest!
Thank you so much to eveyone that has donated, it is really encouraging to be getting so much money in and all you people who have donated are very very kind, it does keep me going to know I have to do you all proud
Cheers
Jus