LEPRA is an international organisation which helps people affected by Leprosy, TB, Malaria, and other diseases whose root cause is poverty.

I decided to run the Marathon after being inspired by my Mum who ran in 2008 and having watched the event as a spectator for most of my working life in London, I’ve always been semi-curious to take part. Having completed a half-marathon in Madrid last year, my competitive nature dictated it was time I set my sights on the big one!

Training has been somewhat of a challenge as the weather before Christmas conspired against running and leaving the warmth of indoors at all, and then came the familiar excesses of Christmas which meant that by January, I really needed to spring into action!

Luckily I now find myself in warmer climates due to travel with work and am now taking the opportunity to run along the beaches and horse-tracks of North Africa and the Middle-East as my training gets a little more intensive and more fun as well.

Why LEPRA?  Well, it amazed me to discover that in the 21st century there are still communities in the world who are sneered at and stigmatized for having leprosy which is essentially a skin disease that can be treated by a simple course of antibiotics.  My aim by running 26 miles like a lunatic around London is to raise £2,500 which will significantly contribute to LEPRA's essential project work fighting leprosy and other diseases of poverty.

It will for example help operate mobile clinics running for long enough to diagnose and begin treatment of communities. And fund health workers to go out to rural areas where their service is most needed.

I've never run a marathon before and the thought of running 26 miles is quite frankly so terrifying that keeps me awake at night with trepidation.  This long distance was helpfully put into perspective by a friend of mine just the other day when we'd be driving along the motorway from Salisbury to London for about 45 minutes at which point he turned to me and said "Good luck Mike, you'll have just run this distance this time in April!"

Despite the pain though that I will no doubt endure for several days afterwards, I really believe that running this to raise money for a fantastic cause is worth every muscle that aches, so please help to make this possible by dipping into your pockets and donating what you can.

Thanks,

Mike

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