So…The words “Never again” lasted  about 2 months before I started thinking about the 2014 London marathon and how much I would like to really break the 4 hour mark.

My first attempt of 4 hours 12 minutes was a massive learning curve for me, you never know how much you can push your body but I now understand what I need to do to not “hit the wall” coming into Westminster again.

I had secretly applied for the 2014 marathon as my poor wife, Hayley starts to worry about me and I didn’t want to put her through unnecessary stress. My application was unsuccessful and I was a little down in the dumps knowing I would not have the chance to break the 4 hour mark in 2014.

The charity Fields In Trust (FIT) http://fieldsintrust.org/ have been so good to me. Not only did they support me throughout the 2013 London marathon, they have done so much throughout the year for me and my family. I was invited to their annual awards (held at Lords) where I noticed a Powerpoint presentation on a loop. It displayed lots of information regarding the fantastic work Fields In Trust have done so far and amongst the slides were pictures of the marathon team from 2013 including the sum of nearly £6,000 we collectively managed to raise. It gave me a the buzz again, making me realise what I had been part of and then I mentioned to Kathryn from Fields In Trust, how much I would love to do it all again……..Couple of weeks later, here we are.

So in April 2014 I AM going to complete the London marathon in a sub 4 hour time and I AM going to raise as much money for a charity that do so much tremendous work for the likes of you and I.

Fields in Trust are the only national charity that protects our parks and other outdoor spaces so that they will never be built on. They currently protect 2815 fields covering 27,789 acres, that’s an area the size of Bristol. With your support we will be able to ensure future generations will always have somewhere to play.

We would love to be able to make sure the parks and fields you (well, me at the moment!) could be training in, will be there forever.

The London marathon isn’t an event you roll out of bed for, its months and months of sacrifice for me and my family. I have already started training, Hayley and the kids are planning their route to follow me around London on the day. This is a major boost, having family, close friends and work colleagues on the side line along the route gave me a left I needed and when one of them followed me around London, jumping on and off public transport to make sure I had someone I knew around me most of the time- was very special.

 

Please support Fields In Trust with a donation, I know you may have been tapped up by me last year but this charity has given me another opportunity of a life time so I want to help them achieve their goals as much as I can.