Hello everyone,

I write this page on behalf of myself, J and my two younger brothers, Ben and Elliott. We decided to do a joint Just Giving page so we don't need to mither people seperately. :-)

At some point last year, I had a bit of a crackerjack moment and suggested we all run the Paris marathon in 2013. Everyone eagerly (!?) agreed and before we knew it we were all signed up. Nick Pugh, our very keen dad had booked his hotel in record time and when the confirmation email arrived, it was clear (with a bit of GCSE French) that we weren’t about to wake up and give thanks that it was only a dream.

So, some months later and we’ve got just nine weeks to go, the training plan is in action and it’s all getting a bit serious.

With 9 weeks to go, the training plan will see me run 40 miles and my long weekend run hit 16.5 miles. The recent snow has watched and laughed as I've wrapped up warm, put my trainers on regardless and become one of those mad running people that I used to wonder about.

J is following the same plan closely and has proven that the man that doesn’t operate fully pre-9am CAN get himself to the gym before work for the training. He’s surprised us all with his progress and has definitely shown the biggest improvement in pace and fitness above all.

It appears Elliott is a bit of a nocturnal runner and reports arrive late on a Saturday evening of his long runs. He’s been working in Budapest for the last 2 weeks and together with the Unicum (ahem!) he has been fitting in the training runs in the gym. Dedicated is Elliott’s middle name and our competitive sides are all a bit worried about what he might pull out of the bag on the day.

Ben is the one with the secret ingredient, a natural sportsman with the Brighton Half under his belt in 2012. He appears super laid back about Paris and annoyingly, I have no doubt he shall make it all look a bit too easy.

And then there’s me and if ever there was a way to prove to all my friends and family that I’m taking this seriously, then I think I’ve got it: I’M OFF THE WINE*. I kid thee not. This is HARD, training is HARD. But I’m sticking at it until April 7 and all of your support and encouragement is wholeheartedly appreciated. It really really does help motivate me through the miles.

Love, Alex, J, Ben and Elliott :-)

Thank you all for visiting our page, if you can spare a couple of pounds in donation, we're raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital and anything you can spare will be gratefully received. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

* Don't worry everyone, I'll be back and ready to make up for lost time/animal masks. :-)