I am running the Edinburgh Marathon on 22 May to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and in particular, for three very special people: my father, Maurice Kettle and John Isherwood (my friends Jane and Kirsty's fathers respectively) whose own bravery will hopefully inspire me to finish (we're not aiming for a time here chaps).

Clearly Macmillan is a worthwhile cause but if thats not enough to motivate you to flash the cash and in case you've never trained for a marathon (like me) let me tell you its boring, takes up loads of time and is significantly impairing my ability to socialise. And my knees hurt a bit. I'm not asking you to stop drinking, hurt your knees or spend vast amounts of time outside in the rain, but I do need your cash so cough up.

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 - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.