I have come a long way since my first attempt at training in early January this year – it was cold and raining, I was hopelessly unfit after Christmas holiday excess and I think I spent more time walking than running. Since then I have added a cumulative 290 miles to my training total, and whilst I think Keitany can probably sleep easy in the knowledge I shall not be challenging the women's record she set in London in 2017, I am feeling moderately more confident about the prospect of at least finishing my first marathon.

I am raising money for Oxfam, which works in over 90 developing countries providing disaster relief and development aid particularly around themes of water, women, work and inequality. The charity has had some sad recent governance failures, but I hope you feel, like me, that this needn't mean losing sight of the work it does to support the lives of over 11 million people worldwide.

Thank you so much for all your support and tolerance for my banging on about running for the last few months, and I look forward to catching up on the other side.

CB xxx