Firstly thank you so much for visiting my JustGiving page. Any donation no matter how small is really appreciated in my quest to complete the London 2013 Marathon.

You may ask - why would I do this to myself? There's one main reason... My father had very severe MS and died 5 years ago. Before being diagnosed with MS he been a keen runner, completing the London Marathon multiple times. We had always said we would run it together (I think this was me being naive and not quite understanding the trauma of running a marathon). I partly want to run in his memory (and secretly to try and beat his time- which anyone who knows me and knew my dad- knows this will NEVER happen!!) but also to help raise awareness of MSRC and the work they do for such a worthwhile cause.

I'm sure anyone who knows me will understand how painful the training and day is going to be- for a start I may have to cut down on my weekly alcohol intake and possibly eat less chips...

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system (your brain and your spinal cord). It is an auto-immune disease, where the immune system gets confused and instead of attacking an infection or virus, the immune system turns on itself and attacks the nerve cells. This means that ‘messages’ being transmitted from the brain become distorted or not get through at all.

Approximately 100,000 people in the UK have MS and there are roughly three times as many women with MS as men. MS is usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40. Children and older adults can develop MS but this is less common.