Once again another marathon is on the agenda and whilst there's no doubt I'll complete it, maybe even clock a half decent time, raising money for worthy charities is still very much the reason behind the madness of mile munching.

The choice of charity may not be surprising given the sad loss of my brother-in-law last June and also with my sister being diagnosed with mouth cancer last year. The ICR do tremendous work both in improving treatments for those with cancer but also looking at what cancer is and helping to learn more about it with the aim that people may live their lives free from the fear of cancer as a life threatening disease. Pete and I have focussed more on the support cancer charities in recent years but research and improving treatments is still a very important cause to help support.

I'll be running in memory of Stef and of course less recently my father, step father and mother-in-law but also reminding people that it is also possible to beat this disease as my incredibly brave sister did.

Running marathons does not get any easier, particularly in my 40th year and with two little ones who do their own running around me now! This year I'll have run 220+ miles before the big day, taking 38 hours burning over 22000 calories so it's far from just one day of running 26 miles but all for a great cause which hopefully you will help support.

Thank you

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