Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As many of you know I have been running for quite a few years now. It started as something to keep up a good level of general fitness after my back gave up the ghost playing squash. ( My mate Rob would say I gave up because he kept beating me......Heavily!!!) You can decide for yourself who you believe.

I started off with modest ambitions....a 10K race was as far as I thought it would take me......I started by running at lunchtimes with Stevey P and Steve I (Stevey P preferred to skip) and gradually I began to enjoy myself and with better fitness levels I became more competitive, aiming for better times and longer distances. I even enjoy (might be a bit strong!!) getting up at 7.30am on a freezing cold January Sunday morning and going for an 8 or 9 mile training run. Everyone else is still in bed when I get back and I honestly think that Clare, Matt and Ellie think I`m a bit strange.

So I did my first 10k at the Great Manchester Run and then took part in my first 10 mile at the Stockport 10, a hilly race held in December every year. This successfully completed I convinced myself to try a Half Marathon and have now completed three, two at Wilmslow and one in November 2012 at Tatton.

I never thought I would decide to do a Marathon, I hoped I would but I knew the training would be time consuming, mentally draining and at times will hurt....a lot I suspect.

With that in mind I thought that if I had a goal of running for charity to focus on it might make the training a little easier. Combine that with the encouragement of friends and family and the help of Neil my Marathon guru, Ive concluded that its really now or never!!!

So why British Red Cross? Well, I have admired the incredible disaster relief work they have done over the years at home and over seas. This includes the Japanese Tsunami 2011, Asia Pacific disaster 2009 and the UK Flood disaster work in 2007. But after reading a bit more, they do so much more than this and if you look at the web site you can see the work they carry out all around the UK. This includes caring for the elderly and other vulnerable people, running First Aid Courses and providing First Aid volunteers at numerous sporting and music events.

Anyway I think Ive bored you all enough now. So all I have left to say is please donate as much as you can afford as the more I can raise the more determined I will be through the long cold days and nights of training ahead......oh, and look out for the regular updates I will add to this page as I progress through the upcoming months.

  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.

Thanks for all your support

Mark