Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. This is my first (and last) ever marathon, and I'd like to tell you about the hero I'm running it for.

Eric Rivers was one of the bravest men I've ever known. He's a man I'm proud and privileged to have called a friend. He died in 2015 of the crippling, cruel condition Motor Neurone Disease. 

Eric was one of those people who made everyone around him smile and feel better about themselves. An excellent cricketer, he loved nothing more than sport, his friends, and above all, his wife and daughters whom he adored. He was a man who loved life. And then MND came along and took away all of that.

MND is a vicious killer of a disease, and currently one without a cure. Bit by bit, it inexorably robs its victims of their ability to function, to live a normal life. It leaves them a prisoner in their own body, wrapping its coils tighter and tighter before choking the very life out of them - usually within a couple of years of the first symptoms becoming apparent. It must be stopped.

Some of you may remember Eric - he and his family were featured on Nick Knowles' DIY SOS programme. What came across in the broadcast was Eric's shining intelligence, his quiet courage in the face of terrifying adversity, his devotion to his family and above all, his utter humanity. If you can find it on iPlayer, I'd urge you to watch it.

Eric took the fight to the disease which was destroying his body, delaying its progress far longer than the doctors had predicted was possible. By the end, MND had taken everything it could - his mobility, his speech, even his ability to breathe properly. But it could never take his mind or his spirit - he was able to keep communicating via eye movements and a special computer, and even managed to maintain an active social media presence! The wisdom and courage of his writing in his last months will always stay with me.

Eric, and fighting MND, is pretty much the reason I started running in charity events. When I did my first half-marathon for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, Eric and his family were in the crowd, part of the charity's "cheer squad" spurring on their runners at the Royal Parks course. Sometimes when I'm training, and I feel like I'm at my last gasp and I can't go on, I think of Eric and how he'd have coped. And then the rest is easy.

So if you can, please do help me fight back against MND on Eric's behalf. I'll be running the marathon for the MNDA - a fine organisation that finances medical research to combat this incurable monster of a disease, and supports the people and families torn apart by it.  

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.