Two and a half years in the making. Got a ballot place for Spring 2019 which I deferred to 2020 and then we all know what happened!

I am fundraising for my (former) local hospital trust. They were incredible through the birth of both of our children, and they were also there for us as we went through a miscarriage. To run this marathon in aid of the caring staff that were there for us through all of these highs and lows seems like the least I could do?

I sort of threw myself into marathon running by accident and this all comes full circle with the London Marathon. The weekend that I traveled to Amsterdam to run my first marathon was just after my wife and I had gone to hospital for a scan to find out we'd had a 'missed miscarriage'. So that run was very nearly cancelled for me. The high of the run dulled either side by the low of what we had going on at hospital. 6 months later, I ran my second marathon in Brighton, by which point we were expecting our second (that September) who this time was successfully delivered.

The birth of our second at the Whittington was an intense experience - we had the memory of the miscarriage and of our first labour at the same place three and a half years previously. That first birth was easily harder than any marathon, admittedly not so much for me, but emotionally at least it was draining. Second time around, we were prepared for another grueling experience, but thankfully we'd clearly trained hard enough, and it was as wonderful as 'they' all say.

So now, this is my chance to give a little back to the hospital trust that has given us so much. Please anything you can give is so gratefully received. And OF COURSE, my wonderful employers, Barclays, will match anything you donate £4£.

Thank you!