So….after injuring my foot during my first training run things can surely only get better from here, though not necessarily easier! Having said that, I can’t wait for the challenge ahead (I think!).

Joking aside, my girlfriend Charlotte and I are running this year's London Marathon for a very special cause.

As some of you may know, Charlotte’s brother Ed (aged 17) suddenly fell unwell in November 2021 with suspected cardiomyopathy. He was rushed to the Bristol Royal Infirmary where he remained in intensive care for two weeks. During this time he continued to deteriorate and the decision was made, by the Bristol team, to transfer Ed to Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge for specialist care. Here, despite all the staff trying their absolute best to get him well again, no medication slowed or stopped his condition from worsening. At the time, this was incredibly frightening. Charlotte's mum and dad stayed at his bedside each and every day to provide comfort and support, despite feeling as terrified as Ed about what was to come. Two months after he was first admitted to the Royal Papworth Hospital, the decision was made to add him to the super-urgent heart transplant waiting list. He received his life-saving heart transplant two weeks later (09/01/22), which happened to be my 21st birthday! 

Ed's journey to receiving a heart transplant, I'm sure, would have looked very different if it wasn't for the truly amazing staff at the Royal Papworth (more like friends really!), the incredible support from close friends and family along the way, and the extraordinary research carried out by organisations and charities like the British Heart Foundation. We want to thank you all, for everything. 

To show our appreciation for the remarkable ongoing research by the British Heart Foundation we want to absolutely smash our target and raise as much money as we can for such a fantastic cause! See you at the finish line...