I started my journey to my six marathon major stars in 2018.  I had never wanted to run a marathon but thought that as a runner I should probably run at least one, that would be more than enough, surely, so after three years of rejection from London marathon, I ran Edinburgh in a time of 3hr 45 mins.  This gave me a 'good for age' time for London and it would've been rude not to....so I ran London in 2019 (3 hrs 34mins).  After London it seemed like a good (?!) idea to run the six marathon Majors, so I ran New York, also in 2019 in 3 hr 32mins.  There was a brief hiccup for COVID, when I ran a virtual marathon at home for The Boston Marathon (no idea of the time) in 2020.  When we were allowed to travel again I ran Berlin in 2021 in 3hr 20mins, Boston in 2022 3hrs 22 mins (it is hilly) and Chicago also in 2022 in 3hrs 15mins.

The sixth star is Tokyo on Sunday 5 March 2023.  It feels like it has been a very long journey, there have been many, many training runs, long and intense chats with friends, races of all kinds and distances, gels of all varieties (some which have actually stayed down), blisters, falls, being chased by dogs of all pedigrees, mud (oh the mud), rain, sleet, ice, snow, wind and heat, but it feels like I am almost (almost) there.  I'm old, tired and slightly broken but I've had a lot of fun along the way.  I'm very excited that Tokyo is my sixth star and having never been to Japan I am looking forward to all the delights it has to offer.  The plan is to run this one slower and soak up the atmosphere and fun.  Who knows what will happen after Tokyo - retirement beckons.

I've decided to again run  for Nacoa (The National Association for Children of Alcoholics), which is a small local charity with a cause close to my heart.  NACOA is a Bristol based charity founded in 1990 to provide help and support for everyone affected by a parent’s drinking. NACOA believes that every child has the right to a happy childhood and to live a creative and meaningful life but when drink is the family secret they are more likely to experience family violence, neglect and other problems in their own homes.

Please do give what you can and I promise to stop banging on about running (until the next event - that is).