In April 2023, I will run further than I've ever run in my life. Over the next few months, I will be getting up at 6am, running through the cold, wet British winter, eating weird running gels, and worrying about chafing. All with the aim of completing the London Marathon in April. That means running a bit over 26 miles (which is also 42 kilometres, 50,000 steps, or about four and a half hours of non-stop plodding).

In short... this is going to hurt!

I'm running to raise money for Earthwatch, an environmental research and education charity that empowers everyday people to save the planet.

It does this, not through activism or protest, but by enabling people to tackle the critical environmental issues in their neighbourhoods: the impacts of climate change, the declining health of our rivers and oceans, and the loss of wildlife. Earthwatch's work focusses on advancing environmental science - enabling researchers, citizens and organisations to make the grassroots changes we need to see to restore nature around the world.

Over the last five years, more than 10,000 people have worked with Earthwatch on freshwater, climate change, oceans and wildlife projects, creating and advancing scientific knowledge. Earthwatch have supported and offered vital fieldwork opportunities to more than 2,000 scientists, as well as engaging with more than 1,400 students in the UK each year.