As many of you may know, my brother Andrew had a stroke in December, 2 weeks before his 50th birthday. It was a big one, with him being unable to speak and also having no feeling or use of his right hand side. The part of his brain that covered these task had been irreversibly damaged.

6 months later, Andrew is walking, talking, using his right hand and regularly going to the gym to increase his strength on that side. This is only due to all of the support from Physios, Speech Therapists and Occupation Therapists. Also, of course, this is due to Andrew's determination and the fact that he has consistently pushed himself since his Stroke.

I am running the Royal Parks half marathon for the Stroke Association. To encourage people to sponsor me and to try and mimic the dedication that Andrew has shown in a small way, I have decided to run a half marathon a day for the 6 days leading up to the Royal Parks half, making that one the 7th in 7 days. I'm planning to spend the next few months training as consistently as Andy has been, to make it as pain free as possible!

Thanks for your support.

Martin