My Mum sadly died of cancer in 2017. I'm therefore fundraising for Addenbrookes Charitable Trust which is at the forefront of cancer treatment and research in the UK. I'm running the marathon to celebrate reaching my 60th birthday in February 2024, hopefully healthy and happy!

Why The London Marathon? I grew up in south east London so it's the city of my birth and where my Mum lived for most of her life. It has become an annual, inspiring and colourful fixture in the world’s sporting calendar since the inaugural race on 29 March 1981: a celebration of fun, fundraising and fancy dress.

Over the years more than a million people have completed the 26.2-mile course – which runs from Blackheath (near where I was born) to The Mall, with a spectacular finish in front of Buckingham Palace, showcasing the very best that the capital has to offer.

What’s more, these participants have raised over a billion pounds for charity and there have been countless amazing tales of human achievement throughout the event’s history – living up to its aim of helping participants ‘to have fun, and provide some happiness and sense of achievement in a troubled world’.

Please sponsor me if you can spare some cash. I'd rather a donation that a birthday present! Thank you.