Since joining Surrey Wildlife Trust as a ranger 5 years ago I have fallen in love with Surrey's wildlife and the incredible diversity of flora and fauna it supports. I met Ben 2 years ago when he started volunteering with the trust and we have become good friends through our mutual interest in the natural world. This is something everyone in the county, and further afield, can enjoy by simply visiting one of the many SWT managed reserves. In fact if you own a dog, ride a horse, go for a jog or bike ride or take the kids out for a walk.....chances are you will have visited a SWT nature reserve! Ben and I are keen fitness enthusiasts and last year completed a fitness challenge raising money for SWT, but this year we wanted to raise the bar.

On the 4th October 2014 we are running from Staffhurst Wood in the east of Surrey to Puttenham Common in the west in 24 hours covering a total of at least 65 miles......the equivalent of 2.5 marathons!!!!!!!! We'll be passing through 28 nature reserves reflecting all our land management partnerships and highlighting the importance of a connected Living Landscape in Surrey!

So where does your sponsorship go? It will help fund 3 research projects which aim to showcase the importance of a well connected landscape with the focus on studying Otters, Dormice and Harvest mice. These are species which need well connected, well managed habitats to allow them to disperse and thrive so are excellent species to study to bring home the Living Landscape message.

This challenge will involve four months of hard training, blisters, chafing, exhaustion, thirst, sweat and fatigue. Anything you can donate will really spur us on, but most importantly help support fantastic research into how we can  best care for the incredible wildlife and habitats we have right on our doorstep.