2009 Flora London Marathon

I have registered to run the 2009 Flora London Marathon to raise money for the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT). Fiona and I have been doing some running over the last 6 months or so, but as of January I will be cracking open the bulk-buy pasta and starting my pre-marathon training.

This will not only be my first marathon, but also my first race...gulp! The plan is to try and complete the 42.16 kilometers (26.2 miles) of London's historic roads in about 4 hours, but just to finish will be a real achievement. I imagine that it is going to be hard work, however, Fintan can go through what he does without barely creating a fuss, so I will be using him as inspiration to get me through it.

CHECT have been a great source of support and information to us over the last year or so and they will no doubt be invaluable to Fintan throughout his life as his needs change. They also continue to raise awareness of this rare disease so that other children could be diagnosed earlier, hopefully reducing loss of vision and minimizing the need for eye removal.

So here comes the plea; please, please, please dig deep into your pockets and sponsor me for this worthy cause.

I have set up a JustGiving page, which you can access via the link below to pledge via the Internet....or if you'd prefer, I won't be going anywhere from now until 26th April 2009 without a sponsor form!

The JustGiving page is here: http://www.justgiving.com/jamesmorleysmith

If you are a UK tax payer, please select the Gift Aid option as this will add an extra 25p for every pound pledged.

Thanks in advance for your kind generosity.