Merry Christmas!

And a big thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far including Spud, Jamie, Eve, Jabbar & Barbara, Mike Short, Barry Williamson, Carol & Bob Kirkby, Gill & Helmut Faulhaber, Catherine Ball, Liz & Saul Salter, Jean & Peter and Roger & Sarah. The 2008 total is now a healthy £320!

Just a quick training update - between all the fine food and wine over the festive period (and the Leeds game with Ben on Boxing Day) I managed to squeeze in a couple of 20 km runs (or half-marathons). The first one was a personal best time of 1 hr and 33 minutes and the second one nearly killed me so I am feeling both confident and scared ahead of my 16 week training programme which starts on the 5th January (more details to follow).

New trainers and running tights are now on order to get me through the winter months and I will be updating my blog every week from here on in. To see how the sponsorship is going or to make a donation visit: www.justgiving.com/nick09  

Have a happy New Year and check back soon!

The long road ahead...

Hello there,

This is the first post on my blog that I will be updating regularly with my progress towards running the Flora 2009 London Marathon on 26th April 2009 (exactly 5 months away!).

Having run the Leeds Half Marathon in the summer in the time of 1 hour 36 minutes without any specific training and a bit of a hangover, I have convinced myself that doubling the distance shouldn't be too much of a problem with the right preparation and abstinence!

I will be following a 16 week training programme that begins on the 5th January (details to follow) and will keep you up-to-date with the highs and lows with lots of pictures (if you're interested) on this very blog so keep popping back.

The reason I am doing all this is to raise money for the Leeds Branch of the MS Society and to raise awareness of this disease and how it affects the lives of around 85,000 people in the UK including my brother, Ben.

For more information on the MS Society and MS, visit http://www.mssociety.org.uk/ and if you would like to sponsor me, please visit www.justgiving.com/nick09 or drop me an email at nickr9000@yahoo.co.uk

More details to follow soon...