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You may remember back in the autumn, I said I was running the 2016 London Marathon. We had a quiz night, cake sale, and it was grand…

At the same time, my gorgeous wife was six months pregnant – and this is a pertinent point, given the expressions I used to get when telling people of our impending arrival and my scheduled run; especially expressions from people who had already experienced the joys of parenthood.

Well I now know exactly why they looked at me the way they did.

Anyway, it’s probably best I confirm that… Yes! I am still running the London Marathon. Yes! We now have a beautiful little boy called Archie. And no! The training has not gone to plan.

I’ve managed about a fifth of the runs I was supposed to complete – and each one I managed required a lot of good will from my good lady plus half the amount of sleep anyone should be getting. It’s certainly been an interesting few months.

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Little Archie, just a few weeks old – and showing his colours for daddy (not that he had a choice).

To remind you, I am running in London for Alzheimer’s Research UK – and you can read why HERE. Fortunately through so many people’s wonderful generosity towards the end of last year, the fundraising tally currently stands just shy of £1,000. That’s £500 short of the initial target, with my employers Archant hopefully set to match that figure for the cause – taking the total beyond my £3,000 goal.

So there is still a fair way to go – hence my London Marathon Time Sweepstake! Please join in the fun and help raise even more money for an extremely worthwhile cause.  You could even bag yourself a few extra pounds.

For the record, I somehow shuffled my way through a 20-mile run on Tuesday (April 12). That was both remarkable, a personal best by several miles and incredibly daunting given that come marathon day, there will be another six-plus miles still to run, feeling like that. Good lord!

Of course, if you want to donate without the fun of the sweepstake, all you need to do is visit my Just Giving page.

Thanks as always for your support. It means so much now – and will mean even more when I’m crawling around those final six miles in the capital.

Michael