In May of last year my friend Hazel and her family received the devastating news that their beautiful little boy, Tommy, was suffering from Acute Myloid Leukaemia.  As Leukaemias go it is an aggressive form of Leukaemia and Tommy had to begin immediate treatment.  Just two short weeks later, at just 18 months old, Tommy died.  Hazel and her family had a desperately short time with Tommy and it was a shocking turn of events.

As Hazel so courageously put it when she spoke at Tommy’s funeral, 'Everybody thinks that their children are beautiful, but Tommy really was.' And Tommy was.  Anybody that met him couldn’t help but be charmed by his cheeky grin, and his playful nature.  He was a good boy and was adored by his whole family'.

It is Hazel’s hope that Tommy would always be remembered by those that knew him and to that end I am hard at training to raise some funds in memory of Tommy for Hazel’s chosen charity -  Children with Cancer UK. 

On Sunday 26th April I will be running in the London Marathon. I have managed to secure a Championship place and so will be on the start line with Paula Radcliffe behind the Elite runners. I am aiming to complete it in as near to 3hr 15min as possible and so the training is pretty intense! As the training runs are so long I have a lot of time to think and not a run goes by when I am not thinking about Tommy and his family. 

In my training I also remember with fondness my great friend Gemma who I met in Perth, Australia. I always remember Dom coming home and saying, 'I've met a nurse I know you will get on well with'. As soon as we met I connected with her huge smile and laugh. Gemma had an infectiously positive personality, was so caring and so much fun. As her Mother so wisely wrote, 'Gemma was always smiling no matter what, so brave! Lifting us all up wherever she went, spreading her sunshine'. Throughout her fight with cancer she was the most positive person you could ever meet, never complaining but gentle, smiling and still interested in everyone else. She sadly died in August 2013. I miss Gemma but I remember her always and recently enjoyed a great few days in Cornwall with Duncan, her husband and Beatrice, 5, her beautiful daughter. 

I know people donate to many charities but if you are able to make a donation to Children with Cancer UK however small it will help to spur me on in my training and I know Hazel, Duncan, their families and I will be immensely grateful. 

But most of all, just think of Tommy and Gemma and their gorgeous families. 

Thank you.