In 9 days' time I will be grinding out (more gracefully than that sounds, I hope) 26.2 miles along the streets of Los Angeles in the LA Marathon. This is my first marathon. I'm anxious and excited about it, after almost a year since I decided to enter (I forget why...).

Along the way, so far, there's been blood, sweat and tears (not too much blood thank goodness) but I think I'm reasonably well trained after Coach Dom's relentless training plan so I hope I'll only have sweat to contend with on the day. :-)

One thing I've discovered about running and training for long distance is that it gives you a hell of a lot of time to think. One person who returns into my thoughts often is a special childhood friend, Rachel, who died last year at 36 from triple negative breast cancer. This is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer and one which, unlike many other types of breast cancer, currently lacks targeted treatments. Whilst I didn't originally enter the LA Marathon to run for Rachel, I am now running for her and if anyone would like to contribute an amount, however small, in Rachel's memory to help fund desperately needed research into the cause and treatment of this kind of breast cancer, I would be extremely grateful. Rachel's family have set up a remembrance fund with Breast Cancer Now to support research into triple negative breast cancer led by Professor Andrew Tutt at Kings College Hospital London who Rachel herself saw and who is one of the world leading experts in the field and at the heart of developments internationally.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.