Hi folks,

As most of you will know I went on a bit of a health kick in November 2011 and started running, in February this year I decided I would run the Loch Ness Marathon which takes part on 30th September, this will be the first time I have ever run a marathon and the furthest I had ever run before a few weeks ago was 10km.

I thought as I was putting all this effort into training and going to undertake such a mean feat as running my first marathon I might as well try and raise some money for charity.

Over the last 4 years I have taken part in Movember and have raised some serious cash for a great cause, and so when looking at all the different charities and seeing how much good work they all do I was struggling to make a decision who to run for, then I came across STAR for Harris.

I instantly knew this would be the charity I would most like to run for. After reading Allan, Tanya and Harris' story and having my heart absolutely wrenched by everything I read it just made more and more sense for me to try and raise money for them.

The work they are doing for children and families suffering from cancer is highly commendable.

http://www.starforharris.co.uk/harris-journey/

I hope you realise how much of a difference you can make by simply donating a few pounds, or why not go crazy and sponsor me £1 for every mile I run.....that's £26 for those who don't know how long a marathon is! Yes 26 miles! :)

I have set a target of raising £1000 but I hope to exceed this, it's 6 months to go, please tell all your friends and family, every penny counts.

My good friend Steven joined the cause too and began training at the start of February, his motive was very similar to mine, lose some weight. When I told him about the Loch Ness Marathon and STAR For Harris he jumped at the chance to join me and do something good.

We have always had a bit of a competitive streak in us, with us trying to better each others Movember fundraising....and moustache's!

I think teaming up for the same cause will be great for both of us, and at least I will have someone to carry me the last few miles of Loch Ness!!

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thank you very much.

Olly & Steven