While I am still warming up this week, I would like to thank the hugely generous people of mid-Somerset. Over the weekend, my fundraising total went into four figures and as I write this column my pledges so far total around £1,100. I still have a long way to go to reach my target of raising £10,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and if there are any millionaires out there with a few coppers to spare I would be more than happy to hear from you.

My training schedule took a bit of a knock this week because, during my adrenalin-fuelled 15 mile run last weekend, I must have over-stretched some of the muscles in my left leg. The break from training gave me time to sort out more fundraising ideas and to speak to more people who are running the London Marathon on April 18. One of them is Catcott-based teacher Vaughan Evans who, like so many of us it seems, will be running his first marathon in under two months.

He got the running bug at work - he teachers at Brymore School near Bridgwater - where the students take part in cross country a couple of times a week. Mr Evans has become a regular at their training sessions and since starting running on a regular basis has taken part in events across the country. He completed the 13-mile Great North Run in 2001, where there are 30,000 people, and so is undaunted by the thought of running in a similar sized field in London, a race he has wanted to run for four years. "It will be different after training on your own down here, but I have heard the atmosphere in London is something else - I am really looking
forward to it," he said.

Like so many runners, Mr Evans will be raising money for a charity very close to his heart. He is hoping to raise funds for research into Multiple Sclerosis, a condition which affected his mother for 40 years. So far he is well on the way to reaching his target of £1,500 but is always on the lookout for more sponsors and anyone interested can contact him on 01278 722132. The training is also going fairly well, apart from a slight calf problem last week, and Mr Evans can regularly be seen running around the school grounds with his beloved black labrador. She has proved his sole companion, a fact Mr Evans would like to change in the run-up to the marathon. "It would be great to get a group of marathon runners together, so that we can run as a group and also exchange ideas and views on what we are doing," he said. "We could also get advice from people who have run in the past and I am sure it would be a great help to everyone."

If you would like to take part in that training run, which probably take place one Sunday in the next few weeks, you can e-mail me at alansmarathon@ukonline.co.uk. If you are running the marathon and would like to be included in this column you can e-mail the same address or visit my website at www.alansmarathon.ukonline.co.uk