After 12 years of trying, Tommy finally got into London

I ran my first ever Marathon back in May 2008 and managed to just dip under 4 hours. I then ran another 4 marathons over the next 7 years doing my final marathon back in May 2015 before having to stop running due to problems with my knees which needed a couple of operations to fix.

Since 2013, I've been applying (unsuccessfully) to run the London Marathon, I have managed to accumulate a fantastic collection of London Marathon "Loser" tops each time I get rejected in the ballot. Anyway after 12 years without getting in, I've finally managed to get a space in the London Marathon which takes place on 27th April.

After the excitement wore off, I realised I better do some training................... I started training in early January and it's going as well as I could hope for (who'd have thought being 10 years older, 3 stone heavier and having two dodgy knees would make marathon running harder ).

As far as marathon running goes, this is it for me. I'm doing something that's been on my bucket list for well over a decade and can honestly say that I will never ever be running a marathon ever again.

I have decided since it's my last ever marathon to raise money for the two Aegon Edinburgh Charities ECAS & Hopscoth. Aegon have agreed to double match all donations that are made, so a £5 donation would be the equivalent of £15, a £10 donation would be £30 and so on and so on.

Thanks very much for reading my ramblings and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to these charities that do such great work.