If you say the world London marathon to a non runner, the first two questions they will ask is "how far is that then?" followed by "Which charity are you running for?" For me its a personal challenge to met the goals I have set myself rather than an event to use to raise money. However if money can be raised for a good cause while meeting the goals laid down then that cannot be a bad thing.

I have my own place rather than a golden bond entry that ties to a certain charity and an amount of money that has to be raised so I have the full quota of charities to choose from. I had decided who I would run for before the events in Asia but had not commit myself to anything. To stick to my earlier decision or to change to a cause supporting those in need after the tsunami.

After giving it some thought I have chosen to stick to my guns and run for the Halo Trust. There is no denying the horrendous scale of the disaster in Asia but does that make the needs of other charities less? In reality it probably makes them greater as donations are diverted away to those in need after the tsunami.

The Halo Trust works removing landmines and is the charity that Chris Moon was working for when he lost two limbs. They have a simple philosophy, If its in the ground get it out. They don't work raising public awareness or get distracted by involvement in campaigns and conferences. While it might be argued that they would raise more if they did it has the very positive effect that you can be assured as large a percentage of funds donated actually go towards the charity's main aim.

If you would like to contribute to my marathon fundraising you can do so by following this link. If you would like to support the cause but do not have the monetary means to do so you might wish to consider clicking on an advert provided my google on the right hand side. A small amount is paid by google for each link followed and the total raised by this means will also be donated to halo in April.

Oh and in answer to the other question, its 26.2 miles and don't you forget the point 2!