You may or not know that I am a bit of a runner in my spare time. In fact, I have been running, on and off, since 2003. To reduce wear and tear on my gently ageing frame I concentrated on running shorter distances and competing in the occasional 5k and 10k road races.

That was fun but throughout I suffered with back pain which culminated in a painful ‘tweak’ in August 2015. That put me out of action for two months and gave me a fresh impetus to solve the problem once and for all.

Since then I have discovered Pilates and low-drop running shoes; and completely changed my running style. It’s been a long, slow journey but I am now running regularly again.

Towards the end of last year I set myself the target of running a half marathon and signed up for the Southampton Half Marathon on the 23rd April. So that’s 21.09 km, non-stop.

Yeah, look, I know it’s not some ultra-marathon, or 5 continent peak scaling challenge, but I think it’s not bad for a 49 year old codger with a sore back.

Especially when you consider that I’ve been getting up before 6am and going out in wind, rain and freezing temperatures all through the winter.

I am doing the familiar sponsorship thing through Just Giving. I’ve chosen Macmillan Cancer Support because great friends of ours are going through a torrid time with their little boy who was diagnosed with cancer in 2016. And I feel highly motivated, but powerless, to help. So this is one way I can give a little bit back.

If you can sponsor me that would be lovely – www.justgiving.com/David-Watson49