As many of you already know, on 5th September, Andy, Rich and I are running the Jungfrau marathon in Switzerland in the aid of the charity REACT (http://www.smartgive.co.uk/funds/jungfrau/). I’m writing to ask that give a little of your hard-earned cash to sponsor us and make the weeks of us walking like cowboys following the event seem worthwhile.

The Jungfrau is billed as being “the most beautiful marathon in the world”, so with visions of strolling effortlessly through sun-coated green hills we all signed up but were cut right back down to size by the small print …

• It is indeed 26.2 miles long, however almost all of it is up hill (up a mountain to be precise)

• At the end of the race our capacity to breath will be a fifth less due to the effect of altitude .. always good as I’m sure we’ll have lots to spare by then

• Most people (well those that know what they are doing) view the Jungfrau as the pinnacle of their marathon career – not the start

Because we can’t afford to take the summer off and train at altitude in Switzerland unlike the other 4500 competitors, we’ve developed a sophisticated regime to simulate exact race conditions and allow us to mentally prepare. It involves the purchase of a cuckoo clock and eating large quantities of Toblerone. We have found there is a limit to the amount of Toblerone one can face eating and we haven’t slept particularly well since the cuckoo clock arrived. Right now the Jungfrau is looking like a walk in the park!

The charity is REACT which stands for Rapid Effective Assistance for Children with Potentially Terminal illness and is a dynamic charity working to improve the quality of life for financially disadvantaged children with life-limiting illnesses living in the UK. They convert a massive percentage of the money donated to direct help for children (93%) and they get it done quickly.

You can donate using this link: http://www.smartgive.co.uk/funds/jungfrau/

Please give generously – we love you all
Mark, Rich and Andy