"Cracked", "shtone mad" and "off your rocker" are only some of the terms I would have associated with marathon runners in the past. If you'd told me three years ago that by the age of 27 I'd swim in every coastal county in Ireland and have a marathon under my belt, I would have laughed in your face but alas these are some of the amazing challenges that have taken place to raise money for Pádraig ever since his accident.

The idea to brave the marathon was borne out of the May bank holiday weekend, during Claire McCabe's wonderful "Equal Expressions" event. Emily Barnes and I were congratulating Andrew King and Cian Waters on their achievement at the Hamburg marathon and in a moment of madness we turned to each other and said "will we do it too?!!"

As a not-particularly-sporty-person, the training has been tough and I know the marathon is going to be tough too, so bloody tough, probably one of the toughest things I've ever done, but I need to keep believing and imaging that finish line and ignoring the pain and the cramps and the wobbly legs and hysteria and just keep trucking on.

I visited Pádraig last month in Pforzheim, Germany, where he's getting 6 weeks of intense rehab before he comes back to Ireland at the end of the month. I can tell you all that Pádraig is putting a huge effect into his recovery and is using every bit of energy he has. We all look forward to his arrival home after almost two years in Germany.

Please support me in my crazy endeavours to join the great group of marathoners, which includes, Reinhard Schaler, Andrew King, Cian Waters, Ronan Mistéil, Ciara Heneghan and Donal Earls. Pádraig needs our continued suppport. We must keep ploughing on and supporting him in any and everyway we can. I'd be so grateful if you could spare anything you can at all.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh.