Hi ... And thank you so much for sponsoring Matt, David, Torben and I in our bid to raise some money for a great organisation - Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Now I come to think of it, this was a pretty dumb idea, I'm 42, my legs ache when I cut the lawn, and I don't really have any time to train for a marathon. I'd been watching a film called 'Yes Man' where the plot revolves around some idiot saying yes to every suggestion made to him. I thought I'd adopt this approach for a short while to see if it could enhance my sense of wellbeing. Within 30 minutes of the commencement of this new way of life, some lunatic [Torben] asked me if I wanted to run the Nice-Cannes. He was of course joking, however I said yes with such enthusiasm and alacrity, I think he too felt compelled to say yes too! As for David and Matt, well David paid the price of being on IBM's instant messaging system at the wrong time, and Matt ... well he actually likes this sort of thing - weird!

I'm not going to say I'm looking forward to it because I'm not. However, doing it for a good cause will make it harder for me to give up after a just a few miles.

Once again, thank you so much for sponsoring us.

See you at the finish in Cannes!

Rod

PS: Donating from overseas. Donations can only be made in pounds sterling (£ GBP), so you'll need to work out how much you want to donate in pounds, and the 'JustGiving' site will debit your card with the equivalent amount in your local currency. Here's one of the many currency conversion websites that can help: http://www.xe.com/ucc