AND so it begins. Not only is the start of my blog, but also my attempt to turn from the couch potato who is too lazy to even watch the Great North Run into a specimen of athleticism. Good luck everyone.

I am not a sportsman, in fact I would probably be best described as portly with a disposition for lying down rather than running about. Yet I have been inspired/cajoled by some of my friends to follow in their footsteps and complete the 31st BUPA Great North Run, being held on Sunday, September 18.

To best demonstrate my rather limited physical prowess, were my running to be like my typing, the sentence “I am rather excited about taking part in the Great North Run” would read: “I am *PUFF PUFF* rather *WHEEZE PHLEGMY COUGH" ex- *STUMBLE GRUMBLE* cited about *SWEAT STINGING EYES* taking part *LARGE GASPING SWIGS OF ENERGY DRINK* in the *AH GOOD AFTERNOON MS PUDDLEDUCK, WOULD YOU CARE FOR SOME TEA?* Great North Run *COLLAPSE*".

So the purpose of this Blog is to keep you informed on my progress and perhaps inspire others of you to take part, if not this year then in the future.

I will be running for Oxfam, a charity very close to my heart as their fair trade hot chocolate is delectable, you can often find a good read in their bookshops and I once got a rather dashing Wallace and Gromit tie from their Durham store.

Oh yes, they helps millions of people around the world as well, good on ya Oxfam!

I also hope to not only tell you about my exercise regime but also to show you thanks to a great app on my Nokia, perhaps you can see some of the runs I’ve been on and, should you not hear from me for a few days, use my last known co-ordinates to come and find my collapsed fitness-riddled corpse.

I aim to update this blog regularly, I’m sure it will inspire me to keep up the effort for I would hate to come on here and say “oh, yeah, today my exercise has involved shouting at Wayne Rooney on Football manager, lifting the remote to play another episode of Frasier and opening a Creme egg”.

So far, I have been on a couple of jogs/waddles around my native St Helen Auckland, and have invested in a new pair of trainers. Feel free to leave comments (positive messages would be more appreciated than crushing criticism) and share with me your own experiences of the Great North Run.

Trainers on, off we go.