My name is Phill Machell - I am a husband, the Father of two fantastic boys, a business owner and sadly the wrong side of 35 years old (yes I know I look older but I had a very hard paper round as a child - lots of Sunday supplements) - in summary, an all round normal sort of Joe.

I have always set myself targets - in my younger days my focus was all about sport and getting a foot hold onto the dreaded rat race. Along came my mid 20`s (like a whack around the head) and my focus changed to that of "choice".

For me, "choice" is my eternal driver. It is the very need to be able to choose that motivates me for everything I do (except pay council tax, but lets not open that particular can of worms!)

Being in a position to choose is what gets me out of bed in the morning; makes me work hard to achieve greater things professionally and to raise my Children in such a way that they too, with luck, will be in a position to direct their lives in a way that makes them happy.

For many people, especially families with poorly and terminally ill children, their choices can be severely limited and in many cases completely destroyed. Having spoken to many people who work so tirelessly with and on behalf of the GNO, it seems that the only thing that matters to the affected families is the ability to support and comfort the people that mean the world to them at a time when they need it most.

Support and comfort often comes at a huge financial cost - My goal is to make a difference at the coal face of crisis. I want to raise money for people who through no fault of their own find themselves in need of support and comfort.

I choose to run the marathon for the GNO because it is an honour to do so.

But most of all, I am running because I can. Because I care and because I want to make a difference!
My name is Huw Duggan and I work for Kendall Edwards. This is my 10th year in the big wide world of recruitment, prior to this, and in what seems like a lifetime ago, I played and coached rugby for Bristol and latterly Coventry.

I suppose sport and fitness has always been a major part of my life and although I used to play wing or full-back I always had an affinity for distance running - I suppose I had to be good at something! In my (very) early days I completed the inaugural Kingswood (Bristol) marathon and also a couple of half marathons, but this was when I was young, fit and fearless!

Now I'm 45 and, when invited to take part in the 2008 London marathon as part of the GNO team, I heard myself saying yes when inside my head my mind was telling me NO - you're too old and injured - what are you thinking of!

But here we are with 22 weeks to go and now well into the training schedule. Do I regret the decision? Not at all, I've learnt much about the GNO charity and the work they do, and I feel proud to be representing such an organisation and doing my bit to help make a difference to people that really need the support and opportunities that the GNO can help to provide.

I wish all my fellow runners well over the next 5 dark and wet months and hope with your support that the 2008 GNO team can raise huge amounts of money for this most worthy of causes.