Having been running barefoot for the last seven months, on a whim I signed up for the Brighton Marathon, and then managed to secure a place in the London Marathon through the charity VICTA.

I'm not quite sure if this was a good idea but I like a challenge!

As part of my training I signed up for the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon, which last year was my first ever race. The weather report had promised sun and (relatively) warm temperatures so I was looking forward to it.

Not so! Wind and icy rain, not to mention a nasty cough that won't shift, all conspired to make my first barefoot half marathon a memorable one for all the wrong reasons!

The wet conditions meant I was likely to be more susceptible to blisters, so I was lucky to only pick up one sore one, which has since gone down and I got over the line (eventually!) in 2 hours, 7 minutes but I've got a sore foot (tendon problem) and still got the cough so I shall be taking it easy this weekend.

I shall be volunteering at parkrun at Hove Park on Saturday so if you fancy running a 5k this weekend, come on down. The more the merrier.

Oh, and if you would like to help me meet my sponsorship target, you can donate at https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/joeaddison.