We run 24/7

Tonight saw the launch of "Team Sam."

I finally got to meet the other, ahem budding, athletes who have signed up to run the London Marathon 2013 in aid of Samaritians. Here is Stephen the fundraising manager trying to convince one of us to wear the mascot. *Unfortunately* I don't qualify in either strenght or speed to wear the green phone of honour.

It was nice to meet some of the other runners - other newbies and those that are so into the ultra sport stuff it makes this challenge seem like a walk in the park. Lots of inspiration though. I am not one to be sad in public let alone shed a meaningful tear, but I was relieved to be standing in the back row as they talked about some of their work. I think every single one of us has a poignant reason for choosing to run for the Samaritans which is both sad and inspiring.

We got to meet the 'runner relations team' - I suspect Hannah, Joe and Stephen will be my new best friends in the coming weeks. Well 23 weeks to be precise! It's weird to have a support team and be treated to 'fizz and pizza' but there's the reality that fundraising is a tough business in the charity world and every fundraiser is worth their weight in gold. Especially those who run are prepared to run 26 *point 2* miles! The seriousness of the challenge upon us was highlighted by the death of Claire Squires who died whilst running the London Marathon last year. Claire's chosen charity was the Samaritians and there will be a certain gravity to what Team Sam do on 21 April. We will also be celebrating our own personal achievements - it is certainly going to be a day of mix emotions.

It is all too easy for me to get caught up in training plans, the number of pennies dropping into my Justgiving page or my personal reasons for choosing the Samaritans. Tonight we got a tour of the central London Samaritans centre. It's a hub of telephone, email and face-to-face activity - it has not been closed for a single minute during it's 25 years of existence. They support 5 million people in a year and all local staff are volunteers. I'm just running 26.2 miles, they run 24/7.