This month, Examiner reporter KEVIN CORE will join thousands in the London Marathon. Will you be joining him? If you’re counting down to the big day you can take part in our new blog, Marathon Effort, sharing experiences, tips – charity successes and the pain!

RECENTLY one of the founders of the London Marathon summed up the appeal of the world’s greatest road race.

He said it was like turning up to at Wimbledon fortnight and asking: “Can I play?”

The great thing about the London Marathon is they do let you play. That’s why on April 25 I’ll be competing with the world’s elite distance runners and probably crossing the line when they’re on the plane home.

I ran it once before in 2005, hobbling over the line at around 4hrs 40 minutes.

Nothing to write home about, but a story for the pub nonetheless.

This time, the target is under four hours.

Having vowed never to do it again I was pulled out of retirement by my partner Katie and school friend Frank, this time running for the brilliant charity Action Aid, who aside from their role in developing countries have been doing brilliant work in Haiti following the earthquake.

The hope is that the new blog (address below) will give runners a chance to not only share their tips, but promote their own good causes.

Anyone who is currently in training for London knows that if you haven’t put some serious miles in by now you might as well call it a day.

There’s no last-minute revision for a marathon.

It is physically bewildering – not just the sheer effort of pounding your joints to bits night after night, but the insane calorie consumption, fatigue and the fabled “wall”.

That 21-mile barrier, where your feet become lead and the world turns to glue, is apparently reached when there is no more fuel to power the muscles. At this point man is the only animal that can somehow drag himself on, beyond the point when, on paper at least, it’s over.

Theoretically runners should now have hit their longest distance, probably 22 miles, and have changed to shorter distances and speed work, along with downing some hefty amounts of pasta.

I’m hoping the blog gives more experienced athletes a platform to offer us newbies some tips.

Thanks to a hefty dose of gastroenteritis my own schedule went out of the window at the end of March.

Any assistance via the blog would be greatly appreciated!

l You can help Kevin reach his target at www.justgiving.com/katie-kevin