I ran the London Marathon this year on behalf of CRY in memory of my sister Pollyanna Hughes (below) who died on 1st March 2006 of Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

It was sudden and completely unexpected / undiagnosed. She was 22 years old and studying film and television at Leeds University following in my footsteps as a TV Producer.

I had some serious trouble getting back to run the Marathon after getting stuck out in Bangkok, Thailand due to the volcanic ash cloud.

I had been out in Cambodia setting up filming for a programme on Channel 4 with Gordon Ramsay (Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape). I only managed to get a flight in the 11th hour that got me in to London the night before at 9.30pm.

Naturally I was terribly jetlagged and the race proved a real struggle despite heavy training. I did however have the pleasure of overtaking Gordon at around mile 9 and giving him a bit of encouragement before speeding off.

He, unfortunately, had to drop out due to injury just a few miles later.

I fortunately completed the race in 3 hours 55 minutes and raised £10,187.01 for CRY.

George Hughes