From David Elliott at Wellhouse Leisure.

Rather than read on for the punch line at the bottom we can get it out of the way now! This is a begging/sponsorship request e-mail where I go all humble, but then again its sort of a bet so read on before deleting it first! I know we have all had a tough year and were not asking for the earth or make everyone feel guilty by going on about the less fortunate.
As most of you know we (me and wife Christine) try and do our bit for charity. In 2007 and 2008 we ran the London marathon raising quite a bit of money for Wellchild and then Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Because of the financial crisis this year we did not do the 2009 event.
However good news is I am back for 2010 !!!!!!!!!!! bad news is it’s that awkward e-mail that makes think “for god’s sake I sponsored him before leave me alone!” so this time it’s going to be a bit different and as I have proved I can run 26.2 miles I have set a bit of a challenge.
You will like this bit! At the last 2 marathons I have ran at just over 17st , at the moment I weigh in at 17st 12lb. The first part of the challenge is to get to a target weight of 14st 12lb ! now for your information the last time I saw 14st 12 lb was when I was catching the bus to school. The second part is to knock 20 mins of my 2008 time and finish in under 5hrs, again in case you missed it that’s to lose 3 stone train for a marathon and run 26.2 miles in under 5hrs.
The best bit is if I don’t do both of the above I will pay myself the sponsorship anyone pledges ! I have a target of £2500 and in the good old days we got some great sponsorship especially from companies. We know the days of 3 figure sponsorship amounts are probably gone but the odd £10 and £20 quid’s add up especially with the amount of people we know so any amount is welcome.
Why am I e-mailing this amount now you ask ? well its best to strike whilst everyone is getting in to the xmas spirit. And personally for me going through the pain of training and dieting to see that a big wad of cash riding on it really does help, I thrive of the pressure and of people saying “no you can’t”  however shares in our local sandwich shop and McDonalds might go down.
Also as per before it’s just a pledge, no one pays a thing till the deeds are done and again if I don’t do it I will match what everyone pledges. It’s like a money back guarantee for sponsorship, how neat is that !
The charity. As you know I like value for money and need to know who were running for is worthwhile, this time were running for a charity called Childhood first  www.childhoodfirst.org.uk “Childhood First is a charity that provides specialist therapeutic care, education and treatment to children suffering severe emotional and behavioural disturbance as the result of early life trauma”           I have gone in to detail and it’s a real worthwhile charity.
If you want to sponsor/pledge please e-mail me at astonchap @ btinternet.com or go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DavidandAndrea for more info.
Many, many thanks.
David Elliott & Andrea Firth.