Lord Mayor of the City of London Nick Anstee, is preparing torun his 16th London Marathon on Sunday 25 April and hopes to raise£10,000 for two brilliant community-orientated organisations closeto his heart.

In the run-up to the event the Lord Mayor has been training harddespite a heavy schedule of work and official overseas visits whichhas seen him training in the dry heat of the Gulf States, the highaltitude in Johannesburg and avoided the temptation to supersizehis meals in the US. He is the first ever Lord Mayor of London tocompete in the marathon whilst in office since the first recordedLord Mayor in 1189. His daughters, Jennifer and Megan, will berunning the gruelling 26-mile race with him.

Lord Mayor Nick Anstee said: "As the first serving Lord Mayor torun the London Marathon, I am keen to show that I am fit for officeand happy to go the extra miles for the City.

"I feel in my bones as a keen long distance runner that attemptsto restore public confidence in the financial services industryduring my year in office will be a marathon, not a sprint."Lord Mayor"s Appeal this year is Pitch Perfect " the educationarms of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Cricket Foundation -which provide musical and cricketing opportunities to young peoplein London"s most challenging boroughs.

Lord Mayor said: "While I am in office and I'm doing my all tohelp Pitch Perfect wherever I can. I hope you will also look tosupport me and in turn, the young people of London, to build abetter society.""My personal challenge is to beat the nine Red Arrows pilots whowill be joining me on the start line to raise funds for the vitalwork of the RAF Association"s Wings Appeal.

If you would like to sponsor the Lord Mayor and help raise moneyfor these important causes visit hisJust Giving page.