Marcus Everard completed the 2009 Tokyo Marathon in just over 3½ hours, and raised over £4,600 for BSA.

Marcus Everard (centre) in the Toyko Marathon on 22nd March. His shirt says in Japanese 'Please cheer me'.

In 1989 I ran the London marathon. Thereafter I continued to run but only occasionally until this year, 20 years on and a few months shy of my 50th birthday when I decided to have another go, but this time here in Tokyo.

I decided to use this opportunity to raise funds for three charities. In the case of the British Stammering Association, my sister has done sterling work for them in recent years as trustee and Chair.

I've been delighted by the level of support I've received - at the time of writing I have received over 75% of my target of £5000.

As to the run itself, it was not something I will forget for a long time; in particular the last 7 kilometres were very gruelling where a combination of strong winds and rain showers made for a very tough finale. Better news was my time where I finished in a little under 3 hours 33 minutes, sixteen minutes faster than my best attempt 22 years ago.

However this time I also had a secret weapon that is a great tip for anyone running a marathon in a different culture. I did not have people in Tokyo to support me on the day, so had a running shirt printed with my name and "Please cheer me" written in Japanese in bold letters on my front, and the charities I was supporting on my back. Now this meant that I got the support of approximately 1.3 million spectators and at times became almost overpowering. If I wanted support I merely ran towards the crowds lining the side and everyone started yelling my name with "Ganbare, Ganbare, Makasu-san".

When this idea really helped was at the 38km mark when I found myself in trouble and started to walk. Seeing me struggling the crowd really started to yell at me and got me hobbling again to the finish line. I think that shirt gained me 10 minutes over what might have been.

www.justgiving.com/marcuseverard1