THIS is a plea for help to the good people of Tamworth.

I am short, slow, unfit and fat and after 20 years of cider and a bad diet, I am running the Birmingham half marathon on October 24.

I am raising money for a Tamworth charity poppyfieldsappeal.co.uk, which you will all know about from coverage here in the Herald and on TV.

I'm not directly after your money but I am after runners to run the race with Team Poppyfields to help raise the profile of the fund-raising and to raise as much money as possible.

If you are already registered to run the race but you haven't chosen a charity to run for, or you are running it for fun, please give consideration to running for Poppyfields.

If you are not registered to run the race but you like the idea of the eight-week challenge of training and chalking off a half marathon on your achievements list, please consider Poppyfields.

Poppyfields raises money for Birmingham Children's Hospital and their research into child brain tumours.

You can register for the race at birminghamhalf marathon.com, and you can contact Poppyfields through their website or email lisa.guilder@homecall.co.uk – or you can call me on 07818 094563 if you are interested. Thank you for your interest and continued support.

Steve Darlaston, Fazeley.