Ernesto Antonio: My Marathon. 27 days to go
Why I'm running: I'm running for the Heart and Lung Transplant Association to promote organ donor awareness in Ireland. I had a heart transplant in the Mater Hospital in Dublin six years ago.
Age: 41.
Level of experience: I have limited experience. This is my first marathon but have raced in half marathons and triathlons.
Best running achievement so far: My best is doing the half marathon in under two hours.
Where I train: I train at my local running club - Thrift Green Trotters in Brentwood.
Estimated completion time: I will probably finish it in around four hours and 45 minutes.
I'm running in the Dublin marathon because I can. I'll be the first heart transplant patient from the Matter Hospital to run a marathon. The fact that I am alive to do so is mainly due to organ donation. Without it I wouldn't be here.
I was born in Galway but have been living in London for the past 18 years. Six years ago I came home to visit my mother for two weeks but I ended up in intensive care for nine months suffering from viral Cardiomyopathy. This is basically a virus that attacks the heart muscles causing it to lose tone and become like jelly. It happened very quickly and I went into multi-organ failure.
I waited three months for a heart transplant while I was being kept alive in the Mater. The transplant went very well. I was one of the lucky ones and so far I have had little or no problems. I was discharged in February 2000, four months after the transplant, and very slowly I came back to my previous level of fitness.
I was pretty fit before it happened. I used to cycle and swim a lot and had been planning to do a triathlon just before it happened. One of the crazier things I had done was cycle 500 miles across a desert.
After my recovery I took part in the British Transplant Games in Leeds in 2001. It was a real experience - I thought I would never get on a bike again. Since then I have participated in the Lung and Heart Transplant Games in Austria in 2002 and the games in Dublin last year.
Competing in these games gives everybody a target. They give you something to aim for. Not every heart or lung transplant patient is as fit as me but it gives everyone a sense of purpose and promotes organ donor awareness. Organ donation in Ireland is not promoted enough and does not get enough media attention.
I train four times a week. I usually do four miles on Mondays. On Wednesdays I do seven miles concentrating on speed with my club, the Thrift Green Trotters in Brentwood. On Fridays I do around five miles on hill and on Sunday I do a long slow run. I have worked my way up to do a 15-mile run.