Getabed managing director Matt Stuart is to run the Dubai marathon in the new year to raise awareness of autism.
He is preparing for the January 26 run after his son Bertie developed autism and sensory processing disorder at 18 months old.
Stuart is running to support Mid Sussex-based charity Friends of Woodlands Meed, which helps support a school attended by children with various learning, social, physical and communication disabilities.
He has created a Just Giving page to encourage support for his charity run.
Stuart said: “I have just signed up for the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on 26 January 2018, so am just in the midst of the pretty intense training required to get my very overweight carcass in some kind of shape to take on running 26.2 miles in the Dubai sunshine.
“I ran a marathon back in 2010 when I was leaner, fitter and more importantly, child free, so had a little more time available to pound the pavements.
“I swore blind that would be my first and last marathon as I am not a natural runner.
“However, life dealt my family a card we hadn’t anticipated five years ago when my son was born, so decided to dust off my trainers and raise some awareness for autism, and hopefully a bit of support for a very special school doing some amazing things for kids with some quite serious challenges.”