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Marcus Bean blog: It's great fun to cook for Phillip and Holly on TV

The name's Mr Bean, to my friends it's Marcus, Beano or more recently the Beanmachine, writes Marcus Bean.

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Today I'm doing something pretty scary. I've never written much before – with the exception of recipes, mostly late at night, falling asleep while I type – and yet here I am, writing the first in a series of columns for my local newspaper. Chefs are built to cook, not write... but I do like to talk so here goes. In the words of Mick and Keef: Please allow me to introduce myself.

My wife, Jenny, and I have been a fixture on the Shropshire dining scene for the past decade. We run The New Inn, at Baschurch. It's a beautiful village pub and we're well supported by our locals, as well as people who travel from further afield.

Our menus change with the seasons. In spring, we focus on the fresh, new flavours that are bursting through as the days get longer and the temperatures warm. It's one of my favourite times of year. When we're not at the New Inn, we're in Shrewsbury to run our cookery school and B&B at Brompton, part of the National Trust's Attingham Park Estate. We bought the cookery school last year and we're still settling in.

It's a remarkable place and I focus on the best local produce and the best artisans. My good friend, Will Holland, from La Becasse, will be hosting demo and dine events and taking courses, as does another friend, Robert Swift, the master baker from Ludlow.

We have plenty of regulars from across the region; they are people who want improve their cooking skills or learn about a particular thing; meat, fish, desserts or baking. We welcome people of all ages and abilities. As well as teaching people, we make sure they have fun.

My work isn't confined to Shropshire, however. I'm the regular chef on ITV This Morning, so you'll see me once a fortnight cooking for Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, or Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langford. They are all great fun. Phillip's been presenting the show for more than a decade and he's the consummate professional. Off camera, he's great fun: Phillip's a real star turn. Holly has a wicked sense of humour and it's always a pleasure to cook for her. On Fridays, and during the holidays, Eamonn and his wife, Ruth, keep the sofa warm. There's always a lot of fun when I'm cooking for them.

Having fun is something I intend to do tomorrow. Right now, I'm in London, going through my last-minute preparations for tomorrow's Virgin London Marathon.

I'd like to say I've been training for several months, but's it's not true, if I'm honest, it's been difficult to find the time to fit it all in. A lot of celebrity chefs have tackled the course down the years. Last year, Gordon Ramsay ran it in 4.26 – but he was beaten by Michel Roux Jr, who broke the four-hour mark with an impressive 3.54.

Tomorrow, I'm not expecting to beat either of those. I simply want to get round in less than five hours. Cramming training into a tough schedule hasn't been easy. For instance, my diary a week or two ago featured a 100-hour week. There were shifts at The New Inn and courses at Brompton. On one day I filmed an advert for British Asparagus – I'm the face of that for 2013 and I'm proud of the association, to be able to promote one of the things us British do best!

My marathon bid was almost completely derailed at the end of February, when I fell down two flights of stairs while dashing to get the train to London. I went head over heels three times and there was quite a bang when I hit the floor. I was fine, apart from a bruised hip, and a sore head, and I still managed to go jogging the next day. I needed to be in London to cook on a new Channel 4 cooking show called 'What's Cooking' I was cooking for Louis Smith, the Olympic gymnast, and JB, from JLS. One thing you can always know about me, is you can knock me down, but I'll always get up!

Now I'm back in London again, getting ready for tomorrow's 26.2 miles through the city. I'm excited, nervous and scared all at the same time! It won't be easy, so wish me luck. I'll be back next week to tell you what happened.

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