Ryan Reynolds is to run the New York Marathon to raise money for Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s Disease charity Team Fox.

The actor will take part in the annual event as a tribute to his father Jim, who has battled the disease for the past 15 years.

In a letter to The Huffington Post, Reynolds wrote: “I am not a runner. I am a running joke. Waking up at 4.30am and jogging anywhere from 11 to 23 miles has been nothing short of horrifying.

“But this is on behalf of my father, Jim Reynolds, who has spent the last 15 years in a life or death struggle with Parkinson’s Disease.”

The New York Marathon takes place on November 2.

Reynolds married Scarlett Johansson in a small ceremony in Canada last month.