Hi, I'm Eleanor Macklin, (or Ellie as some of you may know me), thank you for visiting my Just Giving page.
I'm running the Virgin London Marathon on the 17th of April for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
You can follow my training progress on my blog.

 

***FINAL UPDATE***

Well folks, I did it, I completed the marathon in 6 hours, 16 mins and 30 secs. It was an amazing day, the crowd were fantastic, the weather was great (if a little too hot) and I finished with a grin on my face. A huge thank-you to everyone who's donated so far. It's been a great personal accomplishment on many levels.

 

***UPDATE*** (11/04/2011)

Less than a week to go now until the big day and my nerves are giving way to excitement. I'm determined to enjoy the day and to make the most of the experience. I'll be taking my phone with me and taking pictures along the route and giving live updates to facebook.

 

I'm over the moon with the response I've gotten so far, with me now over 95% of the way to my £2,000 target so I've taken the plung and increased my target to £2,620 - setting myself the challenge of raising £100 for every mile I'll run.

 

I'm hoping this will be acheivable, especially as I'll be featured in the Shetland Times weekly paper this Friday (15th of April). It's great to get extra publicity and to raise awareness for such a good cause.

***END OF UPDATE***

 

***UPDATE*** (22/03/2011)

It's now only 4 weeks to go till the big day. My training has been seriously hindered for the past couple of months by blisters and a dodgy knee, but I've persevered.

 

I was due to run the Hastings Half Marathon on the 20th of March, but an unscheduled trip home to Shetland meant I had to miss the race. Instead I braved the island's weather and managed to put in 17.4 miles - half of which I had to walk due to the gale force winds.

 

My estimated finish time for the marathon is now closer to 5hrs 30mins, rather than the optimisic 4hrs 30mins I was initially hoping for. But I keep reminding myself it's finishing it that counts - and I'm determined that rain or shine, running or walking, I'll finish that race!
***END OF UPDATE***

 

***UPDATE*** (07/01/2011)
It has now been 6 months since I started training. I started pretty much from scratch, running a couple times a month and at the moment I'm running up to 5 times a week.
The highlight from the past 6 months for me was completing a 10k race in 59mins 7 secs at the end of November (see picture). To run the entire distance, and do it under an hour, was a great personal achievement.
The lowest point was being diagnosed with asthma which is triggered by exercising in the cold - making those early morning runs extra challenging.
I’ve still got another 4 months of training to go and I won’t lie – January and February are going to be brutal so your support will help encourage me out of bed on these cold, dark mornings!
***END OF UPDATE***
When I was a child I was inspired by the story "Sounds like Skipper" by Kerena Marchant.  In it the author tells how she adjusted to being deaf and explains how Skipper, her hearing dog, lets her lead a normal life. It was my first introduction to the concept of hearing dogs and it demonstrated to me the profound impact they can have in the life of a hearing impaired person.
To find out more about what Hearing Dogs do visit the website - www.hearingdogs.org.uk.
For me an extra bonus is that 75% of hearing dogs were previously unwanted - they may have been in rescue centres or donated by people no longer able to look after them.
I hope you will agree that this is a worthy cause and donate whatever you can - Thank you in advance!
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Some examples of what your money can do:
£10 - pays for bedding for dogs in training.
£20 - helps pay for shampoo and grooming equipment.
£150 - buys a puppy socialising kit; as well as a bowl, collar, lead and various toys we provide each volunteer socialiser with a special den for the puppy to sleep in safely.
£200 - pays for veterinary care and neutering for one dog.
£1,000 - sponsors a kennel for a year.
£2,000 - helps Hearing Dogs support the first year of a partnership as dog and owner work together at home and in the community.
£10,000 - provide a life changing partnership including socialising, training and complete partnership support for dog and owner until the end of the dog's working life.