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We are super excited to announce that our very own Lisa Smith from the Cobra Network Compliance team has secured a place in the London Marathon in April and will be running in aid of a fantastic charity Support Dogs.

Lisa's Running story:

" I first started running because of travelling more for work. I was an avid gym user but a change of role meant that I was often staying away from home in hotels and couldn’t always book a hotel with a gym. It was suggested that I should just put on a pair of trainers and run outside, it’s free after all. So, I started a Couch to 5K program.

That was 10+ years ago but after a couple of false starts, I haven’t looked back. I joined a Run Together group, and my local running club (making sure I had a variety of “club” night options to attend when I was at home. In 2019 I qualified as an England Athletics Run Leader and volunteered with both groups that I had started running with. When group running was allowed post Covid and with the support of three other run leaders I became involved in the running of our local community-based running group. This group, Gravesham Community Runners, is free to all runners to ensure that cost is not a barrier to running. Twice a year we run a Couch to 5K program over 12 weeks for all new and returning runners and offer twice weekly running and coaching sessions to our established runners all year round. My love of running and helping others to run resulted in my qualification as a UK Athletic Coach in Running Fitness. I now coach runners for free as well.

The London Marathon (once completed) will be my longest run having only completed half marathons to date. I have volunteered at the London Marathon for several years manning one of the baggage lorries making sure that runners receive their belongings which have been looked after since they were dropped off before they started their 26.2 mile journey. It is because of this and other volunteering activities as part of my (affiliated) running club, Istead and Ifield Harriers, that I was fortunate to be awarded this marathon place. I have seen runners at their best and their worst, in various outfits and supporting a wide range of charities. I can’t believe that I will be one of them this year.

I hope you can help support my journey to the finish line."

Cobra Network has partnered with the Support Dogs charity as one of our chosen charities for 2024 in aid to raise much needed funds to support individuals in need.

Support Dogs is a registered national charity dedicated to increasing independence and quality of life for adults and children with various medical conditions. The charity specialises in three specific programmes: autism assistance dogs for autistic children, seizure alert dogs for people with epilepsy and disability dogs for people with physical disabilities. They provide, train and support specialist assistance dogs to achieve this.

Established in 1992, Support Dogs works across England, Scotland and Wales and provides all its services entirely free of charge to those in need of them. However, the charity relies solely on voluntary donations and receives no government funding, which is where we hope to help and with your support to make a big difference to someone's life.

We are thrilled that Lisa will be running the marathon to raise funds for such a worthy cause.

Thank you for your kind donations and supporting Lisa in the lead up to the event. Please follow the Cobra Network LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/1962343/ to follow Lisa's training updates.

Good Luck Lisa we are all your biggest supporters.

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