WE are following a number of runners as they prepare for the London Marathon on October 2nd.

Including Karen Clempner, who has written a blog for us:

My name is Karen Clempner, I will be running the London Marathon in just under 2 weeks’ time (2nd October). I am running it to raise money for the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS). You may have seen me running around the roads of Harlow on my training runs.

The charity asked me in January 2020 if I would run the London Marathon for them, but little did I know that Covid would strike. Before then I had recently ran the Amsterdam marathon and run 12 half marathons/or more in 6 months as training runs and runs after my Amsterdam Marathon in 2019 so was feeling confident the London Marathon would be no problem. The lockdowns, and difficulties in my recovery after catching Covid have made this time round hard – struggling with running and health issues – but I have kept on going, as hard as it has been.

The reason NDCS was one of the charities I choose when entering the ballot, is because I was learning British Sign Language (BSL), and it suddenly struck me while learning all the barriers that deaf people face that we take for granted. The National Deaf Children’s Society help families to face these barriers with help, support and technology.

I am holding a charity quiz at St Stephens Church in Bush Fair on the 24th September just a week before the big day. If you would like to get a team together and come along all are welcome. It will be a maximum of 8 per team, £5 per person and bring your own drinks and food. It will be starting a 7pm for a 7:30 start. There will also be a raffle on the night and all money raised will be going towards my fundraising target.

You can follow my progress on Instagram karen_bake_run

If you can’t make it and would like to make a donation then head to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Karen-Clempner2