A HARLOW accountant and keen runner is taking on the London Marathon to raise cash for Hastingwood-based St Clare’s Hospice.
Susie Morley (31) will run the 26-mile race next month with her partner Jared Bethell (26), who she met while running.
Ms Morley, who works at Arrow Electronics in London Road, said: "My partner and I are both avid runners and belong to Harlow Running Club.
"We actually met each other through running. We decided we wanted to run the London Marathon and thought we might as well do it for a worthy cause and applied through St Clare’s Hospice."
But she revealed they might need very different race strategies. "We are complete opposites," said Susie.
"My partner is a fast runner and I am a slow runner so he will probably be waiting at the finishing line for about three hours waiting for me.
"It is like the tortoise and the hare!"
The couple, of Dunmow Road, Bishop’s Stortford, are halfway towards reaching their £3,000 fundraising target set by the Hastingwood-based hospice.
To help them achieve their target the couple are holding a clairvoyance evening with medium Susan DeVere in Harlow.
Ms Morley has been training hard, taking regular runs including the Silverstone Half Marathon on Sunday.
"When I’m not training, I’m thinking about when I next have to run, washing my training cut or making sure that I’m eating the right foods," she said.
"But I am so excited to be doing it and even though it is hard it makes it all the pain worthwhile knowing that I am doing it for such a worthy cause."
To help Ms Morley standout from the many thousands of runners on the day, she will be running with a sunflower in her hair.
"I don’t think I will be able to run in a big costume!" she added.
The clairvoyance evening is at the United Glass Social Club, London Rd, Harlow, on Friday March 26 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12 on the door. For more information email Susie at superbsuz@googlemail.com.
To sponsor the couple you can visit their websites www.justgiving.com/MarathonSusie and www.justgiving.com/Jared-Bethell.
