We are hugely grateful to all you supporters out there who have taken on sporting challenges throughout the year, to raise funds to help us help our patients facing their own personal challenges.

Our own Senior Fundraiser, Jackie Malloy, recently completed her first 10k. The self-confessed car addict set herself the challenge at the start of the year, much to the amusement of her colleagues. 

“I park as close to the front door of the hospice as I can and I once drove to the ice cream van, which was so close to my house I reversed all the way back home with my 99.

Working with the most inspirational colleagues I’ve known, I found myself admiring the challenges they set themselves and feeling envious of the buzz they got on meeting their goals.  For a number of years I’ve said to my colleagues I’d love to run the London Marathon, and each time there was a big cry of laughter around the room.  So I eventually gave myself a good talking to and on New Year’s Day I set a goal and signed up to run the ASICS London 10k in July.

Next day I downloaded the Couch to 5k app onto my phone, pulled on the running gear and started my training, following all the stages each week and eventually building up to 10k. 

Weirdly at no point did I hate the training – I began to enjoy the time running with my music in all weathers.  The app was a huge help and I would recommend you give yourself something to follow – each time running that bit further and feeling that bit prouder.

On 21^st July I woke up in London feeling very nervous and hot, it was 25 degrees so I knew it was going to be a challenge.  What I didn’t consider is just how amazing the atmosphere would be with 10,000 runners, it was insane and the crowd of supporters on the street made me quite emotional.  During my training my quickest mile was 10.07, on the day of the run it was 9.25, so it just goes to show the effect of the crowd.

I loved every second of it and crossing the finish line after 1hr 12mins gave me a feeling that I’ve NEVER experienced.  I was buzzing, emotional, proud and the icing on the cake was knowing my efforts had raised £700 for the hospice.

I’m still working towards that London Marathon, which I WILL do and to keep me on track I’ve now signed up for the Glasgow Half Marathon in September.”

Feeling inspired? Click the button to find out more about the Great Scottish Run and sign up to run for Glasgow's Hospice: