A 20-year-old dog-lover from Lazonby is preparing to take on the Great North Run tomorrow (10th September) to raise money for Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity.
Elliot Judge already dedicates many hours every week volunteering at Dogs Trust Cumbria which has helped more than 350 dogs find new forever families.
Although as a volunteer, Elliot has turned his hand to everything from walking the dogs and exercising them in the centre’s woodland and paddocks, to kennel cleaning and doing the laundry, he decided he wanted to do even more and set his sights on taking part in the famous half-marathon.
Elliot, who works as a store assistant in the Co-op shop in Lazonby, said: “I have always loved dogs and have volunteered for Dogs Trust since the start of the year.
“I absolutely love it and to see how well the dogs are cared for is fantastic, but that’s only possible because of money raised by supporters. So, I decided as well as volunteering I’d set myself a challenge and chose the Great North Run.”
Elliot will join around 60,000 runners on 10th September for the run which gets under way in Newcastle and winds its way through Gateshead and South Tyneside before finishing in South Shields.
Elliot’s training has included completing the Glasgow Half Marathon which he ran in one hour, 36 minutes but he is hoping to beat that time, spurred on by the thoughts of the dogs he is helping.
Lisa Spence, manager at Dogs Trust Cumbria, said: “It’s incredible that Elliot is doing this for us. Our volunteers are part of the Dogs Trust family and Elliot is wonderful with the dogs. The fact that he is now doing the Great North Run on top of volunteering and working, is brilliant. We can only do what we do for our dogs because of the generosity and incredible efforts of our supporters, like Elliot.
“We, and all of our dogs, are very grateful to him and have our fingers, and paws, crossed that it goes well.”
If you would like to support Elliot in helping to raise money for Dogs Trust, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/elliot-judge
