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A Haverhill Sports Centre receptionist is running the London Marathon to raise thousands of pounds for a charity that encourages children with disabilities to take up sport.

Kirsty Millard, 26, a receptionist at Haverhill Leisure Centre, started running in April to lose weight after having her son Freddie.

Having never run before, she followed the Rosemary Conley running programme to gradually build up her stamina. In June she ran the 5k Race for Life in Bury St Edmunds in just 29 minutes and in October she ran the Cancer Research UK 10k from Ickworth House with her husband Kevin.

Now Kirsty, pictured, hopes to follow in her granddad’s footsteps in completing the London Marathon, on April 25 2010, after gaining a place to run for the charity Get Kids Going.

Get Kids Going is a national charity which gives disabled children and young people the opportunity of participating in sport. The charity helps promote sports for disabled children by providing them with specially built sports wheelchairs so they can do marathons, triathlons, tennis, athletics, mountain skiing, and many more activities.

Get Kids Going also helps and encourages British disabled children to compete by supporting them with their sports - training, physiotherapy, travel, design and development of sports wheelchairs.

Kirsty, from Recreation Road in Haverhill, said: “Before I started the Rosemary Conley programme I couldn’t even run to the end of the road. I started the programme in conjunction with the Rosemary Conley diet to help me lose my baby weight. Now I’m doing two six-mile runs a week to build up to the marathon which is 26.2 miles.

“My granddad ran the marathon 20 years ago and I thought it would be fantastic to raise money for Get Kids Going. Working at the Leisure Centre, it is a charity which is very close to my heart and my colleagues and centre users have been incredibly supportive.

“Running is amazing. It’s free and it gets you out in the fresh air. I’ve even started running with a women’s running group who meet at the centre on Thursdays.”

Dominic Greenwood, General Manager of the Sports Centre, said: “Kirsty has done extremely well in building up her running. Her achievement is an inspiration to her colleagues and our centre users and we are delighted to help Kirsty in her aim to raise money for Get Kids Going. We will be cheering her on in April.”

To sponsor Kirsty pick up a sponsorship form at Haverhill Leisure Centre or leave a donation in the collection boxes in reception and in Kids City. Further details on Kirsty’s marathon challenge can be found at the Haverhill Leisure Centre website at www.acleisure.com.