A MONMOUTHSHIRE teenager is participating in the London marathon to raise funds for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity.

18-year-old Elsie Wright, a pupil at Monmouth Comprehensive School is taking part in the London Marathon to raise funds for a charity close to her heart – The Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity - a children’s hospital which her brother was at until he was 18.

The marathon, which had over 1.1 million ballot entries is taking place on April 26 and meant that the odds were a 1.1 per cent chance of securing a space.

The London Marathon is the world’s largest annual one-day fundraising event and often considered the most popular marathon in the world.

Elsie was offered a space just seven weeks before the event after applying for charity spaces and the general ballot last April. Her fundraising target which she is required to meet is £2,500.

“I am having to run my longest run (32km) just four weeks into training and training has been a big struggle as I did not run regularly before this. I am excited to run the marathon and raise money for an extremely good cause,” said Elsie.

The starting point of the marathon is at Greenwich/Blackheath and typically sees around 56,000 participants.

As part of Elsie’s marathon training she took part in the Chippenham Fields park run in Monmouth which she said has been a crucial part of her training.

In the marathon there is opportunities to raise money for hundreds of different charities. The money raised by each participant will go directly to the charity and usually completed through online fundraising.

If you would like to donate towards Elsie’s marathon fundraising, you can here: justgiving.com/page/elsie-wright-londonmarathon?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL