Dedicated runners are gearing up for the gruelling 26.2-mile London Marathon on April 21 to raise money for a variety of charities. CAITLIN BLACK speaks to some of Harrow and Brent’s contestants to find out what inspired them to take part

ARCHITECT and contestant from BBC1’s The Apprentice, Gabrielle Omar, from Edgware is taking on the
challenge to raise money for deafblind children and adults.

Gabrielle, 30, was inspired to do it to raise money for Sense, the national deafblind charity, after hearing about their work. She is now raring to go and is aiming to raise £2,000 for Sense.

She said: “It’s a pleasure to lend my support to Sense and help the many deafblind people in the UK to be full and active members of society.”

* To sponsor Gabrielle visit http://www.justgiving.com/apprentice-trio

S TEVE Mulvey, 33,from Stanmore, will be running to help raise money for St Luke’s Hospice in Kenton.

The British Transport Police officer said: “I have never been that sporty so it is going to be tough, but I started running about a year ago so hopefully that will help.

“It is the first time I have run a marathon so it’s quite nerve racking, but putting pressure on myself is
good.”

Steve has already raised £700 and that figure will be higher than £1,000.

To sponsor Steve visit: www.justgiving.com/mulvey2013 .

FINANCIAL manager Jaydev Ahir from Harrow is gearing up for the mission to raise money for local charity, HOPE (Harrow Offering Parents Encouragement).

He said: “I came across the charity HOPE Harrow through my wife, who volunteers there.

“As I learned more about the charity and the work they do I resolved to do something to help them reach even more parents, so I have decided to run the London Marathon to support them.”

Harrow HOPE supports parents in the borough and Jaydev said the donations will enable it to deliver more crucial parenting courses and workshops for which there is a waiting list, among other services.

To support Jaydev visit http://bit.ly/13XYqT4 .

FIRST time marathon runner, Nirmal Varasani, 20, from Wembley is hoping to make a ‘huge difference’ to people’s lives by running the 26.2 miles.

The accountant aims to raise £1,500 for Sense, the national deafblind charity after reading about their
work.

He said: “This is my first marathon and I’m really looking forward to it.

“Knowing that all the money we raise is going towards helping deafblind people has been a great motivation for me to train hard and not let down all those people that are sponsoring me.”

To sponsor Nirmal,please visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NirmalVarasani .

AKASH Patel, 32, from Neasden, is a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon and he hopes to raise more than £1,200 for The Children’s Trust.

Dr Patel, who works for Imperial College Hospitals, has been integrating training into his busy schedule.

He said: “Running the marathon is going to be a massive challenge, especially with such a hectic lifestyle. It would be perfect if there were more hours in the day to work, study, sleep and run.

“My work helping people as a surgeon is always my priority of course, but my training has been progressing steadily and I’ve been enjoying it.”

The money he raises will benefit The Children’s Trust which cares for some of the UK’s most
severely disabled children, and has the country’s largest residential rehabilitation centre for children with
an acquired brain injury.

To sponsor Dr Patel visit http://www.justgiving.com/akash1981patel .

* Are you running the London Marathon 2013? Email a high resolution photo, together with your full name, contact details, and which charity you are running for to: caitlin.black@trinitymirror.com

* Send your medal photos from the event, together with your time, to the same address