Firstly, thank you for your kind interest in my fundraising efforts. My name is Susie Hoare and I live in sunny Southampton; my motivation for raising funds in aid of The Scleroderma Society stems from the very moment I learned I had the systemic form of this illness called scleroderma.

To kickstart this fundraising campaign, my friend Claire and I will complete a 5km Swimathon in September 2008. We will become goldfish (!) and swim up and down, up and down....200 lengths of a 25m pool, which equates to 5km or just over 3 miles. It will take us 2-3 hours each...I will then move on to the challenge of running the 2009 London Marathon...and yes, that's 26.2 miles, non-stop!

It was on my initial visit to a rheumatologist, hearing the disease “scleroderma” mentioned for the first time that the idea of running a marathon seeded itself in my mind. It was a strange sounding disease which I had never heard of before, and I was frightened, confused and trying very hard to deny it; at 24, I thought I was too young to have anything like this wrong with me. Above all, I was scared of how it could progress in the future. So it was there and then that I decided I would never let this disease get in the way of my achieving the things I wanted to do, and what better incentive than that to run a marathon!

I know the mental and physical challenges of training for a 26.2 mile race will be tough; three to four hour long training runs, especially in winter, will need me to dig deep and find a lot of determination. Also, keeping the symptoms of Raynaud’s at bay on long winter runs will be a challenge in itself, but I won’t let that stop me!

This charity does a superb job of providing information and literature about scleroderma so that patients and their families can try and understand better what is going on with their condition and find ways to help themselves.

Furthermore, on a personal level, I have particularly benefited from having the opportunity to meet other members and not feel so alone with it! It still tickles me now to think that at a local group meeting I went to, I could shake hands with everyone in the room without having to explain once why my hands were so cold! I have been fortunate to benefit from the support of The Scleroderma Society and am therefore keen to help them continue their good work helping others with the disease, too.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: The Scleroderma Society gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor me now!