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Hi everyone. My name is Nikita, but everyone usually calls me Nick. I am currently studying for my A-Levels at MPW College London. This is my second year working at Downright Excellent (DEx) . DEx is a small charity offering therapy services and complementary activities to 80 children with Down syndrome and their families. I am currently assisting in DexStars which is a drop in facility that provides a stimulating and comfortable environment for parental peer support; sibling support; educational games and crafts; practice of social skills.

David is a speech and language therapy student at UCL and has also been volunteering at Downright Excellent for two years, supporting and leading speech and language sessions. He is from Hackney and is very excited to run through the borough and raise some money for an unbelievably brilliant cause.

Nikita: This time last year I was not even thinking about going for a run or participating in running competitions. I had a difficult time overcoming my Oxford rejection which was my dream University for quite a while. But then I realised , that in order to become stronger both physically and mentally, to get mature, you have to do something special. I set up my goal and here I am , running Hackney-Half. My training process was sometimes really challenging. I was not used to running at all, the last time I did some proper running was back in Latvia, the country I am originally from. At first, I thought I will never make it. But I tried really hard not to give up, running 3k meters at first, gradually increasing my distance, so now I can easily run 15k without getting tired or pulling my muscles. With great training comes great success. I have also increased my training volume up to 6-7 trainings a week, and it is not a problem at all. Running makes me happy, especially when I know that I am fundraising for this brilliant charity called Downright Excellent. Let's achieve the goal together! 

My goal time for Hackney-Half: 1 hour 55 minutes.

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