Penny is raising pounds by running virtual London Marathon in Kenilworth

Penny Rushbridge is refusing to let Covid-19 get in the way of her London Marathon goal by running the virtual version on the race in her home town.

Penny, 42, will be pounding the streets of Kenilworth on Sunday (October 4).

Participants will be running, jogging or walking the distance of the event in a place of their choice over a 24-hour period.

She will be running to raise money for the charity Mencap which helps people with learning disabilities.

Penny, who is originally from Australia, has a learning disability herself and faced bullying in school due her difficulties with communicating.

She took up running in 2016 and is one of 311 other runners taking part in the event for the charity.

Penny said: "“I was pretending to be like everyone else when actually the reason why I don’t think I’ve achieved as well as others have is because my brain doesn’t think like everybody else’s.

"Now [I have been diagnosed as having a learning disability], I know why things happen and I’m realising that it’s nothing to be ashamed about.

"If we were all the same, this place would be very boring.”

Since receiving her diagnosis, Penny now feels more confident in talking about her learning disability and asking for reasonable adjustments to be made for her.

When she recently changed jobs, she overcame her fear of being judged for having a learning disability and disclosed her learning disability to her manager.

Penny said: “I just thought, why don’t I be real and honest and open about my learning disability?” Penny received a supportive response from her workplace. “It’s made people aware,” explains Penny, “so it does help telling people.”

Edel Harris, chief executive of the learning disability charity Mencap, said: “We are delighted that Penny, along with over 300 other runners including 10 runners with a learning disability, will be taking on the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon to raise vital funds for Mencap’s life-changing programmes.

“While Mencap runners won’t have the race day they planned and trained for this year, we can all still support Penny to have the day she deserves by cheering her on during her virtual run and donating to her fundraising page.

“As the official charity of the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon, all of our runners will be helping to raise awareness about learning disability.

"Through your giving and encouragement, Mencap can continue to support people with a learning disability to lead happy and healthy lives – just like anyone else.”

To support Penny visit https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/PennyRusbridge