Bradfield woman running marathon with her rescue dog

Deb Smith, who lives in Bradfield, said her rescue dog Rusty, who is estimated to be six years old, came to her in December 2021 due to the efforts of the Spanish Griffon Rescue charity.

The Spanish Griffon Rescue said the Griffon breed – scent hounds used as tools for hunting in Spain and France – are discarded when the dogs are seen as useless at hunting.

Deb said she and her dog Rusty have already raised £550, with the money already being sent to the charity, which always needs funds.

Community - Harwich's weekly parkrun (Image: Submitted)

Deb said of the Griffon breed dogs: “They are lovely-natured dogs.

“Rusty goes to park run every Saturday in Harwich, he is becoming quite well known and he enjoys it.”

Rusty, who was found in a Spainish village, was very timid when Deb first adopted him and he is still nervous about men as well as deeper voices.

Rusty is also afraid of orange, fluorescent jackets – in France the hunters would wear high-vis orange jackets – meaning he is still afraid of even the bin men who wear the same colour.

However, Rusty is not afraid of yellow high-vis which Deb wears while running.

Growth - Rusty and Deb Smith in yellow high-vis (Image: Josh White)

Deb and Rusty will be running the ‘Virtual London Marathon’ which takes place at the same day as the London Marathon but remotely with runners using technology to track officially log and complete their 26.2-mile journey.

Deb uses a ‘Garmin Forerunner 235’ to evidence her running and said with Rusty, it should take about six hours to complete the journey.

Deb’s fundraising total has reset to zero in the last week and she is aiming for a total of £1,000.

In October 2022 she raised £1,700 for the charity.

To donate visit Crowdfunding to help raise funds for SGR - Spanish Griffon Rescue on JustGiving.