A Deal woman’s dream of running the London Marathon was shattered after the charity she’d raised almost £2,000 for failed to register her place.

With a month to go until the famous 26-mile race, fitness instructor Elisa Ellis, from Walmer, was told she would no longer be taking part.

Martha Trust, which provides lifelong care for people with physical and learning disabilities at a home in Hacklinge near Deal, admitted the “administration oversight” via telephone last Wednesday afternoon. The issue affects all six of the charity’s runners.

A second blow came on Friday after an online appeal by this newspaper prompted six offers of places from strangers who could no longer take part.

But organisers Virgin Money London Marathon said it was not possible, as its rules state places are strictly non-transferable.

The 35-year-old described the challenge as a lifetime dream. She said: “I’m just absolutely devastated. It’s something I’ve always desperately wanted to do and have put so much into it.”

She tried for eight years to get a ballot place and was delighted when Martha Trust accepted her written pitch to run for them last May.

The following month, she paid a £100 deposit to secure her place. The charity has since offered to refund this.

The self-employed fitness instructor of 16 years has been training non-stop since the week before Christmas to ensure she achieved a good time on the day and has so far managed 18-miles.

She said: “I’ve kept up my 34 classes a week, with at least three runs in wind, rain and snow. It’s been gruelling.”

Not even a hip injury three weeks ago could scupper her dream. She paid out for private physiotherapy and an osteopath to help her recover.

The married mum to Brooke, 14, and Amiya, eight, added: “My nan has booked the Eurotunnel to come over from France by herself.

“I’ve spent £500 on two nights on a hotel in London.

“No one is able to get refunds on their hotels. I feel like I’ve let people down.”

Mrs Ellis said she had already raised £1,700 out of the £2,000 requirement on a just giving page and in cash donations, with plans for an aerobathon and raffles over Easter. She can’t make the alternative offered, the Brighton Marathon.

Six drop-out runners contacted her to offer their places after she made a public appeal, but the marathon organisers dashed her hopes, saying she couldn’t take their place - “no exceptions.”

She said: “The charity offered a place at the Brighton marathon but it’s only two weeks away and it falls on my daughter’s birthday, plus I can’t afford to pay out for more travel and accommodation.”

Desperate to still take part, she contacted organisers Virgin Money London Marathon who explained charities have a strict time-scale in which to register runners with “no exceptions” granted.

She then hoped to take the place of a drop-out highlighting that last year 11,000 runners didn’t show up, with an appeal published on KentOnline on Friday.

She said: “I had six emails from people who said they could no longer take part due to injury or other reasons but London Marathon wouldn’t let me transfer.

“I still had a little bit of hope. I still thought something good might come from this. It’s just gutting.”

She now aims for a ballot place for the 2019 London Marathon but will run for a charity if she can.

If your charity can offer a 2019 place, email elisaellis13@icloud.com

A spokesman for Martha Trust said: "Martha Trust are truly sorry for letting our 2018 Virgin London Marathon runners down.

"It is a genuine mistake and due to an oversight in the administration of the marathon.

"We would like to send a sincere apology to the six runners who had committed to their training and fundraising to support Martha in this way.

"Since finding out our mistake we have done everything we can to resolve the issue with the marathon organisers but to no avail.

"It is with a heavy heart and great regret that we had to notify the runners of the issue. We would like to publicly apologise to those affected and their friends and families.

"We will be contacting the runners with the options now available to them. If you have kindly sponsored any of them and you wish to ask for a refund then please contact us on 01304 610448 or email fundraising@marthatrust.org.uk"

The charity has offered to carry over their London Marathon places for next year.

A spokesman for London Marathon said: "We work with hundreds of charities and work very hard to ensure charities know exactly what needs to be done to enter their runners in the London Marathon. Each charity is provided with its own entry "console" to enter their runners. The entry deadline is very prominent on the console and we remind charities frequently of the deadline for entry, including three separate email reminders in the final two weeks. That deadline was 5pm on Friday, January 26 and, as we say to the charities, it is an absolute deadline with no exceptions whatsoever.

"We know how disappointing this is for Elisa and we offered help in getting her a late place in another marathon in April so that her fundraising and training is not wasted. The charity has also offered her a place in the 2019 London Marathon as their unused places will rollover to next year.

"It is not possible for Elisa to run using someone else’s place. Places in the London Marathon are strictly non-transferable. See points 2.2 onwards and 3.3 in our terms and conditions of entry."