Supporter story: Jatin tackles the London Marathon for Abney Park Trust

Next month, local runner Jatin Shamji is running the London Marathon to raise money for Abney Park Trust. We spoke to him to find out more about his motivations for running, and how his training is going.

You can read more about Jatin and sponsor him here.

How did you first get to know Abney Park? I first got to know Abney Park through my running group, GoodGym. Prior to lockdown, we visited the cemetery once a month to undertake gardening maintenance tasks. It was definitely one of the most popular tasks amongst the volunteers and we would always have a good turnout! Hopefully now that lockdown has eased we will start resuming this task to help with maintenance of the garden cemetery.

What made you want to fundraise for us? Since discovering Abney Park, I have been fascinated with its history, biodiversity and oasis of calm within the city. I attended a very memorable guided walk which expanded my knowledge of the history and ecology associated with the site. Having been a Hackney resident all of my life, it was a bonus having come across an amazing local charity to support. As the park may still be undiscovered by others, the Abney Park Trust would use some of the funds to draw in visitors and raise its profile.

Why did you want to run the London Marathon? I have always watched the London Marathon on TV from a young age and to have the opportunity now to participate is a dream come true. I got into distance running three years ago. Since then, I have completed six half marathons and three 10k races. I wanted the London Marathon to be my first full marathon as it's the best in the world! I am so excited to run the marathon this year with support from the crowd which I'm sure will be one of my best experiences to date.

How did you feel when you heard you'd finally got a place? I was shocked at first to have received confirmation that I had been successful in securing my place! This turned in to sheer excitement soon after and dedication to put my training in place to perform the best I possibly can.

Last year's marathon ended up becoming a virtual event with each runner running separately on their own because of the pandemic. How did you find running your first ever marathon without the support of the crowds? The virtual marathon last year was a unique and fascinating experience and one which I will never forget. With the training complete I was confident and excited. The weather was absolutely terrible with torrential rain forecast all day and I was absolutely soaked within seconds of starting my run early morning! As I was wearing my waterproof, my race number was covered so although I was cheering on others taking part, they didn't know for sure whether or not I was!

I had a few scares as well including my phone battery almost dying and headphone battery running out - all of which are lessons to be learnt! After four hours, fifty-five minutes and thirty seconds I had completed the distance and I was incredibly proud. I'm glad it will be different this year to hopefully be cheered on by large crowds and a fantastic atmosphere.

It's great that your place rolls over to this year for the full London Marathon experience! How is your training going? Training is going well. I learnt a lot from my experience last year and will use this to hopefully improve on my performance. I'm going to train as hard as possible to thank everyone who is sponsoring me to run and this is the best motivation!

Anything else you want to tell us? I'd like to thank everyone for reading my story and journey and would like to say that no donation is too small. Any funds received are really greatly appreciated.