Why I ran the London Marathon dressed as a mirror

Last weekend, I ran 26.2 miles through the streets of London dressed as a giant mirror. While my daughter had a good laugh at my costume before I left, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my wife, who thought I’d lost the plot.

As you might expect, running a marathon like this isn’t exactly the ideal picture of comfort. But crucially (for me anyway) it made some spectators smile. And, if it provides me with another whacky dad story to retell my kids one day, it’s all been worth it.

While the mirror added a little bit of fun into my run, there is a real, serious reason I decided to don my running shoes and take to the road this weekend. I’m raising money for the British Asian Trust, a charity that has been close to my heart for many years.

Founded by King Charles III in 2007, The British Asian Trust helps to keep children across India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh in school, out of poverty and away from the clutches of the region’s trafficking gangs. As of this year, they’ve already changed the lives of 18.8 million people across South East Asia, and I aimed to raise at least £15,000 for them.

As someone of South Asian heritage starting a business in Britain over the past few years, the work they do has always landed a little differently for me.

My family’s story encapsulates a journey that starts in that part of the world, where they had very little. The distance between where my grandparents began and where I’m standing today is vast, and I want to do whatever I can to support those attempting to close that gap.

Balancing training with running Magic AI, as well as the arrival of my new baby boy, has not been easy, to say the least. But what’s helped me kick on is the cause. Few things in life are worth sweating through 26.2 miles for, dressed as a reflective rectangle, as your knees give out. But this is most definitely one of them.

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