BRADFORD’S Emon Choudhury will have a training companion this time around as he gears up for his second marathon of 2022.

He will take on London’s famous 26-miler in October, only six months after completing the Manchester Marathon in a time of five hours and 26 minutes, whilst fasting.

The Manchester event fell on the second day of Ramadan and Choudhury went without taking any food or water before, during or after the event.

Thankfully for the Bradford marathon runner, he won’t have to fast in October but he still has to endure a gruelling four months of long distance training, with that now underway.

However, his eight-month old daughter is giving him some company in the early stages of his training preparation.

He said: “Funnily enough, there always seems to be something that crops up when I'm trying to train for a marathon, this time it's having an eight-month old child. So, it has meant I've been doing all my training runs with a buggy (pushchair) and my child in it."

He added: "I work a nine till five job so my running takes place after work. Because of that, I don't have enough hours in the day to go and train by myself and then to look after my child, so it's a great way to spend a bit of time with her, too. So, I guess it's a way of killing two birds with one stone", Choudhury joked.

"Pushing the buggy obviously creates more of a physical bearing and it means I go at a slower pace, but I feel it has actually helped my training and will continue to do so in the long run.

"When I can find time to go on a run by myself, I can immediately feel the difference and it feels so much easier to run normally because I'm used to pushing a fairly heavy object. Also, you don't realise how important your arms are for gaining momentum when running, but I certainly do now after the contrast between a buggy run and a normal run.

"I can go for miles now without the buggy."

Choudhury, who was crowned co-winner of BBC Two’s Race Across the World in 2020, will be completing another Marathon whilst fasting next year, with the London Marathon (April 2023) falling at the time as Ramadan.

He said: "I was contacted by the organisers of the London Marathon to see if I would complete another marathon whilst fasting next year, given the event falls at the same time as Ramadan. I said I'd do it, but only if I was able to have a practice run on the course prior to April, which is what I did for the Manchester event. It meant I had prior experience before the main event.

"That's why I've been drafted in to do the London Marathon in October-to make sure I get a practice run. Although I won't be fasting in October, it gives me a sense of the course and it will help me to gear up for the April race.

"The London Marathon is always something that I've wanted to do because it's a famous and prestigious course. Hopefully, I can beat my Manchester time in London in April. It would be a great achievement and it would be something that I'd remember forever."