Our London Marathon team

By running for Down Syndrome international, I hope that in a small way I can motivate everyone to live healthier and more active lives. I work at the Royal Brompton, a large specialist centre where many colleagues care and advocate for people with Down syndrome.

I enjoy running but this will be my first marathon.

I will be running around the streets of London, I am frantically trying to find a route that misses the live London marathon, so I will need to head North I think!

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I have Down syndrome and want to show that people with disabilities can do anything! I am also an Ambassador for Down syndrome international and advocate on behalf of the charity.

I do a lot of martial arts and I have also run a half marathon but never a full one.

I will be running next to the beach near to where I live in Dubai.

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After a 6 year break from marathon running, I'm fortunate to have the chance again to run and raise money for a charity that I’ve supported for more than 10 years.

I’ve previously run 2 marathons and numerous half marathons.

I’ll be running on the streets of London with all the others fortunate enough to get a place on the start line.

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I am running for my daughter Iris who was born with Down syndrome and is my Wonder Woman.

I don’t have any marathon experience. I prefer to do short quick sprints, I'm definitely not a distance runner, really not a great runner period (full stop for us Brits). But, I am going out of my comfort zone so I can do my part to raise money for Down Syndrome International in the hopes that we can create a more inclusive and less discriminatory workforce and world!

I will be running around the streets of my home town in Connecticut. It will need to be on the road due to there being no sidewalks!

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I promised to do a Marathon about 25 years ago, but have been procrastinating… till now. When DSi sent me the invite, it just seemed right to be doing the run for a good cause - 15 years ago we were blessed by the arrival of “Bella Malaika” (or Beautiful Angel in Italian and Swahili) who has lightened up our life with her incessant love and joy ever since. She says she’s grown out of her Down syndrome and now has “Up Syndrome”. She definitely sees it as nothing less than a different ability!

Bella was born and raised for her first 8 years overseas, attending international schools that only just accommodated her needs, sometimes reluctantly. By the time she was approaching 8 years old, we found it impossible to find schools that would accept her in countries where my work was taking me, that forced us to move back to the UK. Bella has thrived in the very accommodating state school system where she has always been seen as an asset to the schools and classes she has attended.

We would like DSI to use some of the funds raised by my little jog to raise awareness of the difficulties of enrolling Special Needs children in international schools, even when you have to pay a handsome sum for the privilege, which makes working abroad very difficult for any professional with special needs children. Just imagine what it is like for nationals of such countries with much more limited means, that are reliant on local schools. There must be so many beautiful angels like Bella missing out on their full potential by not getting the education they deserve.

I’ve run many 10km races, a couple of half marathons, and done a few longer runs on my own, but never a marathon.

I will be running from my rural home near Abingdon, 10km up to the historic Ridgeway, along it for 10km, back home for 12km and then the last 10km from my home in a loop along the banks of the Thames to the centre of Abingdon, and back to a finishing line in Drayton Millennium Green, over which our house looks.  If I’ve not made quite 42km I will do laps of the 400metre path around the green till I get there!  Spectators (and Bella) will be encouraged to join me!

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I am running in honour of my brother who had Down syndrome.

I would like to raise awareness and increase inclusivity for people with Down syndrome.

I set up a charity in my brother's honour, committed to helping people with developmental disabilities in my hometown.

Hello, my name is Ruhel Miah. I am deaf. This will be my first London Virgin marathon. I have two deaf siblings and I am running for multiple charities supporting deaf awareness, autism and Down syndrome. I started running three years ago and I regularly exercise at the park 3 to 5 times a week. Because of COVID-19 I have had to start exercising at home.

I know from experience younger deaf children are lonely as they have struggles of being deaf and do not know how to integrate into the community. As lockdown started, I knew that it was going to be hard for many people especially the deaf community and the younger deaf community as many deaf kids are already lonely.

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