My name is Mohammed Tajwar Chowdhury but I mainly go by the name Tajwar. I am 17, turning 18, and running the London marathon with the British Heart Foundation. The London marathon has been a goal I have been chasing for quite a while. 

Throughout the last 5 years of my journey, I got lost. I lost a sense of self and I asked myself a lot of questions. Some of these questions are who am I? what is my purpose? and what does it mean to be strong? Strength has a different meaning for everyone and I am still trying to figure my answer out. As for my purpose, I think my current answer would be to help people in any way I can and make those around me happy. I first started running to take my mind off things as a sort of distraction from stress and maybe out of a feeling of being weak. But I slowly fell in love with it. I started doing many other things like boxing and going to the gym all things which have made me stronger not just physically but mentally as I started to feel more confident and more like myself and created a sense of excitement for the future. 

The London marathon is something I aimed for on my bucket list and the reason I chose the British Heart foundation was because my dad and other people in my family have heart problems. There is a chance I might get it due to it being hereditary which is scary but I don't want to stop doing the things I love. So I felt the British Heart Foundation was a perfect choice. Professor Paul Riley, from our Centre of Regenerative Medicine in Oxford, explains: “The money you raise will enable researchers to push the boundaries of medicine by regenerating heart muscle and growing new blood vessels in the lab. Unlocking these secrets could help heal hearts and transform the prognosis for people living with debilitating heart failure.”

My journey has been a rollercoaster of emotions from frustration and anger in not seeing improvement to joy and excitement at the prospect of becoming stronger and a better person. Despite all of these feelings I just want to keep moving forward I hate feeling as if I am at a standstill. I have met a lot of people who have helped me get to where I am today and I want to show my gratitude by doing my absolute best at the London marathon and giving back by raising money for the British Heart Foundation which will help with research to save many lives.

So I am asking you sincerely whether it is a big or small donation it does not matter all I ask is for you to support me on my journey and in my attempt to beat this challenge as one of the youngest ever participants.