Hello all! 🐾 In 2025, I got a lucky ballot place in the 2026 TCS London Marathon, one out of the 7 World Major Marathons. Chances of getting through the public ballot were extremely competitive, with odds at roughly 1.5% to 4.6% (about 1 in 20 to 50), as over 1.1 million people applied for around 15,000–20,000 spots. Last year, around 56,000 participants crossed the finish line on The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. Making it one of the biggest marathon events so far in history.

My TCS London Marathon 2026 (42km/26.2miles)

For this lifetime opportunity, I wanted to make my first marathon training and participation extra meaningful. As a ballot runner it's optional to run for charity but I still want to take this chance to let people know about an extraordinary rescue charity close to my values: Harbin Slaughter House Survivors Animal Rescue in China.

Whilst on race day I will complete 42km, my weekly training will be the toughest, consisting of 30-60km's of running distance. Showing up in the rain, the dark winter nights, and through reoccurring injuries (posterior tibial tendonitis). Weight training in the gym will also be part of the preparation to prevent injuries.

I've picked up my passion for running seriously since 2025 and run CaniCross together with our dog Momo whenever we can. He has changed my life for the better and through him I truly understand how wonderful and loving pets can be in our lives. Through capturing images of him, I have expanded my photography passion towards pets and met many loving dogs and owners.

I have completed a half marathon race last year so the full marathon is my next step.The marathon course starts in Greenwich, southeast London, and will finish on The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. The map can be found here. I would love it for you to track my run live on race day (26 April 2026) through the official event app once I post my race bib number on this page. I hope to finish it under 4 hours and 45 min. If you come out to London as a spectator, let me know and we could plan a place to spot me. The event is broadcasted through BBC and in over 190 countries.

Who are Harbin SHS Animal Rescue?

Amongst 56,000 other runners and along a million spectators in London, I will run for Harbin Slaughter House Survivors Animal Rescue in China. This is my first marathon entry ever so I will be quite nervous and excited. However, this may be nothing much compared to all the effort, courage and emotions Harbin SHS goes through on a daily basis. As an animal lover, pet photographer, and dog mum to Momo, there's nothing more heartbreaking than to witness the injustice, abuse, and negligence from the cruel illegal dog meat trade that dogs and other pets go through in China (and other parts of Asia).

Harbin Slaughter House Survivors (SHS) Animal Rescue is a small team working to help improve animal welfare, by rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals to families in the UK, US, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium and Sweden. They currently care for over 1400+ animals, mostly dogs and cats, but also others. They have 2 safe house facilities where the rescues are safely able to undergo physical, mental and social rehabilitation. So far they have rescued over 5000 animals over the years.

Efforts and advocacy

If you follow them on Instagram, you can see the daily efforts, risks and frustration they go through of rescuing and confronting dog traffickers (and being harassed) in a complex society where dog meat trade for consumption has become illegal but the act of consumption is not.

Across Asia, millions of dogs and cats are killed for meat annually. In China, to a significant degree, these meat trades are facilitated by crime, as a majority of the animals are raised and sold for consumption illegally, and are often STOLEN pets from people's gardens and homes. This trade is well-organised and particularly cruel, with animals being wrongfully taken, transported long distances crammed into tiny wire cages and then brutally tortured and slaughtered. They’re also often sick or injured, and many die en route from dehydration, shock, suffocation...the list goes on. Those who happen to survive the journey are then likely beaten to death, hung, boiled alive and worse before being sold and served. This prevalent, barbaric (and rarely convicted) illegal activity is often referred to as the ‘Black Market’ Meat Trade. Not to mention, most are unaware of how unhygienic the quality of meat they are ingesting is, despite paying top money for dog meat. So the trade poses a significant threat to human health too and has been linked to numerous outbreaks of trichinellosis, cholera and rabies.

In case of China, there are NO animal protection laws. This perpetuates the lack of awareness that animals are sentient and deserve compassion. Most animals in China have a job (to guard/serve or be food) and are seen to have little use outside of that role. Hence the rescue adoptions currently only go to the right families abroad until local social norms and laws improve.

Learn more

There are a lot of misconceptions about the dog meat trade and cultural norms over there so head over to their FAQ page to learn why their rescue work is absolutely crucial: https://www.harbinshs.com/faqs

Or if you are interested in donating directly, finding out where money is divided into, and volunteering (such as flying back with adopted pets in cargo to designated countries, or donating your air miles), head over to their main page: https://www.harbinshs.com/about

Their adoptable dogs have an Instagram page too: https://www.instagram.com/shs_adoptables/

Your donation

Knowing I can spread awareness about Harbin SHS and see people donate will be my needed fuel until the last stretch across the finish line on The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. You may choose to remain anonymous. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

If you are unable to donate, sharing my fundraiser page in your circle and on social media will also be more powerful than you think!

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Thank you so much everyone for reading and your support.