Oldham Marathon Runner: ‘You have to condition your body. Eventually it will be second nature’

An endurance runner from Glodwick has been running 10km on average every day for the past four years.

Imran Khan, 40, has completed 11 marathons in nine different countries and is in training for next Sunday’s (April 26) race in London.

He said although his local area has a bad reputation due to the 2001 riots, he has enjoyed growing up there. He graduated from Bradford University and qualified as a pharmacist. His family have always “encouraged education.”

“My degree wasn’t too difficult although it was a five-year course. I was the first person in my family to graduate. My father is a taxi driver, and my mum is a housewife,” Khan said.

He started running initially to lose weight as he has always been slightly overweight. When he was 17, he developed a rare blood condition which caused him to gain weight.

Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system destroys platelets in blood.

He must take medication when he has a flare-up, so his appetite increases. On one occasion his weight rose to 110kg.

Running marathons is a way of keeping his weight in check. From his experience he has found running to be very good for mental health. Running is his release, something he does every single day without fail.

His gruelling training regime has been the same for the past four years. Every morning, he runs around 10km even if he has to get out of bed at 5am.

“If I have a marathon coming up then I do a couple of long runs to prepare. Before my last marathon I did a 30km and a 25km run too to get my body ready.

“To train for the upcoming marathon, I am doing double sessions. I do my usual 10km runs, followed by weightlifting. Then in the evening, I spend 45 minutes on the Stairmaster,” he added.

“I did the Tokyo marathon in March. So that was also part of my training.”

When running a marathon, he mentally breaks the run into four parts. There are 42km in a marathon. The first 10km is easy. On the second 10km he relies on training and fitness. The third segment is where mental strength comes into it. The last stretch is when a runner needs heart and strategy.

The last part of the run, he said, is a “killer”. For him, everything comes down to mental resilience. He has never given up in a marathon.

“To future runners, I would say it doesn’t matter how fast you’re running and whether you’re doing it on a treadmill or outside, the main thing is to get a pair of good running shoes and start with a 4km or a 5km run but do it every day.”

He said if your muscles ache, it doesn’t matter. When he does a 10km run now, he doesn’t even feel it.

“You have to condition your body. Eventually it will be second nature,” he said. “When you complete a run, you will experience the ‘runner’s high’ when dopamine is released in your brain. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Afruz Miah, Oldham’s ‘Running Man’, who ran from Oldham to London twice in Ramadan while fasting, said: “It’s difficult to run as much as Imran does due to work and family commitments. You must be mindful of injuries and your diet. This is an amazing feat.

“I thought my campaign of running 10km for 386 days was gruelling, but Imran’s four-year record is unbelievable especially as he is doing it solo.”