Muhammad Muhammad: A Briton balances training for the London Marathon with fasting during the month of Ramadan

Mohamed settled in the city of Ifrane in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco in preparation for the April race.

The location allows him to safely train under the track’s floodlights at night, along with other Muslims who are currently observing the holy month of Ramadan by not eating or drinking during daylight hours.

Muhammad’s longest days extend until the early hours of the morning. He will head to his first session around 4 p.m., then break his fast and go to the mosque before completing the second session.

Once adequately fueled, Mohammed sleeps for an hour or two and then wakes up to eat more food around 4 a.m., before returning to bed to continue his sleep.

“It’s a little difficult,” Mohamed admitted.

“I take my job seriously, but Ramadan is the most important to me. It makes me focus too. It makes me understand who I am and what I can do.”

Mohammed is among four active British marathon runners to have clocked under 2:08, along with triathletes Alex Yee, Emile Cairis and Philip Sisman, in what he describes as a “new age” cohort.

With a fourth-place finish at the 2024 London Marathon, he will target a personal best in London before chasing a European Championships medal in Birmingham this summer.