Local Putney man Matt Jackman has a heartfelt reason to take on the gruelling London Marathon next weekend: he’s raising funds for his girlfriend who lives with Type 1 diabetes.
The 28-year-old business analyst says he was inspired to train for the 26-mile run after he saw girlfriend Sophie raising funds to tackle the disease and decided to do his part. “I wanted to find a way to support her and to raise awareness of diabetes at the same time,” he told Diabetes UK, which is sponsoring Matt in the race. “Before I met Sophie I knew very little about diabetes and the impact it can have on someone’s life. Sophie is an inspiration to me.”
The Marathon – which will take place next Sunday 21 April – is not to be taken lightly and Matt has been training for 10 months to get match fit. He’s had one distinct advantage over the roughly 50,000 other runners though: his flatmate is none other than British long-distance runner Jack Rowe, who is up for a spot representing the UK at the Paris Olympics.
The best thing I can do for Sophie and all other diabetics is to raise as much money as possible.
Matt Jackman
On Matt’s fundraising page – where he’s currently just £200 shy of his £3,000 fundraising target – Matt talks about how he hadn’t given diabetes much thought but realised the impact once he’d been going out with Sophie for a while: “As I spent more time with her I began to learn more about the implications of living with the condition. Living with Type 1 Diabetes is so much more than just injecting insulin before mealtimes. Managing blood sugar levels is a constant maths equation where the formula doesn’t actually exist. Most essential daily activities unpredictably impact how blood sugars need to be managed making it extremely difficult to stay on top of. These range from eating, exercise, hormone levels, heat, sleep and even stress levels. This many impacting factors makes it all a bit of a guessing game.”
Under 10 per cent of people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes — where their body simply doesn’t produce insulin. No one knows exactly what causes it and at the moment at least it isn’t preventable. Instead it is treated by daily insulin injections or doses through an insulin pump.
Matt also noted that the “mental toll of constantly managing blood sugar levels can be greater than the physical one” but calls Sophie “an absolute champion when it comes to her diabetes. I am so proud of her and everything that she achieves on a daily basis. She is an incredible source of inspiration for me and I do everything that I can to try and make her Diabetes management as easy as it can be. From late night sugar runs to hypo hugs, realistically speaking the best thing I can do for Sophie and all other diabetics is to raise as much money as possible for Diabetes UK.”
Self-effacing Matt has given another reason why people should support him on his run: watching him suffeer. “I’m sure a lot of you will enjoy the amount of pain running a marathon will cause me,” he noted, “so that’s got to be worth a few quid…”
The London Marathon will take place this coming Sunday 21 April with the race covered live on BBC One from 8.30am. It will also be streamed on BBC iPlayer. The Elite runners will start at 8.50am.
It will be very busy in central London along the route – particular famous point like the Cutty Sark – but check out the London Marathon website for more information on how to catch it in person.
