We all witnessed, last year, the harrowing and heart-wrenching events unfolding in Myanmar; the genocide of the Rohingya people. The true scale and barbarity of such events were only revealed a few weeks later.

I can only recall a handful of moments in my life where I have been overwhelmed with grief (a manly way of saying, I guess, crying). One such time was when I read an devastating article about a mother reliving the moment her family was attacked at her home, her sanctuary, the place that she woke up every day, to witness soldiers shoot dead her husband and son. Then prying from her arms her newborn, hidden under a blanket, by the legs and tossing it into a bonfire of burning bodies. The soldiers grabbed the last remaining child, the daughter, and slit her throat in front of the mother, somehow the daughter and mother, against all odds and by some miracle, survived to tell their tale.

This is one story of many, and continues to demonstrate no matter how much we advance as a society, as a civilisation, no matter how many times we say never again- never for history to repeat itself, we find ourselves repeatedly faced with these atrocities.

With the passing of time our attention has moved onto other events, however the Rohingya people continue to face desperate conditions and find themselves with a daily challenge of survival as they are without state or citizenship.

What I’m doing: I'm running my first ever Marathon 26.2 miles/42kms on 19th May 2018 with the aim of finishing within 4 hours. This is more than twice the distance from home (Victoria) to Barking to put it in perspective of East London journeys, or equivalent to having to top up on calories lost by eating more than 10 x chicken & chips meals once I get there! I would be grateful to all who are able to sponsor me on my justgiving page where I will donate all proceeds to BRAC charity.

http://www.bracuk.net/emergencyresponse/

Thank you and follow my progress using the below.

Ataur

http://live.ultimate.dk/desktop/front/index.php?eventid=3806&language=us

Ataur Rahman
Race number: 11777

LIVE results on the UltimateLIVE app:
All results are available and updated LIVE during the event in the UltimateLIVE smart phone app. The app can be downloaded for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone in App Store, Google Play and Windows Store - or directly from the link http://app.ultimate.dk