Two staff at the Islamic Education and Research Academy in Wembley (iERA) have raised money for Great Ormond Street Hospital .
Hamza Andreas Tzortzis and Muhummed Umar Sayed took part in the Run Hackney half marathon on June 22 and collected over £3,000 for the famous children's hospital.
Mr Tzortzis is a senior researcher and lecturer for iERA, while Mr Sayed is the fundraising manager at the North Circular Road organisation.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Sayad said he defied the pain barrier during the run, but was determined to finish the run after his family witnessed first-hand for the work done at the hospital.
The 25-year-old dad said: "The night before I was walking up the stairs and I slipped and hit my knee. It wasn't that bad at the time so I thought I'd still go for it. But after the first mile the pain started to kick in and it continued to get worse and worse. I've had family in Great Ormond Street. My cousin was treated with leukaemia there in 2007 when he was three. Another cousin cousin died there with a rare heart condition in 2012. She was four-months-old.
“I'm a father, I've been to the hospital and seen the pain that the parents go through. I've seen the pain the children go through, and that motivated me to carry on during the half marathon."
Mr Tzortzis added: “Running alongside 12,000 runners really helps you complete the run. Knowing that I was running for a great cause gave me that added motivation too. It was heartening to see so many people from different backgrounds running together for so many noble causes."
iERA is dedicated to presenting the peaceful and compassionate message of Islam to the wider society in word and deed.
