GP running marathon to start mental health service

Luton GP Dr Naushin Hossain wants to start a mental health service for the town

A GP said she is running the London Marathon to raise money to help create a mental health support centre for her local community.

Dr Naushin Hossain from Luton will be taking on the iconic race for a second time, having run last year.

She has also returned from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and previously completed a charity trek to Machu Picchu in Peru.

"I love a challenge, it makes me buzz," she said.

Dr Hossain climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania earlier this year

She said took up running when she began doing humanitarian work following a trip to the Palestinian territories in 2018.

"Since then I took to mountaineering and that led to meeting lots of amazing people. I wanted to get fitter to do Kilimanjaro and I took to running - that was the start and eventually led to the London Marathon," she said.

Dr Hossain said climbing Kilimanjaro was tougher than running at low altitude.

"I've worked in an A&E, I've run the London Marathon last year, but summit night, when you get [near] the top at midnight and reach the summit at sunrise - that was the hardest thing I've ever done without a shadow of a doubt," she said.

Dr Hossain has been training during Ramadan and timing her runs around fasting

She was running to raise money for mental health services and said "to get the right person to help you at the right time makes a massive difference".

Dr Hossain moved to the UK from Bangladesh when she was 19 to study medicine and said it was "a bit overwhelming", but she was able to talk to a counsellor which she described as "a protective factor".

Her aim, she said, was to "create a mental health support centre where people with everyday problems, or an element of depression or any other mental health problems, can come and access trained professionals and get some counselling and psychological support to get them to through life".

She said: "At the moment the waiting times on the NHS can be very long; it can be up to a year.

"I think the service we are trying to create is going to supplement the existing services in the NHS in Luton."

Dr Hossain has previously run the London Marathon and the Cambridge half marathon (pictured)

Dr Hossain has been training during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and said: "I have run half marathon distances and even longer than that whilst I was fasting and the way I did that was to fuel well the day before."

During the month Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours, but she said she would time her runs to start at about 16:00 or 17:00 BST, so she could break her fast afterwards, when it was dark.

She also said she soaked chia seeds in water, which then "stay in your stomach and releases the water slowly".

• How to follow BBC coverage of the London Marathon

Dr Hossain said she was "really excited" to take on the 26.2 mile (42.2km) race in the capital.

She said: "When I ran the London Marathon for the first time I thought the crowd was insane. and that was probably one of the reasons I signed up for it again within six months.

"So I'm really looking forward to the crowd and soaking up the atmosphere."