Salesforce & makepositive for London Marathon #TeamNSPCC Atanu Debray

makepositive is proudly sponsoring Salesforce’s London Marathon team in support of the child protection charity NSPCC. In this blog, we talk to Salesforce runner Atanu Debray.

1. Is this your first time you are running with the Salesforce team at the London Marathon in support of NSPCC? Do you have any experience with the NSPCC? What are you hoping to get out of this Marathon?
   This is the first time I am running as part of the Salesforce NSPCC team. I have always been inspired by the work the NSPCC is leading in keeping children safe. The opportunity to run my “home” marathon in support of such a wonderful cause is something I couldn’t say no to.
   My first objective is to enjoy the wonderful London crowd while running through the iconic sights. That said, I would love to run the marathon in a good time.
2. When did you start running? How did you go from ‘couch to Marathon’ and what motivates you to run?
   I took up running in the early 2000s as a way of coping with my father’s illness, while he is no longer here, running strangely makes me feel closer to him. For me, long distance running is a great mix of physical and mental strength/endurance.
3. What is your running experience so far (previous Marathons etc)? Any major achievements or anecdotal stories?
   This will be my 7th marathon. One of the few positives from the strange Covid times was that I fell back in love with running, it was the only exercise we could do outdoors and was an amazing way to run around the empty streets of London.
4. How is training going? When did you start? How are you finding fitting training into your work/life schedule?
   I have found training difficult, to be honest. This will be my 3rd marathon in a calendar year (Midnight Sun, Tromso – June 22, New York – Nov 22), so everything hurts and motivating myself to go for the long runs has been hard.
5. What does your training schedule look like? Do you just run or do you do other activities?
   I have adapted my training schedule to fit around work, 2 runs and 2 gym sessions over the week and the long run mostly on Saturday, so I have a bit of a life.
6. During the Marathon, how do you settle into your pace? Do you listen to music and if so, what’s on the playlist?
   I usually have a target pace I aim to run at, but work it over 2-3 miles rather than individual miles. I also spend time calculating target pace during the run to keep my mind occupied so as it doesn’t realise that I am in pain.
7. What advice would you give to anyone thinking of running a marathon?
   I’d say 2 things:
   (1) Do it – it’s the only amateur sport that you share the same ground and spectators as the professionals
   (2) Run slow to run far
8. What’s your next big milestone after the 2023 London Marathon?
   REST! Well, I am aiming of going on a week long cycling holiday end of May, so I guess I will need to get my cycling miles in.

If you are interested in making a donation, please visit the justgiving page below.

https://www.justgiving.com/team/salesforceMP2023