Brentford's athletic performance coach Mat Bramhall is set to run the London Marathon on April 23 and is raising money for his chosen charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

Mat has run two marathons before and is excited to take on his second London marathon in just under seven weeks.

He said: “I’m looking forward to it. I took part in the London Marathon last year, Manchester the year before so, in terms of marathons, I kind of know what to expect.

"When I did Manchester in 2021, I did three hours and six minutes. London, I did three hours and 10 minutes but, with that one, I only found out I had a place six weeks before the race, whereas I would usually train for anywhere between 14 and 17 weeks.

“I'm hoping to go under three hours and, the way the training is going at the minute, I'm confident, dare I say it, that I can do that.

“Sometimes it all depends on how you wake up in the morning [on race day]. So that's the aim: go round in under three and have a good run.”

Mat was keen to run for a cause that meant something to him, and wanted to continue the work done by Brentford in raising money and awareness for cardiac health.

“I’m running for Cardiac Risk in the Young. I wanted to run for a charity that has a particular meaning, either for myself or for people I know,” he said.

“When I did Manchester, I ran for a hospice that cared for my brother-in-law when he was ill. So, this time, I've chosen CRY because of the very strong affiliation it has with the club, also with the Heart of West London foundation and all the different charities that are partnered with that.

“Whilst I never knew Rob Rowan because I arrived at the club after he sadly passed away, it's very clear how much his legacy still lives within the club.”

He added: “Whether it’s the hard miles in training or the hard miles at the end of the race, I remind myself that there are people out there who are suffering a lot more than I am, and just knowing that what you're doing is going to help other people, it's a big motivator and helps push you on when it gets tough.”

Mat has had lots of support from his Brentford colleagues, which has included advice and donations to his chosen charity.

"I’ve had one or two conversations with Ted [Munson] our nutritionist around fuelling and practising the fuelling in training ahead of the race,” he revealed.

“We've got three or four good runners within the staff group, so we’ll pick each other's brains and ask what sessions we’ve each done that week.

“Neil Greig and Liam Horgan are doing London as well. Me and Liam have done quite a lot of running together and I actually ran quite a bit of Manchester with Greigy.

“So we're always chatting and bouncing training ideas off each other.”

He adds: “And some of the players have been good in terms of saying things like, ‘If you get your target time, I'll sponsor you this much’, or ‘I'll double it if you're under your time’.”

And, when asked about the key thing he’ll remember before the race, Mat compared it to some of the advice that Bees boss Thomas Frank might give out before a big Premier League game.

“I think the biggest thing is about not getting carried away at the start,” he said.

“Just as the players will have a game plan from Thomas on a matchday, you need to stick to your race plan.

“It's about trying to be disciplined enough to stick to that and, if you are feeling really good at 15/16 miles, just be patient and commit to your plan, because you can be pretty sure that if you try and kick on at that point because you feel good, it's going to come back to bite you at mile 22/23!

“Overall, it's just about enjoying the day.”

If you would like to donate to CRY and support Mat, you can find more information on his JustGiving page.