ALSTONVILLE'S Shon Trim has set himself a major challenge this year - the New York City Marathon.

It is the world's largest marathon, with more than 47,000 participants.

But this year's event could be even bigger.

The 2012 marathon was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy, and runners this year are being asked to run in honour of the victims of the Boston marathon bombings.

Mr Trim said he was not worried about a repeat of the horror in New York.

"It doesn't concern me enough to not run," he said.

"I have been trying to get a place in the New York City Marathon for five years. It is the pinnacle.

"This has been a goal of mine since I was young."

And Mr Trim will be running on behalf of the Shake It Up Foundation, which raises money for research into Parkinson's disease.

"They do some amazing work, so I am happy to raise money for this charity," he said.

"I've known people with Parkinson's."

As well as fundraising in the lead up to the November marathon, Mr Trim will be busy with his training schedule - although he admits it is not a conventional program.

"There's no real structure," he said.

"I run whenever I can after work, and I might do a longer run on the weekends.

"I've just done the Noosa half marathon, which I finished in one hour and 32 minutes."

Unlike other people who train for marathons, Mr Trim doesn't track his run or measure the distance he runs during training sessions.

"I just run to music," he said.

"I find that I run better if I don't think about it too much.

"I've done the Gold Coast marathon before, so I know I can do the distance and I know what's expected."

Donations to the Shake It Up Foundation and Mr Trim's marathon run can be made at the Alstonville and Woodburn Caltex service stations, the Lismore Airport and the Spar supermarket at West Ballina.