Charity runners enjoy half marathon success

Emdad Rahman

A TEAM OF charity runners mainly from Whitechapel have completed the Marrakech Half Marathon for charity. 

The team travelled to Morocco to raise awareness and funds for the Muslim Charity’s drive to provide stability in the lives of street children affected by poverty. With the local weather a pleasant 22 degrees, the team ran at differing paces to complete the race within 3.15 minutes.

Top of the pile was Abdul Hannan, who is the head coach at Brawlers Boxing in Shadwell. Hannan finished the race in one hour 41 minutes and beat his personal best by one minute. He was followed by Abdal Ahmed from Limehouse.

Sheuly Zaman was the only female runner with the group. She said, “It’s been my first ever run for charity and I’ve been simply overwhelmed by the whole day.”

Harun Rashid, Head of Fundraising, said, “The day has been memorable on so many fronts and the runners have been simply tremendous. We hope this is the first of many more such charitable excursions. I never doubted I would finish and the emotions after crossing that line cannot easily be described. We have run for amazing causes and this memory will live very long. I am committed to running again next year and I hope to have more females with me.”

At the end of the race both Rashid and Programme Officer Rashid Ali were given a special audience with M Mohamed Moufakkir, the Governor of Marrakech.

At 54 years of age, Irfan Rajput was the oldest runner in the group and he finished the race in three hours ten minutes. He said, “The cause was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If your run is combined with your cause the experience will altogether be more special.”

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