Tour De Farm and BBQ: Join MADE’s first annual London to Oxford cycle ride

MADE in Europe is a Muslim youth-led organisation working to mobilise Muslim communities in the UK to live more ethically and sustainably. 

Join MADE for a 100km ride through the glorious Oxfordshire countryside to Willowbrook Farm ending with a delicious ethical BBQ of tayyib meat produced on the farm. Experience off­-the-grid sustainable living in action and explore Willowbrook Organic Farm, the UK’s first organic halal farm.

Get your friends and family to come along to spend the day on the farm and join you for the BBQ at the end of your journey. Everyone is welcome!

Please raise upwards of £100 for the cycle or just £12 for the farm visit and BBQ.   

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tour-de-farm-and-bbq-tickets-10585179557

Sarah Javaid

Executive Director

Muslim-Friendly Gyms Divide Germany

The subject of how to treat Muslim school children when it comes to sport instruction is becoming an election topic.

CAIRO – German Chancellor Angela Merkel waded in a new controversy on Saturday, April 6, rejecting the idea of separate sport classes for Muslim girls and boys as sending a wrong signal on the country's “integration,” The Local newspaper reported.

“Integration is very important to the chancellor,” Georg Streiter, a government spokesman, told Rheinische Post newspaper.

“People being separated from one another is the opposite of integration,” he said.

The subject of how to treat Muslim school children when it comes to sport instruction is becoming an election topic.

The issue was raised when Peer Steinbrück, Merkel’s Social Democratic Party opponent in the September national vote, waded into what in the past has been a hornet's nest of controversy in Germany.

In comments given earlier this week, he expressed support for physical education classes in German schools to be divided by gender.

"If schools are able to do it, then they should," Steinbrück said in response to a question from the audience during a campaign appearance in Berlin, Der Spiegel reported.

A Reuters reporter noted that the comment was greeted with silence.

Steinbrück then added that the step should be taken "out of consideration for religious convictions."

Germany is believed to be home to nearly 4 million Muslims, including 220,000 in Berlin alone.

The country is Europe's second-biggest Muslim population after France, and Islam comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity.

Germans have grown hostile to the Muslim presence recently, with a heated debate on the Muslim immigration into the country.

A recent poll by the Munster University found that Germans view Muslims more negatively than their European neighbors.

In August 2011, Germany’s daily Der Spiegel had warned that the country is becoming intolerant towards its Muslim minority.

Opposition Chorus

Supporting Merkel’s attitude, Barbara John, formerly in charge of integration issues for the city-state of Berlin, joined the debade.

“Children and parents have to get used to the fact that genders here grow up together and live with the same rights," she told the newspaper Bild.

She was seconded by Serkan Tören, a member of the federal parliament with the Free Democrats, Merkel's junior coalition partner.

Tören, himself from Turkey, said that "dividing boys and girls is akin to dividing society.”

“Splitting classes by gender is also the wrong signal to send when it comes to integrating Muslims in Germany,” he added.

Even the Greens, ostensibly the SPD's allies in the campaign, have distanced themselves when Memet Kilic, a member of parliament and the Green's expert on integration issues, said that current rules governing physical education classes should not be changed.

Facing growing opposition, Steinbrück defended his statements while on a trip to Paris, saying he was not going to go back on what he said.

“Many Muslim parents solve the problem of sport instruction by calling their children in sick,” he told the Focus magazine.

“That also cannot be the solution.”

SPD General Secretary Andrea Nahles has also supported Steinbrück, noting that in her state of Rhineland-Pfalz the separation of the sexes for sport instruction “has long been the norm and takes place without a problem if the schools can organizationally deal with it and they want that.”

Source: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/462116-muslim-friendly-gyms-divide-germany.html

Fearless and Female: Cox's Bazaar Best Surfer

BY: SHIREEN AHMED

“I feel free on the water...where I am from and who I am doesn’t really matter”.- Nassima Atker

Cox’s Bazaar, in the southeast corner of Bangladesh, is a perfect spot for surfing. In the early nineties a local resident, Jafar Alam, set up a surf school and promised to teach kids and passer-by how to surf. He was supported and encouraged by a group of Americans who had stopped to surf in Bangladesh. Alam’s surf school: Surfing Bangladesh now has more than 70 participants. One of whom is Nassima Atker, a Rohingya refugee from Burma. Atker moved to Bangladesh with her family to escape persecution, sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing.

According to the United Nations the Muslims of Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. There are more than 200,000 refugees in Bangladesh who are struggling to live in squalor. 40,000 of them are undocumented.  Due to a recent NGO ban in the area, these people are not provided with any type of assistance. They are resented by Bangladesh who insist they are illegal migrants although the Burmese government denies they are Burmese. Since the 8th century their historical and natural ties to land are mostly from Arakan in Burma.
No one is willing to accept or embrace them.

Essentially, they are a people without a home. Rohingya’ are denied citizenship and victims of institutionalized discrimination. They look similar to Bangladeshis and speak a different language and are of a different religion but essentially they are from Burma.
In addition to being a displaced and vulnerable population, the women struggle with poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to health care and are often forced into sexual and forced labour.

One woman is facing insurmountable struggles, not only culturally and socio-economically; she is one of Bangladesh’s most agile and skilled surfers and receiving very little encouragement.

And she is labelled a “whore” for wanting to surf.

Obviously, in a region where survival is a basic challenge, surfing and participating in beach activities are not viewed upon favourably. Or a priority.

Nassima, is the only woman actively surfing. But she is not supported by her neighbours and community.

Her Muslim culture is very conservative and although there are organizations who were established to empower youth and teach them surfing, she is facing more and more opposition to her athleticism.

She recalls her first experience on the water was challenging but that she felt a connection to the ocean and keep practicing.

Nassima wears a salwar kameez- full shirt and loose pants- as her surfing kit. She is already married and is a doting wife. Her husband does not oppose her interest in surfing.

She and her family have seen much strife. Her people are still suffering. Nassima has been incredibly brave to continue with surfing and ignore the hostility and discouraging behaviour of some of the community.  She has developed and worked hard at an athletic skill that is difficult. She is accomplished and humble.

Had Nassima been in a different part of the world her talent would have been recognized and instead of being ostracized she would have been encouraged. She should be lauded for being an incredible role model for young women. Despite her struggles with malnutrition, at 14 years of age, Nassima managed to beat all the boys in a local surfing championship.

Unfortunately, her surrounding community feels differently.  

She has been beaten, cursed at and has had trash thrown at her en route to her beach to surf in the afternoon.

Nassima’s courage and passion for her sport has not gone unnoticed.

Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Director of United Nations Women, gave a talk at the 2012 International Olympic Committee Conference on Women and and referenced Nassima in her speech:

“Just a year ago, more girls than boys belonged to the [Bangladesh Surf] club. But as surfing gained popularity, some community leaders felt that surfing was inappropriate for women and girls. Since then, almost every female club member has dropped. Nassima is the only one left.

Today, Nassima is an outstanding surfer and has already won several local surfing contests. If she lived here in California, she could be competitive on the amateur girls surf circuit. If her potential was discovered and nurtured, Nassima could get a chance at competing internationally. She could become Bangladesh’s first international surf star and maybe change some of the views about girls and sports.

Nassima’s example reminds us that more investments are necessary to foster women’s participation and leadership in sport. Female coaches, peer educators and sport staff offer visible proof that women and girls can excel and lead in society.”

Nassima and any other budding young female athletes should be given an opportunity to be youth and excel at their sport. They face enough challenges and difficulties on land that they feel liberated on water.

Nassima is part of a displaced community that is desperate for humanitarian assistance.

At present, she is hoping to train as a lifeguard. She would be Bangladesh’s first female lifeguard. She is hoping to use her techniques and talent to teach, inspire and keep riding the waves.

with notes from: http://www.theinertia.com/surf/the-most-fearless-surfer/

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2012/12/mil-121217-irin01.htm

images via: Heather Kissinger & http://surfingthenations.com/bangladesh/

Irish Surf Champion's mission to Iran to get women surfing

BY: TRACY MCVEIGH

Off a quiet stretch of Iran's Indian Ocean coast villagers gathered to stare in astonishment. Someone even called out the local police, who turned up in full force. The view of an Irish woman in a hijab wetsuit riding a bright pink surfboard through the swell of a monsoon sea is not one the Islamic state's citizens get to see often.

"But they were all incredibly nice, just really intrigued and interested. The police were just worried that I'd hit the rocks and hurt myself. The worst thing really was wearing the Lycra hijab suit in 30-degree heat, that was pretty tricky. But although I'm sure it would have been fine if I'd gone out in shorts, I was keen to show total respect," said Easkey Britton, 26, four times Irish surf champion and British pro-tour champion.

The Donegal surfer's trip to Iran has been made into a short documentary by French film-maker Marion Poizeau which will be shown on French TV later this month before beginning a tour of international film festivals, hopefully later in the year.

Both women arrived in Iran unannounced and unsure of their reception. "It was just a wild plan to surf where a woman had never surfed before, to try and get other women interested," Britton said.

They didn't even know if they would be able to find waves. She went into the sea in a monsoon swell close to Chabahar, southern Iran. "There was a lot of looking at Google Earth before I went!" she laughed. "But we've been overwhelmed by the reaction to the film."

Britton hopes to use it to get more women into the waves. "I'd love to see more women surfing and I'd love to see it become a sport for everyone, not just the wealthy. There's surfing in the Gaza Strip now, and in Bangladesh, believe it or not. It's amazing really. There's also a brilliant scheme I've seen in Brazil where they are taking the kids from the favelas and getting them into surfing, donating the boards and gear. It's transforming their lives and showing that surfing can be a lot more than just a leisure pursuit, it's a great tool to open life up for women and girls and offer opportunities."

While surfing is taking off among Muslim women in California, and at least one surf company has started producing "burkini" surfwear suitable for the all-body cover-up they require, along with the Islamic swimwear that is already available, Britton is keen to encourage women from impoverished countries to taste the freedom of the waves.

Named after a wave break off her native Ireland's west coast, that was in turn named after the Irish for fish, Easkey Britton had little chance to avoid the sea. She points out that she is not just trying to get more women in the water but wants to reclaim a sport that was at its origins possibly dominated by women.

"In Hawaii, where surfing began, it was a sport of royalty and of the poor, and mostly of women. The engravings from Captain Cook's trip show lots of people out in the water on some kind of board and almost all of them were women. I suppose the missionaries came long after that, however, and that was that," she said.

"But often when kids learn to surf the girls pick it up and get better much quicker than the boys. So it's just a shame there are not more women in surfing but I hope that's changing and I want to help change it. In Ireland there's not too many women surfing either, but I think that's maybe about climate and weather as much as anything.

"Surfing is still seen as very male-dominated, but that's changing. Women are making a big impact and aren't being put off by the notion that you have to be super-fit to surf. You just need to be a good swimmer.

"I've seen a lot of newcomers fall in love with surfing and I hope to be back in Iran next year getting a few of those women I met out of a board for the first time. That would be something to get them out frolicking in the ocean, with all the freedom of the sea to enjoy."

LINK: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/21/surfing-champion-iran-mission

Play like a Girl in Iran... just don't watch like one.

BY: SHIREEN AHMED

The colourful world of football is composed of players, coaches, teams and most importantly fans. The loyalty and passion of global football fans is unparalleled. Their energy, support are motivating factors for the players and their presence at matches is an important indicator on the overall success of clubs.

Football fandom is so important and ingrained in society that there are organizations created to represent the right of supporters and fans to lower ticket prices, safe standing and protection of clubs.

The world is abuzz with excitement as the World Cup Brazil 2014 qualifying matches are underway. This past week one of the qualifying matches caught some attention. Iran played South Korea and won 1-0.

Iran is one of the tops teams in Group A of the Asian Football Confederation and are ranked 54 by FIFA’s ranking. Crowds in Tehran were almost at 80,000 at Azadi Stadium and elated that their team had defeated a team that is ranked much higher (South Korea 28).

Iranian nationals are passionate about football. Along with wrestling and volleyball it is the most popular sport. They flock to the matches and celebrate accordingly. They are allowed to rejoice in the jubilant atmosphere- unless they are Iranian women.

Women have been banned from watching live matches in public since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. They have been relegated to staying at home and supporting the teams in private.

Most recently Iranian women were not allowed to watch any Euro Cup 2012 matches that were screened publicly. This heightens a level of frustration among a large part of the population already struggling with image and regulations in Iran.

Despite the impermissibility, after the match there was a media release of two women dressing up as men in order to attend the Iran-Korea game with male relatives. They posted pictures and added a video of match highlights. This issue is of utmost importance as it clearly denotes that in order for women to partake in something that most cultures consider a gender neutral normal activity, they must be identifiable as men. In most other Muslim countries women are allowed and do attend attend matches in public. Often they may be harassed or leered at (another patriarchal societal ill) but they are not punishable by law.

When Iran beat Japan and qualified for the World Cup in 2006, many women defied policy and tried to enter the stadium forcefully clashing with police. The stadium was filled to capacity (100,000) and rejoiced in the win. Women danced in the streets and the strict Islamic Police were far more lenient during the celebrations.

One of the most ardent supporters of female supporters’ right to access public stadiums is President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In his first term in office in 2006 he tried unsuccessfully to change a law allowing women to attend stadium matches and watch football in public areas.

The reason given by the president seems to have been intended to placate hardliners. "The presence of women and families in public places promotes chastity," he said. As a football-adoring man, he has lobbied and been an outspoken voice for allowing women to watch matches since taking office.

Clerics have rebuffed his efforts and stated that “It was un-Islamic for a woman to look at a strange man’s leg- even if she doesn’t take pleasure from it”. Stadiums are said to be filled with rowdy fan using profanity and inappropriate language. The decision to ban women was explained as a “protection” for them.

Fierce debate ensued and finally Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled in favour of the clerics’ decision.

In many countries around the world a citizens’ patriotic connection is directly correlated to their unwavering support National Sports Teams. Politics and divisions may create cleavages in a society but one thing in common is unbridled passion for the home country team to succeed.

Ironically, women in Iran have won the fight to play football and represent their country wearing hijabs as part of their uniform. In Iran they are permitted to play games without men on-site on quality fields. They have hosted international matches in Tehran against other teams. Iranian Women’s national football team is very supported in Iran and has strong governmental support for development. A new Azadiye Stadium was to be completed in 20120 in Tehran to support the advancement of women’s soccer in Iran.

Iran lobbied strongly for FIFA to lift a hijab ban which prevented the women’s team  from qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics. They suited up in specially designed kits with modified hijabs caps without covering their necks. So, women in Iran are encouraged to play football but not to watch men play it.

More frustrating is that non_Iranian women are allowed to attend the matches at Azadi stadium. There were Korean female supporters at the match adding to the fury of Iranian women.  

Iranian women can enjoy the sport shrouded at home but can not translate their passion into attending a live match. For most football lovers this simple right would be unbearable- male or female. Recently, Tales of a Hijabi Footballer published a piece on the topic of fandom and hijab.

Enjoying the thrilling competition, savouring the moment with others and having access to a game is an interest and right that many women ought to have.  

There are movements and women’s organizations campaigning for rights to watch including the Asian Football Confederation.

“So far as the AFC is concerned, there should be no sex discrimination regarding the presence of men and women at stadiums,” AFC Director of National Team competition Shin Mangal was quoted as saying by the Shiite news agency Shafaqna.

Then there are those brave female fans who will go to any lengths to attend the matches despite the ban. These include dressing up as boys and men and sneaking into the matches undetected with risk of being arrested.

In 2006 a brilliant Iranian movie  “Offside” detailed the struggles of young, female football fans. It was the story of six young women who were detained as they tried to attend a victorious World Cup qualifying match in Azadi Stadium. It accurately portrayed their interest, knowledge and love for the sport was just as intense as that of the male officers guarding them.

The movie drew critical acclaim and Director Jafar Panahi stated that he was inspired by his own daughter to make the film. He hoped it would “push the limits in Iran and help women”.

The movie ends happily with the six young women escaping detention as the celebrations in Tehran reach a climax and the officers are too distracted.

“Shirin was a Canary” (2012) is a new film from Iran about a young woman who is so football-obsessed that she is expelled from school.

There is a cultural acceptance of women enjoying and playing football in Iran.

In sping 2012 there was much discussion that the ban to be lifted for the AFC U-16 championships being held in Tehran in September and October.  Unfortunately, there were no developments and Iranian women are still not permitted to attend games.

With some luck, continued pressure and a new decision by the conservative establishment, they will be able to appreciate and enjoy live matches as well.

“They think our minds will be poisoned if we go to football, that we will hear shouting that will offend us and will see the players' legs that will horrify us. They live in their cities, Qom and Mashhad and they never come out to see what life is like for us. We are a young people, we are modern, we don't need protecting. It's ridiculous. But they can't hide us away forever. We'll continue going to the matches whether they let us in or not. We're determined." -Noushin Najafi, Iranian footballer

Saudi ban on women’s sports blamed for rising obesity

by Angie Zambarakji 

Team sports such as football are rare opportunities for Saudi girls.

A girl’s school in Saudi Arabia has defied a ban on sport for girls by letting pupils play basketball.  This comes after Human Rights Watch has claimed that women’s limited access to sport was contributing to rising obesity in the country.

Under the Kingdom’s strict Islamic legal system, girls are not allowed to play sports at state-run schools, although some private girls’ schools have sports programmes. Powerful Saudi clerics have also issued religious rulings against female participation in sports.

Sports minister Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal, who is also the head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee, told Al-Watan recently that the kingdom will not send female athletes to participate in the London Olympics. Like Qatar and Brunei, Saudi Arabia has never had a female athlete compete in the Olympics. However, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bars women from competitive sports in general.

45% of middle-aged Saudi women are obese

There is nothing in the Qur’an that forbids Muslim women from exercising, but in conservative Muslim countries women are often banned from exercising uncovered, and from having physical contact with men.

Besides facing discrimination in schools and competitive sports, Saudi women also encounter obstacles when exercising for their health or playing team sports for fun. In 2009, the kingdom announced a ban on licensing gyms for women, and the government went as far as closing established women’s gyms.

In 2009, Sheikh Abdullah al-Maneea, who sits on the official Supreme Council of Religious Scholars, said the ‘movement and jumping’ needed in football and basketball might cause girls to tear their hymens.  This might give the appearance that they had lost their virginity.

In Saudi Arabia, women must also have the permission of a male ‘guardian’, usually the closest male relative, to travel, work and have elective surgery. They are also banned from driving. The country’s religious police, the mutawwa’in, often subject women to harassment and physical punishment if they break any of these laws.

These laws, together with cultural and religious expectations, effectively limit women to a sedentary lifestyle – and this has contributed to rising obesity among Saudi women.

Forty-five per cent of middle-aged Saudi women are obese, according to a 2010 study conducted by the Saudi Diabetes and Endocrinology Society. The study showed that a number of factors have contributed to the spread of obesity among Saudis, one of them being the lack of physical activity. The prevalence of obesity among women was found to be far greater than among men.

In February, Human Rights Watch published a report, Steps of the Devil: Denial of Women’s and Girls’ Rights to Sport in Saudi Arabia, on the systematic discrimination against women in sport in Saudi Arabia, and the impact this has had on rates of obesity and diabetes, especially among women and girls.

Although Saudi Arabia has signed treaties that recognise the rights of women and girls to physical education, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Human Rights Watch found that in practice women are systematically excluded from sport and exercise.

The report found that while there are plans to improve access to sport in girls’ schools, there are few options for staying fit for women: the few health clubs that have sports or fitness equipment can be prohibitively expensive, while team sports for women are almost non-existent.

Source: http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/05/18/saudi-ban-on-womens-sports-blamed-for-rising-obesity/

A New Opportunity for British Muslim Women

We are an intimate and personable group of British-Arab female instructors offering group fitness classes & personal training courses for women preferring female instructors & women only exercise spaces. All women are welcome, though the spaces we use were carefully selected to particularly suit women who wear the Hijab as privacy is guaranteed and no men are allowed.

Our mission is to help women who don’t necessarily have suitable access to fitness services, by inspiring them to get fit, to de-stress, and to restore self-confidence, in spaces which allow them the freedom to be themselves, have fun, and connect with other women in their communities.

MWS publishes this entry to support women's initiatives. source: HananHadeedFitness.com

Dr Samaya Farooq on BBC 4: Muslim Women's Basketball and Globalisation

Dr. Samaya Farooq from University of Gloucestershire tells Laurie Taylor on her new study of Muslim sports women who combine faith and fitness. In the program called "Thinking Allowed", Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works and discusses current ideas on how we live today. Prof. Henrietta Moore from University of Cambridge contributes to the program with a positive take on globalization.
Source: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/ta/ta_20111026-1712a.mp3

When a Photo Inspired by Sport Becomes an Image of Hope

The Olympic Museum has announced the results of the HOPE photo competition launched in the spring of this year.
It was on the International Day of Peace that the winners of the HOPE photo competition organised by The Olympic Museum in Lausanne were announced. The jury was composed of David Burnett, the renowned international photo reporter who has been covering the Olympic Games since 1984; Sam Stourdzé, Director of the Musée de l’Elysée photographic museum in Lausanne; and David Herren, Head of the IOC’s Images Section.
The first prize was awarded to « sudiptopix », India for his photo "Womens' Empowerment", which shows a Muslim woman playing football in a park in Calcutta, India. The jury particularly appreciated this urban sporting scene, offering a vision of sport as a unifying element, bringing joy to those who play it and demolishing prejudices.
The second prize went to « And®e », Brazil. It was the emblematic element of the photo which the jury liked: diving into water, daring and striving for excellence. The image shows the moment of competition when everything is still possible.
The third prize was awarded to « tbalakshin », Canada for his photo entitled "Form". The jury admired the unusual view of this sports performance, which the photographer has transformed into a moment of poetry.
The competition winner will get to visit Lausanne, Olympic capital, as part of an exclusive four-day programme. He will also receive photographic equipment worth Euros 2,000. The second and the third winner will receive photographic equipment respectively worth Euros 1,000 and Euros 500.
The Olympic Museum thanks Worldwide TOP Partner Panasonic for supporting this competition by providing photo equipment for the three prizewinners.
For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team:
Tel: +41 21 621 6000
Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/10/prweb8895640.htm

An Invitation for Danish Muslim Sporty Women

Kære Stjerner og frivillige

Projekt Stjernerne fra Vollsmose er blevet en stor succes. I har gennemført et længerevarigt træningsprogram og har cyklet Fyn rundt på blot 5 dage. Vi ønsker nu at fremlægge resultaterne for samarbejdspartnerne, Stjernerne + jeres forældre og de frivillige.

I, og jeres familie er derfor inviteret til en fælles aftensmiddag fredag d.16.sept.11 kl. 16.30 i Kulturhuset i Vollsmose. Her kommer vi til at fremlægger projektets resultater og dele diplomer ud til jer.

Pga planlægning bedes i melde tilbage senest d. 05. sept. hvor mange i kommer.

mail til: safaa_abdol@hotmail.com eller ring på: 46 40 07 41

Vi ser frem til at se dig.

Photo: From Inaam Abou Khadra

_________________________________________________________

Programmet for dagen:

16.30 Velkomst. /v. Projektleder Safaa Abdol-Hamid

16.40 Åbningstale /v. Borgmester Anker Boye

16.50 Fremlæggelse af Max-test resultaterne. /v. Institut for idræt og biomekanik, Syddansk universitet Niels Christian

17.00 Derfor støtter Odense Kommune Stjernerne fra Vollsmose /v. Odense kommune, Cyklisternes By Elsebeth Gedde og Connie Juul

17.10 Den sociale udvikling og betydningen af dette i boligsociale områder. /v. beboerkonsulent Asmaa Abdol-Hamid

17.20 Videofilm

17.30 Diplomoverrækkelse til Stjernerne /v. Borgmester Anker Boye

18.05 Buffet

19.30 Farvel og tak

Source: http://www.stjernernefravollsmose.dk/#myAnchor

"I'm probably the only one who has run Copenhagen Marathon with a veil"

Direct copy of google translation from Danish

She's spent. Well used. When she crossed the line at Islands Brygge after 5 hours and 50 minutes. But she is also proud because she was the only woman with an immigrant background and the veil did must. With only two months of training.

"I come from 'bog' (Vollsmose in Odense), and there are not many immigrants traveling with the veil there. And 42 km, at least they did not run, "said Inaam Abou-Khadra, who read Political Science at SDU in Odense.

"People think it must be mighty hot and uncomfortable, and yes, I will run more clothes than other women, but you will find the out what works for one. So the problem is not practical, it is probably more a question that many ethnic did not think of race as a sport for them. "

Pat on the back

The Nykredit Copenhagen Marathon, she has only marked positive response.

"People have patted me on the shoulder, and said that it was well done."

Inaam Abou-Khadra got even a taste for the more extreme as some girlfriends last year lured her out and bike around Denmark. 'Completely crazy', she says.

Towards new horizons

But next year she wants to ride with Team Rynkeby to Paris.

And she will have her sisters to pedaling. She is involved in a voluntary project in 'bog' where 10-15 year olds to go out and cycling to lose weight.

"It's the way to health, both for ordinary Danes and immigrants'.

Source: http://politiken.dk/tjek/sundhedogmotion/motion/ECE1288849/jeg-er-nok-den-eneste-der-har-loebet-copenhagen-marathon-med-sloer/