Ali on the Run Show16 Sep 2020

280. Aisha Qamar, 3:02 Marathoner, Activist, & South Brooklyn Mutual Aid Volunteer

"I keep showing up so that people know that a Pakistani Muslim woman can be a marathoner. But just because I am there doesn't mean the work is done."

Aisha Qamar cares deeply about her community and the people around her. She earned her master's in public health at Columbia University, and has used that degree to learn more about and to give back to people in need. She volunteers with South Brooklyn Mutual Aid, delivering food to her neighbors in New York City, and on this episode, Aisha explains how delivering supplies on the run has brought meaning back to her running during the pandemic. She talks about finding her people and making friends when she didn't think she belonged in the running community, and she talks about being a Muslim woman, and explains what running looks like when she is fasting during Ramadan. Aisha is on the Global Womxn Run Collective steering committee, she runs a 3:02 marathon, and she is on a mission to make sure every runner knows that you do, in fact, belong.

Thank you to AfterShokz for sponsoring this episode of the Ali on the Run Show! Go to ontherun.aftershokz.com for 15% off wireless headphones!

What you'll get on this episode:

Aisha's take on the global pandemic, from someone with a master's in public health (4:00)
Aisha talks about what her family was like growing up (8:40)
All about Aisha's job, and her career path in healthcare (15:00)
Aisha shares her running story (23:30)
How Aisha found running friends, and how she went from a 3:53 marathon to a 3:02 (32:10)
On running the L.A. Marathon earlier this year (41:30)
Running with purpose (47:00)
How Aisha got involved with South Brooklyn Mutual Aid (51:25)
How Aisha sees her role in helping work toward more diversity and representation in running (1:02.00)
The role religion plays in Aisha's life right now (1:05.00)

What we mention on this episode:

South Brooklyn Mutual Aid

Global Womxn Run Collective

Banker to the Poor

Mountains Beyond Mountains

"Food, Clothing, Shelter: These NYC Runners Are Helping Their Neighbors Survive," by Cindy Kuzma for Runner's World

Whitney Hu on Twitter @whitney_hu

Follow Aisha:

Follow Ali:

Listen & Subscribe:

SUPPORT the Ali on the Run Show! If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(899)

896. Ask Ali!

"I am pro people and I am pro human rights." It's surgery week! I had a prophylactic laparoscopic bilateral salpingo oophorectomy on Monday (I had my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed), and I'm tryi...

23 Jul 0s

895. Molly Seidel's 2026 Western States Recap (With Special Guest Molly Reidy)

"Being able to go into a race where you are a rookie, it opened me up to take chances I wouldn't necessarily take. In the marathon, I felt like I got so scared of failing that I was really hesitant to...

16 Jul 1h 41min

894. Alyssa McElheny, Hyrox World Champion & OTQ Marathoner

"A lot of these things that seem like world-enders at the time can lead to bigger, better, happier things." Alyssa McElheny had a dream: to qualify for the Olympic Trials Marathon. When the qualifying...

9 Jul 1h 23min

893. Rachel Entrekin, 2026 Cocodona 250 Champion

"If the winner thinks that everyone's important, then goddamnit I must be right." Rachel Entrekin arrived at the start line of the Cocodona 250 ultramarathon in May having already won the women's race...

2 Jul 1h 22min

892. Emma Coburn & Parker Valby, Training Partners

"We're basically the same person, just 12 years apart." Emma Coburn and Parker Valby are professional runners, Olympians, New Balance athletes — and now, they're training partners. In this conversatio...

25 Jun 1h 11min

891. Laura Thweatt, On Athletics Club Assistant Road Team Coach

"When she said those words to me on that run, I was like, 'It's the same thing, Laura. You're gonna do the same thing that you've done. You were OK after every decision, after every scary thing you di...

23 Jun 1h 27min

890. Lee Glandorf, Creator of The Sweat Lookbook

"I don't think that the run girlies are respected within the sport the way they should be!" As a longtime marketer and creator of The Sweat Lookbook, Lee Glandorf truly has her pulse on industry trend...

18 Jun 1h 10min

889. The Latest Life Update From Ali

"I'm terrified in a whole new way now." We got PET scan results — along with a whole lot of unexpected emotions. SPONSORS: Lagoon. My favorite pillows and pillowcases! Click here to take Lagoon's 2...

12 Jun 1h 2min