Fun run despite the hunger of Ramadhan

SOLDIERS and police run together with former members of MILF during a Ramadhan fun run Tangkal, Lanao del Norte

THEY were hungry but they still ran a marathon.

Ramadhan 2015 in Marawi City introduced a new way to look at the holy Islamic month — Ramadhan as a healthy lifestyle needs to be campaigned.

“We don’t just sleep in Ramadhan like how many are practicing, we are fasting to be healthy,” said Trekee Dayan of Tawi Tawi who is the Sports Chief of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

“We feel energized on the contrary in Ramadhan, not bored, sleepy or less productive,” said Leah Mehila, a member  of the  Young Moro Professionals Network Northern  Mindanao.

ARMM has organized   Ramadhan  sports festivals  for the last three years to generate more support for Bangsamoro athletes.  This year,  200 joined   the Ramadhan Fun Run to push for   of ARMM athletes who will join the Batang Pinoy- Mindanao leg set Koronadal later this year.

ARMM athletes are slowly making a  name for themselves in the country, dominating the  2013 Nestea  Beach Volleyball Tournament.

In  Tangkal, Lanao del Norte, a former conflict zone,  women and men also held a fun run to gather the residents in a show of solidarity towards peace-building.

Participlants included police, army personnel running side by side with former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Filipino Muslim women are also participating in the fun runs and other sports events.

Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) said that in the past Muslim women made their mark in the International Olympics.

Notable  Muslim women athletes were  Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco who  won a gold medal in the 400 meter hurdles in the 1984 Olympics. El Moutawakel served as a Vice President on the International Olympic Committee, the first Muslim woman to do so. Similarly, Ghada Shouaa, who represented Syria, won a gold medal in the heptathlon during the 1996 Summer Olympics.