Running for peace

Hi, I'm Abdul. I happen to be a Syrian refugee living in London which is my second home now. When I was little, I thought long distance runners were super-strong people who could do anything they want. When I tried to run in Aleppo, I did not make it more than 10 minutes, but now I am running a series of half-marathons and marathons every month. I am also running to break stereotypes about refugees not being integrated. It is a chance for me to talk to various people about Syria, refugees issues, and especially to people who, somehow, don’t know any refugee and feel awkward when talking to someone. Often the conversation stops when people know I am from Syria and they don’t know what to say, I believe that by reaching out to various people, we could make everyone aware that there is no difference between a refugee and a local. My aim is to run an event every month and I plan not to stop until the war stops. This year, I can’t travel outside the UK as I don’t have any travel documents , so I have decided to run in various places in the U.K. I didn’t get a ballot place for London Marathon, so I will make it by running elsewhere. The list below is only until October, and I am still trying to find more events for November, December and next year.

I have been running away from war for the last seven years, now I am running for a cause, I am running for Airwars.

Upcoming running events:

March 4th: Vitality Big Half Marathon, London

March 18th: Sage Reading Half Marathon

April 29th: ABP Newport Marathon, Wales

May 20th: Hackney Half Marathon, London

June 10th: St Albans Half Marathon

July 1st: Richmond Park Half Marathon

August 5th: Wimbledon Half Marathon

Sept 16th: Ipswich Half Marathon

October 7th: Cardiff Half Marathon

Why I'm Running For Airwars :

Running isn’t just fun to me, it’s a way to raise awareness and money, to seek justice for civilians killed in my country, Syria. It's not just local parties to the civil war who are wreaking havoc. Lots of foreign powers are also bombing Syria - including the US, the UK, Russia, Turkey, and Iran. Airwars is a transparency project which aims for transparency and accountability from various belligerents in Syria - and I work in their London office. We have tracked over 6,000 reported civilian casualty incidents. So far, out of 15 countries bombing Syria only the USA and Australia admit killing civilians by mistake. The UK claims that hundreds of their own missiles have never harmed a civilian in Syria. The money I raise would help Airwars employ more researchers to keep track of the war and help seek justice for innocent victims. You can donate directly to Airwars with the following

https://airwars.org/make-a-donation/