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

Ali on the Run Show

Ali Feller

Sports, Fitness, Health & Fitness, Running

4.9 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2020

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

"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.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode of The Alley on the Run Show is brought to you by Aftershocks.
0:04.2	Go to ontherun.aftershocks.com to say 15% on all wireless headphones.
0:10.3	Welcome to The Alley on the Run Show.
0:16.3	I'm your host Allie Feller and every week I talk with inspiring people who lead
0:20.9	interesting lives on the run and beyond. And while running is that magical thing that
0:25.8	brings us all together, on these episodes we cover more than what happens on the
0:29.8	run, we learn the wise behind the runs. The decisions people have made to get where they are
0:34.9	today and how getting sweaty has factored in. And my guess today is Aisha Kamar.
0:41.1	Aisha is one of my favorite people to follow on Instagram. I've learned so much from her over
0:46.0	the past year. Everything she shares is smart and insightful and whether it's on the topic of
0:50.9	anti-racism or giving back to our local communities, she has made me do some serious thinking.
0:55.9	And for that I am very grateful. And because I thought Aisha was cool from afar,
1:01.2	I did what any normal person does when they're intrigued by someone they find on the internet.
1:06.1	I did a Google deep dive. Oh yeah, I went down that Google rabbit hole and in doing so I became
1:11.9	even more intrigued by this brilliant New Yorker by way of California, a woman who works tirelessly
1:17.9	in public health and devotes every second of her spare time to making her Brooklyn hometown a
1:22.7	better, happier, healthier place. She volunteers with South Brooklyn Mutual Aid,
1:27.7	making sure every home in South Brooklyn has food on their tables. She's on the steering
1:32.4	committee for the Global Women Run Collective and she runs a 302 marathon. She's gonna try to
1:38.5	tell us all that she's not fast on this episode but yeah, that 302 is telling another story.
1:44.3	I loved getting to know Aisha. I loved learning about what it means to her to be a Muslim woman
1:49.0	and about fasting during Ramadan and how running fits in. And I'd love learning about how she found
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ali Feller, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ali Feller and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.