If you had told my 9 year old self that I would be running my second marathon at 25, she most likely would've taken her raggedy black nikes with the silver sparkle laces and thrown them at you before dashing off to hide in the nearest bathroom stall.

However, if you told me at 10, when I finally matured (as we all do when we hit the double digits), I maybe, just maybe! would've considered the possibility (but definitely would've been concerned for my future self).

Let me take you back to the start of it all:

Life was great in the age of Wii Fit--if you know you know. Personally, I thrived amid the grueling step challenges and hula-hoop contests, and approached every weigh in with confidence despite my repeated result of 'slightly obese' (we should totally talk about Wii's long term psychological effects another time). My parents on the other hand, decided it was time for my sisters and I to fulfill the track legacy they never started and signed us up for our elementary school team--this was nonconsensual of course.

After countless track meets ending with last place consolation ribbons for the 50 meter sprint and endless jokes about the irony of our last name (Quicksill...), my parents decided we were better suited for the long-distance team. So once again, they mercilessly signed over our after-school livelihoods and sabotaged, what felt like, our social reputation (no amount of track practice could ever help us outrun the nickname "Slowsills").

As I mentioned, the idea of running any distance, let alone multiple laps, was enough to make me hide out in the nearest bathroom, which I did often-usually until one of the coaches would come looking for me and drag me back to the track.

This noble protest of mine repeated nearly every practice for the first 3 weeks of the season, until one day, our coaches told us to go for a trail run in the back woods of our school. In absence of the track's burnt, rubbery stench and in awe of the early spring silence, I felt my mind begin to relax and found myself, dare I say, unaware of my labored breath and aching feet. By the time I returned, I had unknowingly completed my first mile--the longest and greatest accomplishment of my track career and honestly, maybe...my life? It was tough to know given I was only 10 and had the memory of a goldfish, but I felt empowered and excited to do it more nonetheless.

After that fateful first mile, running would become an unlikely friend that would go on to provide refuge during challenges that came with each phase of my life. Don't get me wrong, it's rarely easy and can be less than enjoyable at times--my knees pray on my downfall and my hips definitely want me dead--but the effects it's had on my mind, my self-esteem, and my independence is worth every shin splint.

I didn't realize it at 10 (probably because my raggedy black nikes with the silver sparkle laces were designed for aesthetic and not arch support), but I needed a space that provided the opportunity for self-growth, compassion, and encouraged gallantry--things all young women can benefit from and many go in search of. It's been a privilege to exist in these formative spaces and reap their benefits--a privilege I'm aware many young women around the world are discouraged from and in some cases, continuously barred from.

This is why I feel beyond honored to be partnering with Free to Run and representing them at the 50th Anniversary of the Berlin Marathon later this year.

Founded in 2014 by ultra runner and human rights lawyer, Stephanie Case, Free to Run began with simple hiking activities that were requested by a small group of young women in the Central Highlands region of Afghanistan. Since then, Free to Run has impacted thousands of individuals and their communities in five countries, most notably Afghanistan where the organization was founded, and Iraq where the largest-scale programs operate today.

Free to Run’s mission is to advance gender equity globally through running. They do this by providing leadership and well-being programs for girls and young women in conflict areas, in conjunction with running experiences. They typically work with refugees, internally displaced people, and girls and young women who identify as ethnic minorities. While they work closely with individuals, they are working to drive change in community gender norms and towards a systematic shift in gender equality, with a specific focus on the expansion of access to public space and leadership opportunities for girls and young women.

I've provided more information around the specifics of their work below, but I wanted to highlight a few words from the participants themselves.

“The moment, when you cross the finish line, that moment is a golden time that not everybody can experience. It wouldn’t have been possible if Free to Run had not provided me this opportunity. The opportunity to know more about my strengths, my weaknesses, my mind and to feel the real freedom through observing and connecting with nature while running.”

— KUBRA, FREE TO RUN

“As an athlete, it has been so difficult to always be at home for 1.5 years. That’s why this has been important for us. When we do exercises, we are more intelligent and perceptive. When we don’t do sports, we are not complete.”

— OMID PARTICIPANT, AFGHANISTAN

Free to Run's Work:

Rights-Based: Rooted in girls’ and women’s rights as an ethical and practical imperative.

Girl/Young Woman-Led: Our sessions are led by Community Development Leaders - young alumni of the program who want to further develop their leadership skills.

Community-Owned: Programs are exclusively designed, implemented, and evaluated by people from the community.

Diversely Integrated: We bring together participants from diverse ethno-religious and cultural backgrounds as a grassroots strategy to improve peacebuilding and stability in places of conflict.

Safety-Conscious: Sport participation and rights activism is a counter-cultural act in most of the communities where we operate. We are experts in understanding how to ensure mental, emotional, physical, and political safety of our participants and staff.

On the Edge: Our work exists at the places where it’s most challenging to be assigned female at birth, in places where few others dare to work. We exist where our work is most acutely relevant and has the greatest impact. We focus on segments of the population that experience deep, intersectional discrimination based on gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, and/or migration/displacement.

Please read more at the links below!

Where Free to Run Works

Free to Run's Impact

Free to Run's Blog