Rahaf Khatib on communicating her worth as a covered Muslim American woman in running

Social Sport

May 3, 2021

Rahaf Khatib is a stay-at-home mom of 3; 11x marathon and 25x half marathon runner, 2x Sprint triathlete; First Syrian to Complete the Abbott World Marathon Majors; and was a top ten finalist in the 2015 Runners World cover search contest. Rahaf made headlines when she graced the cover of Women’s Running Magazine in October of 2016 as the first hijabi to appear on the cover of a fitness magazine. Rahaf has fundraised $16,000 for Syrian refugees, $6,000 for Brain Cancer in honor of her dear father, and $10,000 for Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem. Rahaf has been published in magazines such as Strong Fitness Magazine, Runners World,New Balance’s fall catalog, New York marathon catalog,  Times Weekly and Women’s Health Magazine. Rahaf co-created the Adidas hijab, was voted “Best health and Fitness account” by Buzzfeed news, and coached Girls on the Run in Michigan. She is a Level 1 RRCA certified Running Coach as well as a TED X speaker.

Discussed in this episode:

— Post-partum depression

–Ending stereotypes of covered Muslim American women

–The burden of unpaid labor on BIPOC women

Syrian American Rescue Network

–Persevering in the face of hate

–Rahaf’s Ramadan Challenge with Runkeeper

–Quote: “I always say, if you organize your life around your passion, you can turn your passion into your story, and then turn your story into something bigger and something that matters. This is a quote that I live by, and my passion is shattering stereotypes about us, [covered Muslim American women],” -Rahaf Khatib

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*This episode is sponsored by OPE Running. Go to operunning.com and use code SOCIALSPORT for 15% off your order.