Ladies from across the kingdom are being urged to lace up and ‘Run for Ramadan’ in a bid to raise food donations for those in need during the Holy Month.
Lettuce Run, the all-women running group, and charity champions A Box of Goodness, are launching a 3km run around Bahrain Harbour on April 5 to help collect donations of non-perishable items to be distributed throughout Ramadan.
“The aim is to collect non-perishable food items such as rice, lentils, sugar, flour and canned goods,” said Dana Zubari, one of the Lettuce Run founders, a Tru Active fitness attire co-founder, Ironman finisher and triathlete.
“A Box of Goodness doesn’t take any monetary donations – for this event, they are collecting food and distributing them amongst families who need them throughout the island.
“Hence, instead of a registration fee, we ask the attendees to bring at least one item as donation. If they would like to donate more items we will definitely not stop them and will be happy to collect as much non-perishable food as possible.”
This is their first official run with A Box of Goodness, however not their first collaboration as the ‘Lettuce Runners’ held a food drive last Ramadan.
“So many ladies donated so much food that I was really touched by their generosity,” added Zubari, who co-founded the group with triathlete star and Ironman finisher Mariam Turki. “The women-only run will be pre-iftar, around 4.30pm starting from the Harbour House building, and everything should wrap up by 5.15pm so that all the people who fast can get home to their families for iftar.”
According to Zubari, fasting actually slows down metabolism massively, which is why it’s best to exercise before breaking the fast.
“You speed up your metabolism right before you eat, so you burn more calories at iftar,” she added. “Fasting is taxing on your body, so avoid high intensity workouts; try to stick to activities that keep your heart rate in a fat-burning zone.
“That being said, movement is movement, if you are feeling low energy throughout the day, don’t feel bad, just go for that walk after iftar and it will still be beneficial to your health.
“I know it is the first week of Ramadan and it might be difficult to deal with the heat and participate in the event. But this is really for a good cause. We would like to get a large quantity of donations because we do want to have a big impact on all the people we will be donating food to.”
To register, message @lettuce.run on instagram and there is no cutoff. People can still register on the day; the only requirement is to provide non-perishable food donations.
