Free to Run, a film by The North Face
Credit: Dream Lens Media
We’re approaching the one year anniversary of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the current situation in the country for women and girls is beyond worrying. In the words of the Afghan politician and women's rights activist, Fawzia Koofi, “Women in Afghanistan are having to advocate for their basic rights not to be invisible, and not to be erased from public life.”
As many of you know, the political situation directly affected the Free to Run team and our participants. In August and September of last year, our team worked around the clock to evacuate the most at-risk staff and members of their families. Those images will forever be burned in our minds. They also sit in stark contrast to the summer that we planned to have with our participants. In addition to our regular outdoor sports and leadership programs, we were going to take a team back to the Wakhan Corridor for an expedition into this remote, but incredibly beautiful part of the country. It’s a region that normally sees about 100 tourists per year so sending a team of Afghan women to hike there is significant. The North Face was set to film it all and in partnership with Dream Lens Media, they also planned to film our Founder, Stephanie Case, as she tackled one of the world’s longest and toughest ultra marathons, the 450K Tor des Glaciers. These were supposed to be the big stories of 2021 for Free to Run.
The 2019 Free to Run expedition to the Wakhan Corridor
While the events of last year certainly did not happen as planned, the cameras were rolling throughout. Free to Run, the film, has just been released by The North Face and we’re incredibly proud to share this with our entire community. It documents the dramatic journey of Zeinab and Zahra - two leaders from our program who left Afghanistan as the Taliban took control of the country. They bravely shared their personal stories so they could highlight the importance of education, health and women’s rights in Afghanistan, as well as the trauma of being separated from their families. The film also captures Stephanie’s emotional journey leading the evacuations of our team members and then racing in a 450K ultra just a few short weeks later. Words can not do justice to this documentary - it’s an incredible example of leadership and perseverance, on and off the trails.
The story certainly doesn’t end here. We’re more committed than ever to expanding our award-winning programs in Iraq and beyond. We’re also counting the days until we can safely restart our programs in Afghanistan. Join us as we work to enable women and girls in conflict-affected communities to safely and boldly engage in outdoor activity. To learn more, please visit our website. Thank you for your support.