For five years, Afghan women have lived under a regime that has banned them from secondary school, barred them from most public spaces, and made it illegal for a woman's voice to be heard by men outside her household. This is a deliberate, systematically enforced erasure of women from society.

For 12 years, Free to Run has created opportunities for young women in Afghanistan to run and become leaders. These young women are not letting anything stop them now. This August, in Afghanistan and around the world, Afghan women will lead a series of Underground Runs to raise funds for Free to Run and to send a clear message - that young women belong in sport, and they are not stepping aside.

The location of Underground Runs are shared person to person, not publicly advertised. This reflects the reality of the way Free to Run must work in Afghanistan, and how word of our program spreads. If you’re not already connected to the run leader in your community but would like to join a run in your city, complete the form below to request access to the secret location details.

If you would like help ensure that opportunities for running and movement continue to exist for women and girls in Afghanistan, we hope you’ll consider making a donation to support Free to Run.

DONATE

RUNNING IS A RADICAL ACT OF RESISTANCE

Running should not require courage. In Afghanistan, it does.

But even after five years under Taliban rule, women are still running… and every single step marks a refusal to disappear from public life.

MEET THE UNDERGROUND RUN LEADERS

Amina

Washington, D.C.
Aziza

Bremen
Danish

Ithaca, NY
Habiba

Rome
Nadira

Portland, ME
Hanifa

Berlin
Fatima

London
Laila

Montreal
Rooya

Dushanbe

FREE TO RUN’S WORK IS ONLY POSSIBLE WITH THE BACKING OF OUR GLOBAL COMMUNITY

Omid (امید) means ‘hope’ in Dari.

Since the Taliban's return in 2021, Free to Run’s team in Afghanistan has built something that shouldn't be able to exist. Omid is Free to Run’s program in Afghanistan - a network of safe spaces where girls and young women gather in secret to move their bodies, build negotiation skills, and become leaders.

What makes this program function is the solidarity between the young women involved. Participants and trainers together manage the operational security of a clandestine program and they protect the space for each other. This is leadership under impossible conditions.

The program centers on movement such as yoga and strength training, with outdoor walking and running integrated wherever and whenever possible. And as young women reap all the benefits of moving their bodies, they also learn tools for the harder conversations happening outside the program’s safe space, helping them negotiate with the people who control their daily lives.

Your support today will ensure that women in Afghanistan can keep running, and keep resisting.

If you would like more information about making a gift to support Free to Run’s work in Afghanistan, please email donate@freetorun.org.

“The women and girls of Afghanistan should be outside, feeling the wind on their face, wearing whatever they want to wear, attending school and joining sports teams. I am participating in the Underground Runs campaign to raise awareness for the women and girls of Afghanistan who deserve all of the same rights as any man, including the freedom to move their bodies and exercise how they want.”

— Rooya, Underground Run Leader, Tajikistan