From 9-16 September, I will be participating in Tor des Geants for the fourth time, a 330km+ race with 24000m of elevation in Aosta Valley in Italy. I will cross 25 mountain peaks and run through multiple nights in an attempt to make it to the finish. I have done this race before, but never on so little training. It has been tough to cover the mileage I need to from my compound in Kabul, and I'm missing thousands of metres of climbing on these legs... but I'm going to run with joy and run with a purpose, and I'm hoping that will take me to the finish line!
Thanks to everyone who supported this campaign in June when I ran 36km around my compound for my 36th birthday in the middle of the night! I'm ending this campaign with my participation in Tor, and I've narrowed down where I'd love to see the funds go. This summer, we've witnessed some very serious suicide and complex attacks in Kabul, and watched as the Taliban took over Ghazni, a major city in the southeast, for a number of days, resulting in significant civilian casualties. Sadly, we lost some students from one of our partner schools in an attack in Kabul. Every one of our participants has a story of loss, and the ongoing conflict has an effect. The running and leadership programs we provide help them to deal with this stress, but we would like to go further and have a psychologist on hand for them to speak to should they need it.
The money raised will help to cover the hours of a psychologist for the members of our team, to make sure that we can keep supporting our women and girls in the best way possible to become leaders in their own communities.
Thank you for your support! Happy to answer any questions. Just email me at stephanie@freetorun.org. Big love and happy trails.
