Salam and Peace Friends, 

It's me Ahhad again and yes, you guessed it.., I'm yet again writing to you with more running content and another initiative, but trust me, this one is the most special endeavor yet. Many of you have been following my running journey for over a year now, and if you've been paying attention you've witnessed how this little idea to get myself in shape evolved into something much larger than I ever thought it would. We started with a simple goal to conquer the LA Marathon in March 2023. Since then, we ran three more marathons in San Francisco, New York City, and Tokyo! We thought we could be a little more meaningful so we raised more than $5,500 for refugees in my campaign for the New York and Tokyo Marathons. It's been a pretty big year in running, but if you've added me on Strava, you know I have no intention of slowing down.

This is why I'm excited to share the most important update in my running journey to date, insha'Allah (God-willing), I will be running the Chicago Marathon this October for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) with Team Palestine! As we see the horrors unfold day after day in Gaza, we are shaken to our core at the suffering being endured by our brothers and sisters, mostly innocent children. Since the beginning of October, our hearts have shattered day after day at the gut-wrenching images and videos on our social media feeds. Like many people of conscious, I have battled with feelings of dejection, despair, and sorrow for our brothers and sisters. However, there are always glimmers of hope and guiding lights even in the darkest of times. One such glimmer of hope is the resolve of the Palestinians themselves and PCRF. 

PCRF is one of the handful of organizations allowed to send humanitarian aid and assistance into Gaza, along with operating an active ground effort to serve internally displaced refugees. The PCRF team has worked tirelessly to process and turnaround aid as quickly as humanly possible during an impossibly difficult and dangerous moment. Becuase of them and their partners, and the power of our collective concious to act within our capacities, Palestinian children can have hope for a brighter future. There is no other organziation that would give me the enthusiasm and energy to make this the most meaningful marathon yet.

This is my chance to make the most impactful effort in my running journey. I hope you will join me once again by supporting. 

If you would like to take advantage of my employer matching program, you can Venmo me: @ahhad-iqbal or Zelle. 
If you would like to make an employee matching gift through your employer, please let me know.

UPDATE - 01/04/2023: I have met my employeee matching program maximum of $1,000.00. Any further donations recieved via Venmo and Zelle will be donated directly to the campaign without the employee match. Please reach out to me if you can offer an employer matching gift!