So this morning, I ran the MoCo Interfaith 5k in Boyds, MD. I ordinarily don't engage in interfaith activities, and registered for this race for one reason, and one reason alone, which I explain below. Numerous other faith organizations (Lutherans, Bahais, Ahmadiyyas, Catholics, and multiple Jewish denominations) all had sizeable teams registered. The number of members of each team was visible on the race website.
ISWA (Islamic Society of the
Washington Area), which I occasionally visit, had a team set up. But, although
they made announcements about the race (and the team they had set up for it)
repeatedly on their Facebook page (and presumably at the mosque), no one had signed up for their team. Since
I'm not a member of ISWA, I didn't want to pre-empt any ISWA members who wanted
to join. So, I waited.
Finally, it was around the end August, and the race was on Labor Day. The Ahmadiyya team had ten members! And ISWA had zero. Finally, I buckled, and signed up. Right around the same time, three people from Potomac (a family) also joined the ISWA team. We were in business!
Race Day
The race itself was very well organized. It was held at the Maryland SoccerPlex, a huge outdoor park hosting 24 soccer fields. There was also a swim center, tennis courts, lacrosse fields, and even a cricket field.
I parked far away, as is my habit, and jogged to the packet pickup area as a warm-up. As I approached, I saw the Ahmadiyyas were out in full force. They, like a lot of the other religious groups, had a table set up. Their team was entirely male. Teams representing the other faiths all had mixed gender teams.
It was getting close to race time, and there were still hardly any Muslims. And there was no ISWA table. The saving grace was the presence of the ISWA imam. (He arrived quite late, sporting a traditional Muslim thobe.)
The preliminaries started. The RD (race director) called members of the different sponsoring faith organizations to speak. A member of the Shaare Torah Jewish Community spoke, as did a representative of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. Then, ISWA’s imam took the mic and spoke briefly. He was very low-key and unassuming, as if trying not to offend.
The race started. We took off, running on a paved trail which traversed the soccer fields. It was relatively flat, and should have been a piece of cake for me. Instead, I felt every step, not being a morning runner.
The top finisher was a 14-year old boy named Ayaan Ahmad. When I checked, I was just a little disappointed to see he was not a member of Team ISWA. Then, I had a moment of panic, as I considered if he was Ahmadiyya (Ahmadiyya names are similar or identical to Muslim names). I perused the Ahmadiyya team registry again. He was not listed there. Thank God! So, this young talented boy, who had just run 3.1 miles in 16:26 (16 minutes, 26 seconds), was an independent. And his pace was an astounding 5:18.
Alhamdulillah I was 3rd overall female, with the mediocre finish time of 24:44 (7:58 pace).
The
sun was shining ever so brightly as I headed to work immediately afterwards. A
boy with a Muslim name was #1 male, and a Muslim woman was #3 female. That
almost never happened at local races in the DMV. Oh, and we beat all the Ahmadiyyas!
