Pakistani Women Successfully Run Lahore Marathon

Efforts like these eventually paid off. Days before the race, Lahore city officials said the mixed race would go on. Hundreds of women, including Rafique, turned out for the shorter “family” runs, dashing and walking alongside their husbands and children. For Nabila Rafique, the race wasn’t about finishing first. She ran and walked the course wearing a traditional shalwar kameez (loose-fitting tunic) with a shawl. As she focused on putting one foot in front of the other, she paid little heed to the throngs cheering on the curbs – or the armed police posted at every corner. For weeks, Islamist groups had tried to ban women from the race. On Friday police arrested more than 400 people when a protest against the marathon turned violent.