First, thanks again to Basma for hosting last Saturday, along with help from Shobi and her cousin, Siva. Your manaqeesh was a big hit…latheeth!

And apologies to Bilal, who shared his Park Half photo with me—it’s a great action shot—and I forgot to share it (see attached) last week.

And now, thinking of a potential ceasefire, this poem is from Mosab Abu Toha. It appears to be from 2024 but is certainly topical.

Can we take a rest?
Maybe die for a few
months or years
and wake up when the poem
is complete,
when the flowers in our
garden start to grow,
their scent luring
the sparrows into visiting
our house,
our house that’s now
a small forest of rubble.

~Mosab Abu Toha

The main message this week is race prep, as we approach some of our runners’ races, e.g. Marine Corps Marathon (Cathy, Bill, Reza) and National Capital Region race (Peter).

This is not preparation through training, though al-hamdulillah so many of you have kept up with that diligently for months. These are a few things you can do for an extra edge on race day…

•  Study the course, so you know what to expect. This will help visualize the race too, often a step toward success. You can drive it ahead of race day, run portions, or study a map for familiarity.  
• Rest up. A big part of race day prep is tapering and resting. The training plan incorporates tapering, and it’s up to us individually to rest, including adequate sleep.
• Hydrate and eat healthy. We expend a lot of fluids in the exertion of a race, so hydrate well in advance. Consider tips like avoiding dairy in pre-race meals because it causes the secretion of mucus, which can impede breathing.
• Plan ahead for race day weather and consider whether you’ll need cold or wet weather gear.
• Goal-making. Consider various race day objectives—typically time goals but also fun-meter–and be flexible to the requirements of weather, esp heat, and other factors.
• “Hard times” mantra. Think of a simple but powerful mantra–that you can match your gait to–for the tough times, e.g. “take.. this.. hill” or “don’t.. slow.. down.”
• Pre-race outreach. Make sure to let your supporters know how your training is going and why you’re running for Iqraa. Ask them for their support and promise a post-race follow-up.
• What else? We all have unique needs for a big event. What else is on your list?

Extra, Extra! Here are couple of race prep articles from the MCC website:

• https://mc-coop.org/stp/weekly-training-articles/how-to-taper-correctly/
• https://mc-coop.org/stp/weekly-training-articles/how-to-run-your-best-marathon-pace-guaranteed/

Last week/this week. Last Saturday at Carderock, Basma, Cathy, Bill, Reza, Jorge, Alejo, and me, and (not pictured) Mazen and Peter, ran or walked for a brighter Palestine. Great job, marathoners, with your 20-mile training runs! This Saturday at Columbia Island Marina, the marathon trainees will run 12 miles, while half-marathoners have optional miles.

Whatever happens with a Gaza ceasefire, Palestinians must have a place at the table after the genocide ends and must be treated as equals.  

We’ll get to Ecclesiastes…or is it the Byrds …

But…First, thanks to Shobi and Siva for helping me out with hosting this Saturday when we’ll be running from Candy Cane City.  

Second, UPA asks for quotes from Iqraa runners: Why do you run for Iqraa? Well, they came to the right place.  Two stipulations:

•  A few sentences in length, no more than a paragraph
• Please indicate whether your name can be used: first name only, first and last, or no name.

Next, a PSA from Cathy (Iqraa since 2010), who’s run the prestigious Boston marathon. Cathy is participating in the reading of We Are Not Numbers (by Ahmed Alnaouq and Pam Bailey, 2025)—whose stories she helped edit–at Busboys and Poets on Sept 4^th at 6 pm.

• Tickets are free but you need to register in advance: Register: Busboys and Poets

To every thing there is a season. It’s the season to begin fundraising, in addition to running. To fundraise, we must plant and then pluck up that which is planted…

So to gather stones together:

•  Understand the cause. You can find more here at UPA and  here at Iqraa
• Write from your heart. The most convincing message is your narrative—on anything you understand and care about. 
• Ask…and explain how. A beautiful narrative without a request for support and a link for donors will get you praise and good feelings but won’t help our students pay their tuition.
• Start now. There’s more than one approach but mine is to write an initial outreach in Jul/Aug explaining the cause’s importance, a 2^nd message weeks before my race summarizing that summer’s training, and a final outreach narrating my race.
• Let your mood/personality in: if you feel colorful, jovial, sad…that’s an authentic part of your personal story.
• We’ll share templates. Typically, a few of us share our messages with the group hoping to spark an idea or provide an incentive to others to pick up their pens, laptops, or phones.

Last week/this week (photos). Last Saturday at Carderock, Cathy, Basel, Bill, Reza, and me ran (or walked), and then Cathy, Bilal, Reza, Shobi and me met in the afternoon at the Museum of the Palestinian People, followed by mezze and knafeh at Nabiha, nearby on U St.  This Saturday, we’ll be at Candy Cane City, where marathoners will run 18 and half marathoners will do 11 miles.

[The divine] has made every thing beautiful in its time

and also has set the world in [human] hearts,

so that no one can find out the work that

[the divine] makes from the beginning to the end.

…there is no good in them but to rejoice and to do good in this life.

~Ecclesiastes 3:11-12