Just five years ago this summer, Zamzam Farah was a flag-bearer and Women’s 400m runner at the London 2012 Olympics for her native Somalia. She had a passion for representing her country and for showing that women can, and should be able to, compete on an equal footing with men. But she became a refugee after receiving death threats for simply believing that women should be able to compete in sport.

She struggled to find somewhere to live in the UK and stopped training due to being unable to eat or sleep properly. It was while she was at a hostel that Zamzam was introduced to The Running Charity and began to take part in one of our running programmes for young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Our work with her reignited her love for sport and her talent for running. We were immediately struck by her passion for running. It wasn’t long before Zamzam moved away from her hostel after she found employment and moved into private rented accommodation. To continue our support, The Running Charity paired her up with one of our mentors who continued our work with her.

Zamzam is a powerful and inspiring voice for women in sport and The Running Charity is proud to play a small but significant part in her story.

Zamzam will be The Running Charity’s nominated runner for this year’s 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon. She is an absolute inspiration to runners and young people alike and is thrilled to be a part of the country’s most famous running event after being part of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Please sponsor Zamzam’s marathon run.

For media and other enquiries please contact us.