Running for  model Shareefa J is more than just a fitness thing. Its lure is wrapped up in challenging herself, body positivity, selfesteem, reconnecting with her body on a biological level, charity work, representation and distancing herself from aesthetic demands.

“We move through our lives forgetting that our bodies are made for a biological purpose,” says Shareefa. “As women, our bodies are vessels to carry children; men’s bodies are made to be hunter gatherers. But I think we’ve become disconnected from what our bodies were designed for on a biological level.

“We’ve become consumed with the superficial aesthetic thing – we’re focused on how to look better rather than testing what our bodies can achieve.”

If anyone would know about society’s obsession with looks, it would be a model. And Shareefa, who’s a 28-yearold mixed-race female curve model with an afro, currently modelling in big campaigns for New Look, Primark, Glamour mag in Germany and many more, definitely has a fine focus on aesthetic bias in society.

Through a childhood in Norwich, to drama school, a potential career in  musical theatre, to being scouted as a plus-size model and achieving a decade-long international career under her belt, Shareefa is now using her voice to promote racial inclusion and body positivity.

“I really love taking part in running challenges, because it makes me see my body in a different way. In turn, it gives me a new appreciation for my body. In the past, I’ve shamed my body for cellulite, broken veins, stretch marks and so on, which is crazy because bodies are amazing. If you look at what your body can do and then think of something silly like your hairy toes, it puts it all into perspective.”

It’s often only when women become mothers, she notes, that their relationship with their body starts to change, from bubbling, self-critical taunting, to lifelong appreciation of its miraculous ability.

It’s funny to think that – even with Shareefa’s obvious beauty and vivacity – it’s the running that has given her the most confidence in the past decade. How she looks may be part of her livelihood, but she doesn’t take herself too o seriously in that regard. She tries her best to decompartmentalise Model Shareefa from Normal Shareefa.