WARRIOR

Rahema

Sometimes the small challenges dwarf the huge milestones, and for runner Rahema Mamodo it was a seemingly simple thing like running in her own neighbourhood – where people she knew would see her – that posed more of a problem than training for a marathon

Words: Rachel Ifans

Rahema Mamodo is a runner against the odds, she says. She started running in late 2018 and since then has qualified as a run leader, taken part in 100 parkruns, 1110Ks, five halfs and is now training for her third marathon. It seems from the outside that she was a runner waiting to happen but, as Rahema explains, the odds were stacked against her and there were many obstacles – big ones – in her way.

Rahema doesn’t have a sporting background, she’s a busy mum of three teenage daughters, she’s south Asian and under-represented on race start lines, and she was also brought up as something of a couch potato. In addition to these factors, Rahema says her shyness makes it hard to join in group activities, especially with people she doesn’t know, and finally – in her own words – she has neither a runner’s physique nor a rock-solid body confidence.

Despite all this, since 2018, when she took up the Couch to 5K plan with a friend, running has become a huge part of Rahema’s life and she’s now leading seven run groups a week as well as training for her third marathon. That’s not to say that Rahema thinks she’s got it all figured out. She’s still working on all the things that are important to her: getting more south Asian women out and running; realising there’s not such thing as an archetypal runner; and working on her own self confidence.

Even with two successful marathons under her belt, challenges closer to home have required the most work for Rahema. “It took a very long time for me to be able to come out of my front door and start running,” she says. “I would always drive somewhere and then run because I was paranoid about my neighbours seeing me running. It sounds really silly, but it was only maybe this year – afew months ago – that I was actually able to go out and run from my own doorstep. It’s been one of the biggest challenges for me and I’m really proud of myself for getting to that point.”