A pig in a hejab

Ready to run!

Sunday morning: Scheveningen beach

Today I ran to the beach and back in my full Tehran marathon running gear. I tried out running with a sports hejab, with my long top and with the camelbak that is going along with me on the marathon, but not all at once. Because training in wintery Holland for a marathon means coldness and darkness before and after working ours, I mostly train on the treadmill during the week, wearing long tights and a long sleeved top to get used to it. Hydration will be one of many great challenges during that Tehran marathon. Will be wearing the same stuff as today minus one long sleeve layer, but it is 4C now and in april in Teheran it can be up to 30C, so I am a bit worried... I sweat more than most people do (yes, I sweat like a pig.... a pig with a hejab 😐!), so I will definitely be carrying my water during the race (very happy with the Camelbak ultra LR).

Last time I wore my hejab, former president Rafsanjani died, this week president Trump was being a total loser (.) with his entrance ban for seven nationalities including Iran. This will surely affect the Persian American runners participating in the marathon in Iran...

Wearing my sports scarf for the second time on a long run, it felt less awkward than first time.  Lots of people on my 17k route (and Scheveningen beach is always crowded). I wonder what they think, but of course no one blinks. To be honest, I always wonder what the story is behind every woman wearing a scarf I come across, can't stop doing that, and if possible, I ask. So many different stories and reasons behind a scarf. Women who have to wear it because of the law, women who don't want to wear it, women who choose to wear it (despite their family or husband not promoting it), women who wear it because of social, cultural or religious pressure, women who wear it sometimes and women who wear it training for a marathon in Iran... Anyway, wearing it doesn't have to stop you doing great stuff. For me, having had to wear it for a while makes me appreciate the fact that I don't have to wear it more!

Sports hejab

After I registered for the Tehran Marathon (IrunIran), which will be held on April 7th 2017, I started looking around on the internet for the right (islamic republic law appropriate) running gear, starting with a sports hejab (a headscarf). I was happy to find special running hejabs on capsters.com (a Dutch company), made of really light stretchy fabric. They look like they will stick to your head forever. Good. Constantly adjusting your scarf (or anything else) is not what you aim for during a 42km run. Ordered one. Found it on my doormat a couple of days later, yay!
Lots of ladies in Tehran wearing the mandatory headscarf look lovely wearing it. Although a lot of women don't want to wear it, they wear it gracefully and it looks like a fashion statement in stead of a burden to these women. I am not one of them. I look kind of ridiculous with a scarf and this sports hejab is most certainly not going to change that...Too bad.
To avoid surprises during the marathon it is smart to test everything you will be wearing on race day on a longish run, so today, the day former president Rafsanjani died, I decided to take my new sticky sports hejab for a spin! I wore a mandatory scarf (and manteau, a long trenchcoat) for two years in Iran, but I have never worn one in the Netherlands obviously, so it felt awkward going outside wearing it. It is different wearing a scarf in a world where every woman is wearing one, it is like a uniform and you don't stand out. Where I run now I am basically the only one running with a hejab. Of course we have quite a bit of women wearing scarves here in the Netherlands, but to be honest, I never come across many people running with a headscarf on my runs (there's one lady living somewhere close to my place wearing a niqab and riding a city bike though...). And this scarf wearing thing is still very confusing to me, every country/culture/social class/generation seems to have their own rules. In the gym in the Hague my boxing partner is the lovely Shaima, a young, strong and sporty Dutch/Maroccan girl wearing a scarf, but not in the gym. In the gym she wears a little top, tights and she displays her beautiful long hair. She is happy wearing her scarf whenever she wants and that's it.
It was still early, about 4 degrees Celsius and a bit dark outside on a Sunday morning and I hoped people would think I was wearing a hoody. I always listen to music or a podcast while running, so I was in my own little bubble anyway. I ran from my home through The Hague to the beach in Scheveningen and back, 17km. My hejab didn't move one millimeter, great! Some people run a marathon dressed up as Superman or a ballerina (I was overtaken by a BANANA during the Amsterdam marathon!), they keep me going... And of course all those sporty women competing in international races representing their islamic country wearing a lot more fabric compared to their fellow sports women. I wonder how many men would run the marathon if they had to wear what we women have to wear now in Iran.

Kaatjebeeterugnaarteheran voor de eerste Teheran Marathon!

Nadat we in 2008 na twee jaar Teheran verhuisden naar Zuid-Afrika (en toen naar de Emiraten en toen naar Nederland) ben ik helaas nooit terug geweest. Maar dat gaat binnenkort veranderen: ik kom terug voor een bijzondere sportieve uitdaging: de allereerste marathon van Teheran, 42,2k rennen door de stad..... Meer hierover op deze blog.
I started this blog ten years ago in Dutch and will continue in English for this occasion, so it is easier to follow for my non-Dutch friends...