On today's edition of The Aid Station we make a fascinating and inspiring trip to Ramallah, Palestine to meet Mazen Khatib, President of Palestine Athletics Federation.
Another incredible example of the power of sport and our industry to change lives as Dr Khatib shares the story of the Palestine Marathon in Bethlehem which has grown from 400 to 7,000 runners in eight years and how Global Running Day in Gaza was a vehicle for Hamas allowing girls to run in public for the first time.
Listen to the challenges he has helped overcome to set up a track program which includes the building of two concrete tracks. "It was so hard for our runners to train in the sand so we built two concrete tracks, one of them is not even 400m long because of limited space".
COVID has been incredibly tough with strict lock-down and a huge impact on the already struggling economy. "Some days we just do not know what to do but we look for solutions". Part of that included a recently completed World Athletics officials accreditation course conducted using zoom.
Make sure you listen till the end to hear some of the inspiring stories of young athletes in the track program.
Be inspired here https://youtu.be/8qaNr6K49hU
