Marathoner goes the distance to help Afghan women runners
Cochrane’s Parnell chronicles journey to help women achieve dream
While fighting for his life a few years ago, Cochrane’s legendary long-distance runner Martin Parnell admits he became angry.
It wasn’t his daily fight to survive the intense treatment for a potentially deadly blood clot on his brain that caused the normally mild-mannered Parnell to get, as he puts it, “just a little bit mad.”
Instead, it was a story he read about a young woman in Afghanistan who was determined to run a marathon — a 42-kilometre distance Parnell once completed 250 times in a single year, though, at the time in 2015 he was struggling to even walk because of his illness.
“Back then I needed help to walk far enough to just look out the window. It was then that my wife gave me an article about the first Afghan woman to run a marathon,” he said.
“I read about how, when she was training by running through the streets of Kabul, she would suffer so much physical and verbal abuse. People would call her a prostitute and throw stones at her. In the end, she had to run round and round in endless circles in a walled garden just to train.
“It sparked something in me, that women were getting oppressed just for running. I got a bit mad and I thought that, ‘If I can get better and ever run again myself, then I’m going to go over to Afghanistan and support them,’ ” said the 62-year-old.
That decision was the start of a long road, which led to publication of a book detailing Parnell’s remarkable journey in ensuring that pledge came true.
The Secret Marathon is his account of how he overcame his own near-death experience to travel to Afghanistan to take part in a marathon alongside a handful of young women determined to run, despite the dangers of Taliban reprisals for doing something they believe females should never engage in.
Details of the route, date and time of that race were closely guarded secrets because of likely reprisals, but it ended in triumph, with Parnell helping one young woman complete the gruelling mountainous route within a few minutes of the seven-hour race cut-off time.
That was two years ago. Since then, the Cochrane runner has used his annual fundraising event in his hometown on New Year’s Eve to collect more money to aid Free To Run, the charity that works with girls and women in war-torn countries such as Afghanistan. A portion of proceeds from The Secret Marathon book will go to the charity as well.
He recently returned from that country after once again taking part in what is now an annual marathon event. He has seen things improve.
“In 2016, when I first went, there were six women running; in 2017 there were 12, and I just got back and this time there were 20,” he said.
In this race, Parnell agreed to be a “pace bunny” for a half-dozen Afghan women, wearing silly fake ears, setting an even running pace and helping shepherd the group through the high-altitude course and get them all safely to the finish line.
“It is quite remarkable seeing the resilience, persistence and determination of these women and girls. It’s an example to the rest of us,” Parnell said.
While in the country, he arranged for some copies of his new book to be shipped to the famous bookstore, The Bookseller of Kabul, which specializes in works about Afghanistan.
The Secret Marathon is due to be on sale in Calgary-area bookstores this week.