A wave of excitement has engulfed Pakistan's running community as a large number of marathon runners will take part in multiple races over the coming weeks.
Twelve Pakistanis will run the world-famous Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, March 3. Meanwhile, more than 10 Pakistanis will participate in the Boston Marathon on April 15. Additionally, 25 Pakistanis are preparing for the London Marathon on April 21.
The UK's second largest marathon in Manchester on April 14, 2024 will also feature Pakistanis, including Geo News presenter, who also finished the 2023 Boston Marathon, Muhammad Junaid.
The list includes many overseas Pakistanis from the UK, US, UAE and other European countries, besides those traveling for these marathons from Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.
Last year saw the largest number of Pakistani marathon runners in any World Marathon Major at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, which also featured a significant number of female runners. The race gave Pakistan some sub 3 hour marathon finishers with Muhammad Sajjad leading the fast pace marathon for Pakistan in 2 hours 37 minutes, followed by Amin Mukaty, Abdul Rehman, Sadiq Shah and Faisal Shafi.
The 2023 Berlin Marathon not only gave new life to the Pakistani representation, but also gave rise to many new time qualifiers for the Boston Marathon, such as Ayaz Abdullah, who completed the event in 3:11:18. This put him in the running to qualify for the 2025 Boston Marathon.
Running culture has evolved among Pakistanis on a larger scale in recent years, which is due to the efforts of local running clubs and many Pakistanis abroad.
The 2023 streak had a positive impact on this year's schedule, where a large number of Pakistani amateur marathon runners take on one of the world's biggest marathons, the London Marathon, just after Eid-ul-Fitr . Runners will train for Boston, London and Manchester during the holy month of Ramadan.
Tokyo Marathon
The Abbott World Marathon Majors calendar year begins with the Tokyo Marathon, where Faisal Shafi, Adnan Gandhi, Imran Aleem and Hira Diwan of Seaview Runners Club will complete their fifth star on the programme.
Hira Diwan is the only female participant among runners of Pakistani origin in the Tokyo Marathon.
Hamid Butt, a senior marathon runner from Lahore, returns to the Tokyo Marathon after becoming an Abbott six-star finisher at the same venue in 2023. He will be joined by Dr Salman Khan, a nephrologist and marathon runner based In U.S.A.
Dr Jehanzeb Mughal, Danish Elahi, Noshwerwan Ali, Shoaib Nizami and Faisal Shafi are part of the Pakistan Eye Bank Society team, which has been working for a charitable cause started by Mughal to provide free oral cancer treatment in Karachi.
Shoaib Nizami is participating in his third major world marathon after organizing the first official Karachi Marathon on January 28, 2024, which was telecast live on Pakistan's first sports channel Geo Super.
Muhammad Fasih-ul-Saleh is a Pakistani runner who joins the Tokyo Marathon from Norway. Nizar Nayani, a runner of Pakistani origin from Texas who finished the Chicago Marathon in an impressive time of 2 hours and 56 minutes, will also participate in the Tokyo Marathon this year, completing his fifth star.
The Tokyo Marathon is a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of six World Grand Marathons. Japan is generally considered a difficult destination for Pakistani travelers in terms of obtaining a visa. While several of the dual nationality runners did not need a visa, some managed to obtain visas at the Japanese consulate in Karachi. However, one of the runners from Islamabad, Ammar Mumtaz, was denied a visa, forcing him to opt out of the Tokyo Marathon race, despite having paid everything, including his charity pledge.
This is the largest number of Pakistanis of any origin participating in the Tokyo Marathon. In 2023, there were 11 runners of Pakistani origin who finished the Tokyo Marathon, with Dr Salman Khan becoming the first Abbott six-star finisher of Pakistani origin and Hamid Butt of Lahore the second. Fahd Mukhtar, Prem Kumar, Sara Lodhi, Huma Rehman, Fawad Karim, Hasan Tajdar and Ayesha Akhtar were also among the finalists.
The importance of the event can also be judged by the fact that the famous Eliud Kipchoge is also preparing for Sunday's Tokyo marathon, which will be his last race before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon's Pakistani lineup has also grown from a few runners to 10 this year.
Overseas Pakistani marathon icon Dr Salman Khan returns to Boston for the fourth time, while a big highlight is Sadiq Shah, the fastest Pakistani marathon runner of the 2023 London Marathon with a time of 2 hours , 55 minutes and 20 seconds that made him qualify and accept. to make the Boston Marathon his third major world championship in a year.
Hamid Butt, 63, returns to the Boston Marathon for his third race. Huma Rehman, Azmat Bin Ali, Sahar Halim, Dr. Bsherri Anjum and Sahar Haleem are also among the Pakistani runners in the Boston Marathon.
Faisal Shafi's milestone of becoming Abbott Six Star Finisher in Boston could be one of the most memorable moments for all Pakistani running enthusiasts. He will be the sixth Pakistani overall to claim the title and the second among those who have trained for all of his specialties in Pakistan. The five current Six Star finalists are Dr Salman Khan, Hamid Butt, Sted Husain, Fahd Mukhtar and Dr Rabia Naeem. Fahd completed the Six Star voyage in Chicago on October 8, 2023.
London Marathon
This year's London Marathon, again immediately after Ramadan, will have the highest number of Pakistani runners as so far more than 25 Pakistanis are ready for this big marathon in London.
Pakistani runners from Karachi, Islamabad, Dubai, United States, United Kingdom and Norway participate.
Journalist Rehman Azhar will compete in his third world major in London, followed by Berlin and Chicago in 2023.
Babar Ghiaz and Jamal Khan, Pakistani expats from Chicago and New York, are also on track to complete their Six Star journey and the London Marathon will bring them one step closer.
Islamabad Running Club co-founder Bilal Ehsan will also run the London Marathon as his third global race after New York and Berlin.
British Pakistani marathon runner and coach Semeena Khan, based in England, returns to the London Marathon representing the UK's award-winning running community of “Muslim runners”.
Several Pakistani female marathon runners will be part of the 2024 London Marathon. Many of the participants were part of Pakistan's largest contingent in the 2023 Berlin Marathon.
The line-up of Pakistani runners for London Marathon 2024, so far, includes Yawar Siddiqui, Nida Yawar, Muhammad Babar, Dr. Ahmad Zubair, Imran Khan Niazi, Hira Diwan, Jamal Khan, Babar Ghias, Shah Faisal Khan, Sarah Lodhi, Semeena Khan, Zohaib Moin, Raees Ebrahim, Murtaza Zaidi, Shariq Samad, Fawad Karim, Nazakat Ali, Jevi Majid, Faisal Sahfi (Wednesday Night Pacers Karachi).
Two couples, Uzma Abid and Abdul Samee and Zain Anwar and Nada Anwar, who finished the Berlin Marathon, will also join the London Marathon together.
Manchester Marathon
The second largest marathon in the UK is the Manchester Marathon and also one of the oldest marathons in the world.
This will be the first major racing event immediately after Ramadan and Eid, on Sunday, April 14, 2024.
Geo News' Muhammad Junaid will run the Manchester Marathon this year with many Pakistani marathon runners abroad.
In a country obsessed with cricket, it's great to see Pakistanis taking an interest in other sports too. If the trend continues, in a few years, you can be sure that Pakistanis will be a force to be reckoned with in marathon racing.
