Competing Commitments
Some Muslim Cross-Country Runners Try to Endure Demands of Fasting During Ramadan

By Carl Little
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, October 11, 2007

Juashaunna Kelly could have done without the Indian summer that's hit the area during the month-long Ramadan holiday. The longer the Theodore Roosevelt senior ran in the afternoon heat of a recent cross-country practice -- nine miles through Rock Creek Park, up Connecticut Avenue, then back to the Northwest school for a half-dozen 100-meter sprints -- the stickier and drier her mouth became.

She felt woozy, and lay down on the rubber track. Ten minutes passed before anyone noticed her sprawled on the surface. Roosevelt Coach Anthony Bowden and several of Kelly's teammates picked her up and helped her toward the locker room -- it was cool inside and she could find an ice compress -- but the ground-level entrance was locked, forcing her to use the one at the top of the bleachers.

"I looked up and it looked so far away," Kelly, 17, said. "I took a deep breath and started walking and it felt like I was about to fall."

For Bowden, diagnosing the problem was easy. Alleviating it proved more difficult. He couldn't have her drink plenty of water as he would his other runners. Instead, he gave her some ice, cooled her off, and told her to rest. A teammate gathered Kelly's gear and walked her home.

Kelly is one of many area Muslim cross-country runners forced to reconcile the commitment to her sport with her commitment to her faith during Ramadan, which started Sept. 13 and ends tomorrow. Ramadan, Islam's holiest holiday, requires Muslims to abstain from eating or drinking during daylight hours.

"I was really concerned," Bowden said. "You tell the kids to try to drink as much water as you can, get your body well hydrated before you come out. I'm not used to training runners that don't drink or eat."

Cross-country meets can last five hours or more, although the races themselves take approximately 25 minutes or less. To stave off dehydration before and after exhausting five-kilometer (3.1-mile) races, athletes usually chug water and sports drinks and devour granola bars, bananas and cookies.

For Kelly, that would be a betrayal.

"You reach a certain point," she said. "But I can control myself. It's not just about eating. Everything you have to do [during Ramadan] has to be positive."

Kelly has made the choice to continue to compete while honoring her obligation to fast. Fasting affects her times -- she covers 5K courses in more than 20 minutes during Ramadan, but hopes to be under that mark when she's at full strength.

For other runners, however, the rigors of training and competing during the holiday is too much.

Tulha Siddiqi, a junior at Northwest High School, sat out last Saturday's Octoberfest Invitational in The Plains because the weather was too hot. The 16-year-old called training through Ramadan "excruciating" and recalled dry heaving at a recent meet, unable to vomit because there was no food in his stomach.

Waleed Mufti tried fasting during Ramadan last season, but found it too difficult to maintain his rigorous academic and running schedules while doing so. During this year's holiday, although he commits himself to "all the other responsibilities that all the other Muslims do," the Chantilly senior has forsaken the fast.

"I can't keep myself from not eating because I like running," said Mufti, 18. "It just doesn't work for me. You don't have to fast to show God you're obeying."

Abdulalim Musa, imam at Masjid al-Islam, a mosque in Southeast, said that fasting is a strict part of Islam, beyond compromise, a pillar of the faith. Very few exceptions are made, and hardly any for able-bodied, high school athletes, no matter how demanding the sport. But Musa said he has no power to make anyone obey.

"If a person [skips] his fast, that's between him and Allah, between him and his lord," Musa said.

Kelly's commitment to her faith extends beyond fasting. To maintain physical modesty, she wears a blue and orange speedskating suit under her jersey that covers her arms and torso. Its hood fits snugly over Kelly's head, replacing the looser hijab, or headscarf, that used to catch wind when she ran.

She stopped running with the hijab about seven years ago. During middle school, and when she first started high school, Kelly's schoolmates snatched the hijab off her head. They called her a terrorist.

Adults weren't much better. At track and field meets, officials would not allow Kelly to run because they perceived the hijab as a uniform violation. They never inquired about the reasons for her refashioned uniform.

"That's when I had to go ballistic," said Sarah Kelly, Juashaunna's mother and an assistant to Roosevelt's coaches. "But people don't know, and if you don't ask questions you'll never know."

When she entered high school, Kelly began attracting attention more for her speed than her outfits.

And after capturing three outdoor titles at the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association championships last spring, colleges also have begun to take notice. Such programs as Maryland, Virginia, George Mason and Eastern Kentucky have expressed interest.

Kelly knows she's no longer known as the Muslim girl in headwear, the one who can only eat at night for a month each year.

"Now they say there goes the fast girl," Kelly said.

Kelly has plans on Saturday to celebrate Eid, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan and is usually accompanied by a feast. Later, she will compete in the D.C. Invitational at Fort Dupont. But she especially looks forward to the DCIAA championships on Nov. 1, where she hopes to feel her strongest.

"Last year, I was fasting during the city championships, so I wasn't at full strength," Kelly said. "[Fasting] took a lot of energy away from me. I think I'll do better this year."