City sisters in metric marathon first

THE world's first 'metric marathon' will be a family affair for four Nottingham sisters.

Tanveer Ghaffar, Aabida Azam, Nargis Azam, from St Ann's and Mapperley, and Rihana Azam, who now lives in New York, are training for the 26.2km Kilomathon race from Nottingham to Derby on March 14.

They are running to raise cash for a charity set up in memory of their father Raja Azam.

But as well as taking on the challenge to get into shape, Tanveer, 49, and Rihana, 41, have also faced a battle with their health.

Rihana had major surgery in May last year after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

And Tanveer was shocked to be diagnosed with the same disease in November. She has had surgery but faces a course of radiotherapy in February.

Rihana, who ran a half marathon four months after her operation, said: "We really want to send a message out there that you can still continue whatever you want to do – don't let life get in the way."

She added: "When we cross this finish line it's going to be the most amazing experience for all of us."

Rihana is hopeful of running the New York Marathon this year after her illness forced her to pull out last year.

She said: "It's great training for the marathon with it being 16 miles. It's a step towards the 26."

Rihana spotted the Kilomathon on the internet and was delighted it was in her home town.

Soon they were all in training, despite the Nottingham-based three never having run before.

Tanveer, whose family encouraged her to visit the doctor when she became concerned about a change in her breast, said of the run: "Even if I have to hop, skip and jump I will. Everyone reacts differently to treatment and you can feel tired."

Nargis, 33, a mum-of-four, began training just three months after her six month-old daughter was born.

She said: "I couldn't really run five minutes when I started. I used to play football but didn't do distance running."

Aabida said: "When Rihana did her run after surgery I sent her message saying I was very proud of her. Little did I know six months later I'd be doing this."

The sisters also want to encourage South Asian women to become more active.

Rihana said: "There's a cultural thing that means Asian women don't tend to run. It comes from when there was segregation and there weren't really any gyms for women to go to."

The sisters are raising money for the Raja Azam AFL Fund, a branch of The Noor Foundation UK, which provides dialysis centres in remote areas of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.

Mr Azam was a dialysis patient at the City Hospital for nine years. On visits to his home city of Mirpur, he found patients faced a four-hour round trip to Islamabad for treatment.

After his death, his family began fund-raising to help the situation.

Find out more at www.azamfund.org. Sponsor the sisters at www.justgiving.com/AzamSisters.