Let the Girls Run

Of course now that I have finished weeding my flower bed and am seated ready to blog about a school in Australia that has banned girls from running because running can cause injury that would sacrifice their virginity and/or make them infertile, the wifi is down here at my house. Internet service has been a bit sketchy here as of late much to the grandkids chagrin. I was just planning to go back to that article and give it a reread as I found myself incredulous when I did the first reading. Of course this is a Muslim school so the fact that girls are allowed to attend is probably remarkable in itself. Maybe because the school is in Australia a bit farther away from the Middle Eastern heart of Islam. Maybe I am interchanging my words, Muslim and Islam, incorrectly but I can imagine running in a burka would be deterrent enough so the female runners there must be truly dedicated to the sport. I actually had a friend of that faith long ago that ran and she didn’t wear a burka but managed to cover her skin and remain within her considered cultural norms with regular running clothes. This was back in the 80s. Nevertheless, I am still basically addicted to running (I call it running but in reality I AM SLOW!) and though well past the age where speed, virginity, and/or fertility would even begin to matter, I couldn't imagine my life without it. I was sweating over the weed pulling in the flower bed today but it wasn't the same as the sweat I get from running. Getting all those weeds out did provide a measure of satisfaction but weeding doesn't take one to another place like running can, even when you just run in your own neighborhood like I do. I hope the media attention given to this school in Australia shines a light on the ridiculousness of the reasons for keeping these girls from running and helps in turn to get the ban lifted.