Illustration by Farah Sadek
NYUAD’s Inaugural Katching Kosgei Event
Katching Kosegi witnessed teams of women attempting to break a record of completing a marathon relay in under 2:14 hours.
Feb 29, 2020
From Feb. 17 to 26, NYU Abu Dhabi’s Athletics Department hosted various events on and off campus as part of the 10 Days of Women in Sports program. Katching Kosgei was one of the events hosted on the campus’ outdoor track and witnessed women teaming up to try to complete a marathon under 2:14:04 hours in an effort to break Bridig Kosgei’s record.
Last semester’s Katching Kipchoge event was similar but exclusive to already established running teams from the university and the community. However, this year, Katching Kosgei extended to female athletes from all over the UAE, who were put into teams by the organizers.
The student organizer of the event, Zsófia Kis, Class of 2021, reflected on the larger goals that the events aimed to achieve.
“We wanted to emphasize women’s recognition in general and create a friendly atmosphere for community building,” she said.
She also had a positive outlook for the future of similar initiatives on campus.
“The whole Katching Kosgei community represents one team, and our dream is that more women and men will join and help contribute to the initiatives in years to come,” Kis remarked.
Participants included 140 women from various backgrounds, aged anywhere between 17 to 50 years. Reflecting on the success of the event, Kis added that the strong atmosphere of mutual support was evident during the marathon.
“It was very fulfilling to see all these women supporting and cheering for each other, and even though it was a female only event, it was as inclusive as it could get,” said Kis.
Similar to the HERsports initiative, where women come together to engage in weekly recreational sporting events on campus, the 10 Days of Women in Sports was packed with activities like the Sports Majlis, TrainYAS and the first-ever HERsports tournaments.
Inclusivity through sports is becoming a tradition at NYUAD that will continue to grow. With weekly HERsports already open to all women in the community to play soccer, basketball and volleyball, it was announced that there will be the additions of RunHER and SwimHER for female athletes who wish to engage in running and swimming.
Joanna Orphanide is a Staff Writer. Email her at feedback@thegazelle.org.
related
trending