Imagine climbing into a van that brings you and your friends to a nearby park to run a loop of two or three miles, then drops you all back home.

Now imagine that same scenario, but it’s shortly after 4 a.m. Depending on the weather, you’re wearing winter boots, leather school shoes or flip flops. The van drives without headlights to avoid detection, and you and your friends speak in whispers. While running in the park, you steer clear of anyone who passes by the road you’re on, which is edged with barbed wire. 

If you think about all of the above with great fondness, you’re Nadira Talayee ’22. And you’re not imagining — you’re remembering.

“It goes back seven years, maybe,” said Nadira, of the experience. “I didn’t start running until I was 14 years old.” In her native Afghanistan, girls running — especially in daylight — puts them in danger of scolding, ridicule or even physical harm.

“I always had a passion for running and sports,” said Nadira. “I always wanted to run, but it wasn’t safe. The only running I did was playing tag with my friends, but we stopped after eighth grade, because it was not appropriate for us.”

Then, one day at school, Nadira noticed some older girls chatting in a group with an adult. Curious, she joined them and met a leader from Free to Run, an organization that “empowers women through sports,” who was visiting to recruit girls to the program. After Nadira learned that joining required good grades and extracurricular activities, “I was hooked right away, and went to our head of school to plead my case,” she said. She was accepted.
  
While Nadira’s father did not wholly support his daughter in this blatant breach of cultural and religious norms, her mother did. A woman who was forced to quit school the first time the Taliban seized power, she felt the loss keenly. 

“She was in favor of me going,” said Nadira. “She always tells us girls that she doesn’t want us to end up like her, and wants us to go to school and play sports.”

From a Western point of view, the courage and defiance of teenage girls running outdoors in the wee hours and risking attack might seem unthinkable. To Nadira, who had grown up sheltered and hungry for new experiences, getting into that Free to Run van was a welcome adventure.

“It felt very sneaky, like you’re on a mission to safely get yourself to this park and run there in the dark and go back,” she smiled. “It gave me a sense of freedom that I didn’t have before. I loved the feeling of wind on my face. 

“We were just excited to get outside and run,” she continued. “I felt connected with the girls, because we were doing something that others considered to be a taboo. We had a shared goal and interest to challenge that norm.” 

In August of 2019, Nadira joined another community: George School. She had been impressed with its IB and sports programs, and was eager to explore the school as a new sophomore. Nadira played soccer and loved it, and the following spring, when Covid hit and she craved non-contact activity, she “got serious” about running. 

At first, she simply ran the loop around campus. Then, at the urging of her dorm parent, she joined the varsity cross country, then track and field, teams. These introduced Nadira to structured training: “what’s your pace, what’s your distance, having that athlete mindset,” she said. “That started at George School.” 

Then, she began winning races. “I was so surprised,” she said. “I thought, ‘I’m good at this.’”

In 2024, while a student at Smith College, Nadira reconnected with Free to Run. She now serves as an ambassador, fundraising and promoting the organization’s mission. 

And that mission — to help girls to know the feeling of the wind on their faces — is what inspires Nadira.  

“With the resources I have now, this is what I can do,” she said. “Regardless of your gender, you should have the ability and freedom to play sports. Running has become an inseparable part of my life. It can bring you a sense of sisterhood, community and confidence. 

“My confidence has come from movement and action,” she continued. “I didn’t think I could run so long. I did a 5k, then worked up to doing half marathons, marathons and an ultra. I said, ‘I’m going to do something, and then I did it.’” 

freetorun.org

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In a 12-hour ultramarathon in Massachusetts in 2024, Nadira Talayee ’22 ran 45.52 miles to draw attention to Free to Run’s work.