Farmington Hills athlete runs to benefit refugee women

‘I’m running for something that’s bigger than me,’

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – Rahaf Khatib runs every single day -- not to lose weight or achieve her best marathon time, Khatib runs to help others.

“I’m running for something that’s bigger than me,” Khatib said. “And so raising money for refugees is one of those causes.”

Khatib was the first hijab-wearing Muslim to be on the cover of a U.S. fitness magazine. After her debut, the Farmington Hills native received national attention.

“I’ve had brand collaborations with Rebook, New Balance and, most recently, Adidas,” Khatib said. “Including the hijab I’m wearing that I helped them create.”

From brand collaborations to getting sponsored to run in the Boston Marathon -- it’s a dream come true for marathon runners.

“In return, I raised money for Syrian family refugees,” Khatib said. “And I raised over 16 thousand dollars.”

Khatib is training for another marathon. She was asked to run the Palestine marathon in March to help raise money for Palestinian refugee women.

“I said, ‘Heck yeah!’”

Khatib plans to raise $10,000 on her Launch Good donation page before heading to Bethlehem to run 26.2 miles and meeting the refugees who she plans to help. As of Wednesday afternoon, she was halfway to her goal. For more information, or to donate, visit her Launch Good page here.


About the Authors:

You can watch Kim on the morning newscast weekdays from 4:30 to 7 a.m., and frequently doing reports on the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts.

Dane is a producer and media enthusiast. He previously worked freelance video production and writing jobs in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts. Dane graduated from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.