This time last year 68-year-old British-Iranian, Anoosheh Ashoori, was dreaming of being able to run freely in London parks while in his cell at the notorious Evin prison in Iran. On the 2nd October 2022, he fulfilled his dream and ran the London Marathon to raise money for Amnesty International and Hostage International in solidarity with the political prisoners still in Iran.
On 17 August 2017, Ashoori was arrested by Iranian authorities on spying charges, which he has always denied. He was visiting his elderly mother in Tehran when a white car pulled up and 4 men got out, asked if he was Anoosheh Ashoori and continued to push him into the car, blindfolded him and took him away.
Ashoori went on hunger strike and lost 17kg in 17 days when he was in the interrogation centre and often speaks about the three suicide attempts he made while he was in Evin prison. It was when he began to run, his mindset shifted as he fought to stay alive, in every aspect of the word. He decided to harness his outlet for running and stimulate his body daily to forget about his pain.
“I was 82kg with a beer belly and I wasn’t fit, then I became 65kg after the 17 days of interrogation. I went on hunger strike which made me lose 17kg. Most people when they are faced with such ordeals, they will manifest strength. It wasn’t anything extraordinary on my part.”
“After being interrogated, I was transferred to the prison compound itself, to the notorious Hall 12, which was a dungeon. I started making friends with the inmates and a few of them used to do exercises every morning and I asked if I can join them and they welcomed me.”
He started exercising and working out with his inmates and would often run in circles around the small prison yard. When he first started running, he was short of breath within 10 minutes. After weeks of persevering, he challenged himself and carried a stopwatch to see how far he can push himself. One day, to his surprise, he ran for 2 hours and 47 seconds. He celebrated by indulging in sweets with his friends in Evin prison.
When he returned to Hall 12, Ashoori was given a book by his inmate called “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. Ashoori pledged that one day, whenever he would be released, no matter his age, he would run the London Marathon. He set this goal and said that he wanted something good to come out of all that pain and suffering. His positivity and strength was heartening.
“I did dream of one day running in the parks in London and the London Marathon. And now that I am running here, it’s so amazing but I get flashbacks and all these faces come in-front of my eyes as I am running for example in Greenwich Park. All those friends, it’s as if I am running with them, but unfortunately they are still stuck there.”
“It is a challenge, what I have noticed is in addition to these flashbacks, which some of them are really disturbing, I started to get anxiety attacks as well, which I didn’t have two months ago. I think I was overwhelmed with the joy of being released.”
Since his release in March this year, despite suffering from a degenerative torn meniscus, Ashoori has been training for the marathon with the help of a professional coach assigned to him by Amnesty International. He has raised over £17,000 and dedicated his run to the freedom of Iranian women and the political prisoners still held in Iran.
“Perseverance is the best answer to any problems. Someone in prison told me about these two golden rules. Rule number one for victory is that you should always remember that perseverance pays off and rule number two is to never forget rule number one. Even if I am crawling, I should cross that finish line.”
Ashoori stood at the start line holding a sign saying ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ which has become the slogan across Iran as protests erupted after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini. He wore a prison suit and had handcuffs on his wrist. He was saying that he has been eating a lot of pasta and even had some for breakfast that day, before another person intervened to congratulate him on this achievement.
Watching Anoosheh Ashoori walk towards the start line at the London Marathon was surreal, after everything he had been through, he was about to embark on his dream and run for the freedom of Iran.
