Nine-year-old Mohammed Haider Rasab sadly lost his battle with cancer recently. Nazim Ali has dedicated his next run to Haider.
Yorkshire’s most-famous marathon man will be joining the Great North Run, this time in loving memory of his childhood friend’s nine-year-old son who sadly recently lost his battle with cancer.
Fondly known as the ‘Ramadan Runner’, school careers advisor Nazim Ali, has self-funded all costs to partake in the half-marathon (13.1 miles) in Newcastle on Sunday 12th September.
He’s hoping to raise funds in loving memory of little Mohammed Haider Rasab who sadly recently passed away from cancer. He was the son of Nazim’s childhood friend Rasab Yaqoob.
“I was profoundly saddened at Haider’s passing at the tender age of just nine-years-old from cancer.
“This brave boy bravely fought against cancer for the last two years, and his father Rasab Yaqoob is my childhood friend from Lilycroft Primary School.
“I wanted to do something in his honour, and during my long training runs when I have ‘hit the wall’ I’ve been inspired by Haider’s bravery to keep carrying on fighting just as he did. On race day I will wear a dedicated t-shirt in Haider’s memory.”
This will be Nazim’s first run after a three-month lay-off after injuring his calf during his eighth annual Ramadan 10K run in May.
“God willing on Sunday 12th September 2021, I will be running the prestigious Great North Run in Newcastle. I will be covering all the associated costs, such as race fee, hotel, travel and food, so that 100% of your donations goes to the stated cause.
“I am doing it in aid of the ‘Malawi Goat Appeal’ in Africa, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.
“Many of the poor people are living in impoverished conditions do not have access to a nutritious diet.
“Please help me to donate living goats to provide the milk needed to balance nutritional needs along with reproducing to provide long-term livestock for the poor families.”
Nazim Ali at Malawi visit 2019 
Each goat costs just £25. Nazim had originally set out to raise £2,500 – enough to buy 100 live goats. He has however, as per usual, completely smashed the target, and at time of print had reached a total of £3,750 – enough to buy 150.
For almost 24 years Nazim has been at the forefront of community and humanitarian initiatives at local, national and international levels, receiving national awards in the process.
His epic efforts of the Ramadan 2021 run, saw him completely annihilate his original target. Nazim raised a staggering £78,751 – enough to build over 60 new two-room homes inside northern Syria for internally displaced Syrian refugees. He had originally set out to raise enough for 20 new homes.
To date he’s raised over £425,000 for a plethora of causes both home and abroad, and personally pays for all costs for him to go out and deliver aid with his own hands.
Nazim adds: “I am eternally thankful to the donors for their kind donations and on-going support which is humbling. It is because of you that I am able to do what I do, and all this would not be possible without you. God bless you all!
“As ever I will keep you updated of daily progress on my social media platforms – transparency and accountability is at the heart of my success thus far.”
If you’d like to donate to Nazim’s ‘Malawi Goat Appeal’ fundraiser, you can do so by visiting: www.justgiving.com/nazim786
