Birmingham couple honour dad with ‘Running for Rafik’ half marathon challenge

A Birmingham couple who describe themselves as ‘not runners’ are taking on a half marathon for MD Support Centre.

Fady Ghobrial, aged 27, of the city’s Jewellery Quarter, is raising money for MD Support Centre in memory of his father Rafik, along with his partner Imogen Shields, aged 24.

They will be joining the thousands of Brummies who will be pounding the streets for good causes in the AJ Bell Great Birmingham Run on Sunday 5 May 2024.

Fady, a Neighbourhoods Lead for the Aston Villa Foundation and a Trustee board member for Spring Housing Association, said: “By no means are we runners, we’ve never run in our life, but it’s definitely worth the challenge!”

Before migrating from Egypt to the UK in 2011 with his family, Fady’s father Rafik owned a much-loved farm he had cared for from a young age as an agricultural engineer.

But shortly after starting their new life, Rafik was diagnosed in his mid-40s with muscular dystrophy (MD), an incurable muscle-wasting condition.

Fady said: “A lot of things started to change in terms of his mobility and mental well-being. Eventually he wasn’t able to walk anymore and was reliant on his electric wheelchair.

“But he started learning how to make jewellery and also made contact with MD Support Centre, who helped dad out with understanding the diagnosis and offering support whenever he needed it too.

“Dad benefited from the physiotherapy sessions offered by MD Support Centre and its sense of community. It’s not a massive charity but its impact makes a difference.”

Rafik, already fighting a battle with muscular dystrophy, was subsequently diagnosed with four different cancers and sadly passed away in January 2024.

Fady added: “He was so resilient trying to fight on and stay strong. We wanted to do something to honour him and we thought running a half marathon to raise money for MD Support Centre would be meaningful and help do a bit of good for a lot of people.

“I think Dad would be so proud of us for doing this for him, putting ourselves to a challenge and committing to complete it. He’d gone through challenges of his own all of his life and a half marathon is probably nowhere near what he had to go through, but it’s a taste of building your resilience and having to push on no matter what.”

Fady and Imogen, a social media executive, have been out training regularly after work with 5km runs, and using the weekends to tackle longer runs of around 8-13km in the build-up to the 21km they will be doing for the half marathon.

As Fady summed up: “It’s going to be tough but we plan to take it steady, and hopefully when we’re at the half way point the adrenaline will keep us going to the finish!”

To contribute to Fady and Imogen’s incredible fundraising feat for MD Support Centre, please visit their half marathon Total Giving page at Running for Rafik.