Jefferson Hills Woman Trains for Full-Distance Ironman After Taking Up Running Just Three Years Ago

Ebtehal Badawi, a Jefferson Hills resident, is preparing for one of endurance sport's toughest tests: a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile run, all in a single day. The 43-year-old wife and mother of two plans to take on the Ironman Chattanooga Xclsuive Challenge, scheduled for late September in Tennessee.

Badawi is also an artist. She started an initiative called Pittsburgh Builds Bridges, built around her painting of an arched bridge decorated with clenched hands of various colors and religious symbols from around the world. The project aims to promote acceptance and understanding.

Athletics were not part of her upbringing in Saudi Arabia. "My family taught me how to swim so I don't drown. That's it," she said, adding that no one in her family or among her friends ran. She still admired runners, drawing on cartoons with fast-sprinting characters and the Summer Olympics. After her family moved to the Pittsburgh area about a decade ago, she noticed how many people ran in all kinds of weather.

Her own running began after a friend invited her to join a relay team for the 2022 Pittsburgh Marathon, only to call back and say the team was full. Disappointed, Badawi signed up for a 5K instead and, by the end of it, resolved to run a full marathon the following year. She also joined the Fleet Feet Running Club, which meets Sundays at 7:30 a.m. and which she says has been very supportive.

She ran the 2023 Pittsburgh Marathon through the Run for a Reason program, raising money for the Homeless Children Education Fund, and finished in 6 hours, 45 minutes. Along the route she carried a Pittsburgh Builds Bridges banner and handed out small flags printed with her painting. Three weeks before the race, during Ramadan, she took part in a preview run in unseasonable heat and humidity while fasting from sunrise to sunset. Companions poured water on her to keep her cool, and she completed 20 miles without collapsing.

Another hurdle has been finding athletic gear that works with the hijab she wears in public. Few brands make a suit for it, she said, but Varlo Sports offers one in lightweight perforated fabric designed for cooling and mobility, and she found a sponsor for the outfit.

After the marathon, she moved into triathlon. Her first was the Mighty Moraine Man in Butler County in May, with a 1,500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike ride and 10-kilometer run. To prepare, she joined the Pittsburgh Triathlon Club and signed up for swim lessons and spin classes at the Spencer Family YMCA in Bethel Park. "That's what I love about the Y. People here are smiling, connecting, cheering you on," she said. She also trains for strength at LEG1ON Training & Performance in East Liberty and uses the TriDot platform, which lets a coach review her performance data and adjust her plan.

A shin splint forced her to skip a September half Ironman, which she called one of the hardest decisions she has made, since it meant listening to her body and doing nothing for more than a month. She has since recovered and resumed training, including through Ramadan, which this year begins the evening of Feb. 28.

She chose the Chattanooga event because "they say it's the easiest Ironman," with a gentler current in the Tennessee River swim. The bike course extends into Georgia, and the marathon winds through downtown Chattanooga. Badawi said she sometimes texts her coach to ask whether she will be ready. His answer: "Yeah. That's why we have a plan." More information is available at gofund.me/52094977.