The Running Battle: Marathon Runners Challenge Mandatory Dress Code on Kish Island

The sheer scale of participation in the marathon underscored the powerful popular desire for such events, with reports indicating that over five thousand runners took part in the races, which were reportedly separated into men's and women's heats to comply with religious segregation rules. Specifically, the women's race saw participation from around two thousand runners, and the emergence of online visual evidence showing a significant number of these competitors without veils magnified the impact of the dissent. The sight of hundreds of women running freely and openly—their hair uncovered, their movements unrestrained by excessive modesty clothing—represented a powerful, real-world manifestation of the widespread civil disobedience that has been increasingly normalized in Iranian society since the recent protest movements.