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About PLR Meet The Team Our Runs
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Project Love Run founder, Filsan Abdiaman, stands looking at the camera with her arms crossed. She is smiling and wearing bright blue shorts and a t-shirt that matches.

The love you are seeking is the love within.

But for so long, I was seeking love, happiness and meaning outside my body.

Hey, I’m Filsan Abdiaman — and I jumped off the rollercoaster of depression, disordered eating and anxiety (thanks, breakup of 2013!) when I found community.

For years, I struggled to love myself whole—I thought I’d find my worth and love in a relationship (or worse, on a Tinder date), but when I found myself still searching at 29, and secretly battling an eating disorder, I realized that struggles I was experiencing (and that so many womxn face) were rooted in loveless societies— cultures that operate under oppressive systems that profit off womxn’s insecurities.

 
 
Filsan Abdiaman can be seen in a group of other women. She is smiling and looking at someone who is talking.

Fast forward to 2016…

As I continued to explore the road of running and self-loving and after seeing all the goodness that that brought into my life, I wanted to share some of that wisdom with other women.

Knowing what running had done for me, I wanted to make it as accessible and inclusive for everyone (which typically, isn’t always the case in a world where we’re more focused on performance than how we feel).

Enter the perfect recipe: a space for self-identifying women to run and have heart-centered discussions, sharing stories about how society complicates our relationships with our bodies and the sport of running.

 
 
PLR Founder Filsan sits with a group of other runners. They are all wearing white outfits or wedding dresses.

 On October 31 2016, I officially kick-started PLR with the theme of “Runaway Bride”...

… With the intent of encouraging women to shed all the negativity connected to modern-day romance and reclaim their heart. Emphasizing the transformative power of love.

Since our launch almost 7 years ago we have covered a series of themes that have asked women in this running space to “Run in love”– to rebel and reevaluate what we think of this Running sport, Running culture, how we show up in the Running world, for ourselves and each other.

Oh, and I found new love when I was least expecting it.

After seeing a therapist to navigate my eating disorder in 2018, I vowed to write 100 love notes (following her prompt to try writing more journal entries) and run 100km to celebrate self-love.

And at the 100km race… I met my current partner, the most incredible human I feel so fortunate to call my best friend.

 
 
 

So as it turns out — when you stop searching for love and start working on yourself?

You start receiving what you deserve, on your terms.

That’s why Project Love Run was designed to hold space for you to tap into your inner strength, self-love and reflect on what YOU need, Queen.

We’ll be ready for you with a pile of hash browns, mimosa + coffee toasts to each other and a supportive circle that always leaves you feeling very, very loved.

You in?

 
 
 
 
 

 Our mission.

 
 
 

Project Love Run is guided by 4 key principles:

 
 

I.

CONNECT

We believe in learning, listening and forming bonds through shared experiences and stories.

 
 

II.

“RUN” + BRUNCH

We strive to remind womxn* of their worth through mindful “running” (walking, jogging, slow-running), eating and meaningful conversations about self-love and systems of oppression.

* We strive to be inclusive and intersectional in our understanding of woman.

 
 

III.

LOVE

We support love that begins with the self.

 
 

IV.

HEAL + GROW

We’re committed to advocating for and advancing mental + physical wellbeing for all womxn. 

 
 
 

 Our Queens

(AKA The Team)

 

Founder & Coach: Filsan Abdiaman

Founder of Project Love Run (PLR), Filsan is a Trail-Ultra runner, a movement facilitator/personal trainer, and running coach based in Vancouver, BC. She is also a cat mom and a wife.

With her work rooted in community grassroots activism, Filsan likes to use her lived experience to draw awareness to how oppressive systems intersect with the Fitness and Running cultures she’s immersed in.

When she’s not training for 100km races, or hanging out in community, you can find her cozying up beside her cat with a good book!

MY PRONOUNS: She/her
PLR CHAPTER: Vancouver
FAVE SELF-LOVE RITUAL: Re-reading love notes from past journal entries to see how I've grown while cuddling my cat
PUMP-UP RUN SONG: "I Don't Want" by Santigold
BEST RUNNING SPOT IN MY CITY: Pacific Spirit Park

 

 Project Love Run Community Leaders

 
 

Shelley

MY PRONOUNS: She/her
PLR CHAPTER: Edmonton
FAVE SELF-LOVE RITUAL: Hot baths
PUMP-UP RUN SONG: Lady (Hear me Tonight) by Modjo
BEST RUNNING SPOT IN MY CITY: The River Valley and Whitemud Ravine
 

Clare

MY PRONOUNS: She/her
PLR CHAPTER: Vancouver/Canada-wide support
FAVE SELF-LOVE RITUAL: Taking the time to read a book in the middle of the afternoon
PUMP-UP RUN SONG: The Prayer by Bloc Party
BEST RUNNING SPOT IN MY CITY: A complete loop of the Stanley Park seawall (iconic Vancouver!) or the trails around Lynn Valley
 
 
 
 

Interested in supporting a chapter or becoming a community leader?

 
 
 
 

P.S. You don’t have to wait till our next run to join the conversation.

Say hi, connect with our community and join the conversations happening on the ‘gram!