Rabat, Morocco - Nezha Bidouane, the World 400m Hurdles gold medallist in 1997 and 2001, as the President of the Association of “Women, Realization and Values”, will organise a women’s only road race on Sunday 27 April 2008.

The association under Bidouane's stewardship has a lot of experience of arranging sporting events around the country to promote female health and fitness. Most notably they organise the annual women's only run in Temara, Morocco, which first took place on International Women’s Day in 2006 (12 March) when 15,000 women and young girls, of different social classes, from the age of 12 to 70, took up the challenge.

This month’s women’s only run will take place in the Moroccan capital city of Rabat and the aim is to attract more than 20,000 participants for the 8.5km distance along its central streets.

The event, which is supported by the local authorities and elected representatives of the city of Rabat, the Royal Moroccan Athletics Federation and the Moroccan Olympic Committee, is not a competitive race but designed as a fun run to promote women's health and fitness and increase their participation in sport.

2008 marks a very special 80th anniversary for women's participation in sport worldwide as it was in 1928 that women's events first entered the athletics progamme of the Olympic Games.

Mohammed Benchrif for the IAAF