When Farishta Arzoo moved to Australia four years ago, she had to overcome significant obstacles — learning English, starting a TAFE course and setting up a new life in a new country.

Now she is gearing up to face her greatest physical challenge yet — running a marathon.

Ms Arzoo is a participant in the Refugee Marathon Project, a program that trains refugees to compete in the Australian Running Festival.

While she has no running experience, Ms Arzoo is keen to run all 42 kilometres — something she never would have imagined doing in Pakistan.

"Back home I really wanted to join sports but I wasn't able to do that," she said.

"It was just a safety issue, that we won't be able to go out and do sports."

Farishta Arzoo is preparing to run a marathon in April. ( ABC News: Alexandra Alvaro )

Ms Arzoo does not take for granted the freedom she has in her new home.

"It's amazing. I feel at home, I feel relaxed and confident," she said.

"I feel safe, that's important for me. I feel safe wherever I go."

Learning to run while making friends

The Refugee Marathon Project is the brainchild of Canberran Cassie Cohen, who started the group last year after realising the running community would be the perfect environment for refugees and new migrants to make friends.

The program pairs refugees with mentors, who provide nutrition tips, coaching and motivation.

After completing a marathon last year, Zaki Haidari is now mentoring Ms Arzoo. ( ABC News: Alexandra Alvaro )

"The running community is actually a really supportive one. I have benefited from that community and I thought it would be great for them to have that as well," Ms Cohen said.

"I think it's actually really mutually beneficial for both sides.

"A lot of the coaches last year were saying how amazing it was to be exposed to different communities and people with such different life experiences."

And Ms Cohen hoped the program would be able to take in even more diverse participants this year.

"We're pushing for more women because I know how important it is for women to get involved in their community," she said.

From 5km to 42km

Most of last year's participants were men from Afghanistan. One of them, Zaki Haidari, came to Australia as an asylum seeker in 2012.

Mr Haidari (left) ran his first marathon in 2018 as part of the Refugee Marathon Project. ( Supplied )

He could only run five minutes at a time when he first joined the program.

Now, he is an enthusiastic member of Canberra's running community.

"The last 10 kilometres, I was dying. I couldn't wait for the finish line to just lay down on the grass," he laughed.

"But it was an amazing experience, from running five kilometres to running a whole marathon."

While the run was physically challenging, he said it was made easier with the help of his team.

"Knowing that your mentor is running with you, knowing that people are running from the group that you train with, mentally it was easy," he said.

Mr Haidari became a keen runner after taking part in last year's Australian Running Festival. ( Supplied )

This year, Mr Haidari is ready to give back, and has stepped up to train Ms Arzoo, who is equally as excited by the idea of completing her first marathon.

"You don't have the words to explain, but all I can say is being here and doing all this stuff, it's amazing," she said.