Hyderabad: Raghavendra Peri, a 28-year-old visually challenged Hyderabadi, epitomised the spirit of the Hyderabad marathon on Sunday as he did not let his handicap stop him from finishing the 21K half marathon.
The software engineer, who works as an accessibility consultant with an IT company in Hyderabad, took up running in the year 2012 to fight depression after he gradually starting losing eyesight because of a health problem.
Mr Peri, now completely blind, says, “A person with eyes running a marathon can see the distance he has yet to cover and can encourage himself saying that it is not much farther. Being blind, it becomes easier to quit. After covering about 19-20 km I was close to quitting but volunteers and other runners kept encouraging me, saying it was not far, just a small distance away. I did not train properly for the marathon this year. Next time I want to train well and compete in the 42K full marathon.”
On Sunday, he also ran for a cause. “A close friend of mine and my sister suffer from health issues because of which they cannot run. There are many such people in the world. I cannot see but I can run and I run for them.”
Apart from dedication and hard work, Mr Peri’s run was successful also because of his co-runner, Cherukuri Rekha, who volunteered to run with him.
She said, “I came to know through Hyderabad Runners that a co-runner was needed for a visually impaired runner and I immediately volunteered. Even they deserve a chance to participate and enjoy marathons. In the next season too if there is a need I will volunteer for the cause.”
