When it comes to achieving dreams no obstacle should appear tough to overcome. There are many real stories that have time and again inspired us to see beyond the comfort zone in order to achieve our dreams. With women, they need to see others just like them taking part in something that seemed impossible until then. That’s their push and for us, Pinkathon is about ability, for everyone and anyone and that’s why Pinkathon is here in Chennai, says Milind Soman, founder of Pinkathon and the unofficial ambassador of running in India.
This year, for the ‘Spirit of Pinkathon,’ V Divya, a 21-year-old partially visually impaired girl will be running a 140-km long marathon from Puducherry to Chennai between August 2 and 4. “My motto is to raise the spirit for running, she said, with excitement in her voice. “A huge number of visually challenged women have taken part in various Pinkathons. This year, Divya’s run will be a boost for the people of Chennai I will also accompany Divya in her run,” says Milind.
Divya has been training for over two months starting with 12 km runs to reaching her personal highest of 43 kms. She is now prepared to run the 140-km stretch, she believes. Choosing a proper trainer for Divya was just as important, so too personality development had to go with physical training in Divya’s case, her trainer Anita said. Anita R, a Pinkathon ambassador was delegated the duty of training Divya and according to Divya, she has done the job very well.
The 5th Chennai edition of Pinkathon is to be held on Sunday, August 5 prior to which the ‘Spirit of Pinkathon’ city-to-city run would be completed. What is amazing is not the number of women coming together, but the energy that their being together creates, says Milind. “This event is not for runners, I’ll tell you. This is for women who have never done any kind of sport. It is a first-time experience so they can adopt running as a lifestyle practice,” he says.
Running is a phenomenal fitness regime that doesn’t even require any specific equipment. So much so that Milind even runs barefoot. All one has to do is get up and that’s what we aim to do with Pinkathon, give women that push to get up and step out, devote some time to themselves, says Milind.
