On March 10, women from varied walks of life corporate service holders, homemakers, cancer survivors, women with disabilities and moms with young infants will run across for the Pinkathon in Hyderabad.
Over the years, Pinkathon has become India’s biggest women’s run aiming to encourage and promote fitness and health among women while creating awareness about issues related to their health. This year too, the Hyderabad leg of the run has already begun with the ‘City to City run’ from Warangal to Hyderabad, covering a distance of 150 km in three days.
Elaborating on the run, Samuel Sudhakar, an avid runner himself says, “I am part of the team accompanying the six women participants who are running from Warangal to Hyderabad. The run started on March 1 and we are covering the distance of 150 km in three days. Each day, we are targeting 55 km with proper rest and pit stops.”
Describing what it takes for participants to be a part of such marathons, he says, “Marathons which require high physical endurance are not meant for everybody. So even though the event is an open one, we have only six people with the stamina to complete it. A whole team of support staff is there to help the participants. From looking after their dietary needs to medicines, the team does it all. Before starting the run, we also do a recce of the road to sort out places to rest and have lunch,” he explains.
For first time Pinkathon participant Leena Rai, neither the temperatures nor the highway traffic could sway her determination to complete the run. “I knew what I was signing up for, but at some point, the noise from the highway traffic does become a little difficult to adjust to. But I am all gung-ho for it,” she says.
Meanwhile, Poonam Metta, the 48-year-old mother of two grown up sons, will be doing the ‘City to City run’ for the second time, after participating in the Vijayawada to Hyderabad (280 km) run last year. “I started running in 2015, thanks to Pinkathon. I lost both my mother and mother-in-law to cancer, so I can relate to the cause and since then, I am a part of the running fraternity. Even I lost my father last month. On March 10 it will be a month, so for me, running on that day will be a healing journey,” Poonam concludes.
