Participants of the marathon included visually-impaired, members of the baby-carrying community and cancer survivors
The first edition of Pinkathon, a marathon exclusively for women, kicked off in Kolkata on Sunday morning. More than 4,000 women of different age groups participated in the run which was categorised in 3, 5, 10 and 21 km. Participants of the marathon included visually-impaired, members of the baby-carrying community and cancer survivors.
“We were told Kolkata is a laid back city but it is very encouraging to see that so many women turned up at 5.30 am. We expect an even greater turnout next year. We started Pinkathon in Mumbai in 2012 with only 2,000 participants,” said model and actor Milind Soman, who is also the founder of Pinkathon. “The all-women run is an attempt to create awareness about staying fit among women,” explained Soman. “Women, if they are not professional runners, usually have inhibitions participating in a marathon that includes men. In many cases families prohibit such participation as well. Thus the idea for an all-women run,” he added.
“The cause is good and running itself is healthy so I thought I should give it a shot. I ran 5 km and feel more events like these which care about women’s health and well-being should be put up,” said Naaz Hossain, a housewife and mother of two from South Kolkata.
Shyamali Singh from Burdwan district and Sonalia Pal from Kolkata ranked first and second respectively in the 21 km run. Singh, who had come with her husband-cum-coach, Santosh Singh, had an operation on February 28 and the doctor had asked her not to run the marathon. “I have run a few marathons before and at first I intended to come as a viewer if not participate but later looking at all the enthusiasm, I decided to participate and was quite confident of winning,” she told DNA. Pal said she had never run a full circuit marathon before. “My father is in the Indian Army and I intend to join the army as well and as part of the preparation I have been running and wanted to test waters in Pinkathon,” she told DNA.
Every finishers’ medal was in the shape of a doll which wore a medal inscribed with the words ‘I am a finisher’. The dolls were made by a group of women who are tsunami survivors. The medals awarded to the visually-impaired runners were rectangular with Braille inscriptions.
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