A regular at the annual Mumbai Marathon, Sanket Bhirudh has not let the fact that he is visually challenged stop him.
A regular at the annual Mumbai Marathon, Sanket Bhirudh has not let the fact that he is visually challenged stop him. He ran the 6km-long stretch in 2010 under the Dream Run category. A year later, he wanted to take part in the 21km Half Marathon but couldn’t because he was a minor.
This year, Bhirudh, now 18, will get to fulfil his dream at the 9th edition of the Mumbai Marathon on Sunday, January 15.
Bhirudh, who has participated in state and national level para-aquatic events, is determined to excel in the Half Marathon category. For the last four-and-half months, he has been leaving his Mulund home at 4.30am, thrice a week, to reach Marine Drive to practise his running. “I have the stamina to do it, so I thought ‘Why not’?” Bhirudh added.
A total of 38,775 people have registered to participate in the marathon; last year, 38,400 had participated.
Also participating in the Half Marathon is Vinod Rawat, who has an artificial limb attached to his left leg. Rawat, 37, a marathon veteran, will attempt his third half marathon on Sunday to promote the Jaipur Foot technology that he has been using for the last 15 years.
When he was six-years-old, Rawat lost the leg in an accident in Bhandup while returning home from school. “I was hit by a truck and my parents did not have the money to pay doctors to re-attach the leg; it had to be amputated,” he said. He used crutches until he heard about the Jaipur Foot.
“It has given me a new life,” Vinod said about the Jaipur Foot. “The day I started using it has been the turning point in my life. My purpose in life has changed.”
Vinod works as an agent for a home loan company. He also does power lifting. He practices his running whenever he gets time off from work. On Sunday, his wife and one-year-old son will be among the cheering crowds at the marathon.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}