What: Pinkathon in association with The Telegraph
When: March 26
Where: Assemble at Calcutta Rangers Club on the Maidan at 5.30am sharp
Categories: 3km, 5km, 10km
Registration fees: Rs 700
Log on to www.pinkathon.in to register for ‘India’s biggest women’s run’. Online registration closes on March 22. For details, call 8879943659
What: Cancer Shero Walk
When: March 19
Where: Mohor Kunja
“After your chemotherapy-radiation protocol, in most of the cases I have seen, you tend to bloat up. So, you need to do something consciously about it. You need to take your fitness, lifestyle and how you look at yourself very seriously. You need to reinvent yourself. I am my fittest now! Be there at Pinkathon” —
Suchishree Goswami, a cancer survivor, who has “never given the disease too much importance”
What: Baby-wearing walk
When: March 5
Where: Rabindra Sarobar
“Baby-wearing has a lot of advantages. It has made my life easy from Day One. My younger kid was born when we were in Bangalore. At that time, I didn’t have any kind of support. Raising both was easier. I am excited that I would be able to wear my baby and walk and run! It won’t be difficult. I have worn her on walks when she was a month or two months old. It is also a kind of strength training because it helps in beating the extra weight. So, it’s like working out with weights. I will be wearing Aarya (28 months) at Pinkathon. It will be a lot of fun. I am hoping she allows me to wear her throughout the event!”
— Sanyukta Bardhan
What: Calcutta’s first Pinkathon training meet-up
When: March 18
Where: Maidan
“Most of them were first-timers who have never even run… the idea was to make them feel that everyone can run. You have run as a kid. You have some kind of a muscle memory. So, you can run! It’s all in the mind. You can walk, jog and run” — Vernon Morais, a Pinkathon ambassador, who helmed the training
What: I Inspire
When: March 17
Where: Manovikas Kendra
This is all about boosting the morale of specially-abled kids (U-18) through various sporting activities.
What: Visually impaired training run
When: March 18
Where: Calcutta Blind School
“I am so excited about running in Pinkathon. I love running. I got even more interested when I came to Voice of World blind school (Behala). Initially, I used to feel scared, but I am loving it now. I want to take up sports when I grow up. My favourite sports icon is Sourav Ganguly”
— Jorina Khatun, 16
“Tumi aabar kobe ashbey?” These words lingered in our ears as we bid goodbye to our young novice runners. We were a group of 30 people who had volunteered to help young, visually challenged girls to prepare for their first Pinkathon run. We had assembled at the Calcutta Blind School in Behala on Saturday morning. The girls were given a running buddy who would help them find their running feet.
I accompanied Jorina. She studies in Class 10 and is partially blind. She stays in the hostel of a neighbouring school — Voice of World — and her parents come to meet her once a month. There was some initial hesitation amongst the kids and we tried to break the barrier by asking them to talk more about themselves. It has been proven that sports can be a great enabler for conversation, energy and expression. The playground was soon filled with kids sprinting around and before one knew it, they were guiding their running buddies instead of the other way round.
We explained to them some basic concepts of stretching and long-distance running. Jorina was my co-demonstrator for all stretching sessions. We realised a lot of them are good athletes and one of them had participated in the national Paralympics. Their energy and vivacity became infectious and the whole experience moved us deeply. We were no longer strangers but connected through running. We came as teachers and walked back as pupils as the kids taught us the power of positivity and optimism. We promised that we would meet them for another practice session. “Aagami Saturday aabar dekha hobey” was our reply as we waved to our new running buddies” — Prithwish Mukherjee, Jorina’s sighted ally
