by Suman Gupta
Mumbai: The eighth edition of Bajaj Electricals Pinkathon Mumbai 2019 presented by COLORS and powered by Pond’s Skinfit, India’s biggest women’s run concluded successfully with an overwhelming response of over 10000 women participating for the VWash Plus 3 km, 5 km, Volini 10 km and Raja Rani 21 km of the multi-category run held on Sunday, December 15, 2019 at the MMRDA, BKC, Mumbai. Inspiring thousands, a team of 100 visually challenged & 50 hearing-impaired girls, cancer sheroes, Baby-wearing mothers and senior citizens enthusiastically joined the run as well. With the Pinkathon’s one of a kind initiative, every single finisher of Bajaj Electricals Pinkathon Mumbai 2019 presented by COLORS and powered by Pond’s Skinfit received a beautiful Tsunamika medal, upcycled bag, free gynaec consultation from the Medical Partner Motherhood Hospitals and a free sono-mammogram if the participant is above 45 years of age. The benefit is also transferrable. There were green water stations set up along the route as well as a breast-feeding zone in the holding area for baby wearing mothers.
Pinkathon – empowering Indian women, India’s biggest women’s run is organized to encourage and promote fitness & health among women and create awareness for breast cancer and other issues relating to women’s health is supported by United Sisters Foundation and promoted by Maximus MICE & Media Solutions. Over 275,000 women have ran so far in the last 8 years across multiple cities. Super model, actor, Ultraman and Pinkathon founder Milind Soman along with co-founder Reema Sanghavi, world champion Man Kaur, Bollywood actress Karisma Kapoor and other key dignitaries flagged off the 51st Pinkathon, India’s biggest only women multi-category run.
Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18 participated in the VWash Plus 3 km run. Dr Isha Theba from Motherhood hospitals was also present. The four mascots – Usha Soman, 81 years of age and a barefoot runner for Volini 10 km run category, Dipti Gandhi, a visually impaired runner for the Raja Rani 21 km run, Dhvani Jigar Shah, a baby wearing mother for VWash Plus 3 km race category and Star-wife Tahira Kashyap, a breast cancer Conqueror for 5 km successfully completed their runs. The fabulous 15 women who ran the 2nd edition of Spirit of Pinkathon Pune2Mumbai Run In Association with Hyatt India, a distance of 160 km too were felicitated.
Bajaj Electricals Ltd., a globally renowned and India’s leading consumer products company is the title sponsor of Pinkathon since last year. Anuj Poddar, Executive Director, Bajaj Electricals Ltd. said “We are glad to associate with Pinkathon for the second consecutive year as the title sponsors. We, as a company, believe in supporting events that have the ability to bring a positive change in society and resonate with our brand values of “Inspiring people”. While our long association with Pinkathon has given us an opportunity to communicate our brand story well, it has also acted as a catalyst in empowering women and to drive them to embrace who they are both internally and externally.”
Committed to inspire women through meaningful stories and initiatives, India’s leading entertainment channel, COLORS continue to extend its support to the Pinkathon as the Presenting Partner. On the occasion, Nina Elavia Jaipuria – Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18, said, “We are delighted to partner with Pinkathon for the fourth year. At COLORS, we celebrate women and inspire them to break through societal stereotypes and Pinkathon is an exceptional way to influence their choices towards a healthier lifestyle. Every year, through our compelling content and on ground initiatives like Pinkathon, we aim to inspire and encourage millions across the country to be the ambassadors of change.”
COLORS along with Pinkathon have derived a special integration for COLORS’ new launch ‘Shubharambh’. The Mumbai chapter of the couples run will be re-christened to – Raja Rani 21 km run (Raja and Rani are the leads of the show). Synonymous with the show’s core belief of being stronger together, the couple’s compatibility will be the key to winning the trophy. Promoting fitness, the run will begin with a warm-up session for the participants on the title track of the show.
Prabha Narasimhan, Vice President, Skincare and Colours, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, says “We’re excited to partner with Pinkathon for our newest launch – Pond’s Skinfit, a high performance skincare range for fitness enthusiasts. These products are crafted specifically for your skin’s needs both pre and post workout. This range helps fight dust, pollution and cool down your skin. Pinkathon and Pond’s embody the same spirit of encouraging women to go out there and see what happens, making this partnership even more special.”
Expressing delight on the successful conclusion of the 8th edition of Pinkathon Mumbai, Founder, Milind Soman, Pinkathon said, “With the 51st Pinkathon, what is now India’s biggest women’s run, over the last 8 years, women have taken to Pinkathon in a big way right from the start. The overwhelming responses over the years have helped create many new and exciting experiences, India’s first saree run and cycle rally, the first women only half marathon, the first visually impaired women’s squad, the treks for cancer survivors and the baby wearing walks. The participants have transformed the run into a community and a social movement with thousands of women inspiring each other by examp le. They all came together making each edition in every city a festival like no other. Like the women of Pinkathon themselves, Pinkathon has become unstoppable, and limitless. We just celebrated the 8th edition and 51st Pinkathon in Mumbai today, it was indeed a beautiful moment, as all the moments have been for the last 8 years. As big as it seems, Pinkathon is still a small step towards a healthier and fitter society driven by women. There is a long way to go. But change is coming, the women of Pinkathon are awake, and they will not stop. It is time.”
Reema Sanghavi, Co-Founder Pinkathon & Managing Director, Maximus MICE & Media Solutions Pvt. Ltd said, “We are committed & connected for one cause – ‘health for every woman’. Pinkathon inspires everyone who believes that together, we can do more. Spreading the message that women can overcome any physical, mental and emotional issues if they focus on their life and take up their health and fitness seriously. Age, disabilities, illnesses or for that matter even clothes are not a deterrent anymore. Ask any woman who has participated in the Pinkathon and they’ll endorse that Pinkathon symbolizes hope, strength and resilience.
We undertake several initiatives for women across strata of the society. The idea is to encourage health & fitness at every age. We would like more women to take up their health seriously and continue to participate year on year and hence we promote the message of “Har ghar mein Pinkathon” which basically revolves around the idea of fit women = fit families = fit society and hence a fit nation.”
Bajaj Electricals Pinkathon Mumbai 2019 Presented by COLORS and Powered by Pond’s Skinfit received huge response from corporate sponsors like Bajaj Electricals, COLORS, Pond’s Skinfit, Motherhood hospitals, Volini, Hyatt India, DKMS-BMST, VWash Plus, Grand Hyatt Mumbai Hotel & Residences, Bisleri, R City Mall, Newfangled, WCI, PPL, IPRS, Radio City, U. S. Polo, and Bajaj CSR, etc.
The focus of India’s biggest women’s only running event is to encourage an active lifestyle and overall fitness amongst women, while creating a much-needed awareness about breast cancer and bone health and encourage thousands of new or first-timer women to take up running. All proceeds raised from the event will be used for the expenses incurred in organizing and marketing the event, and by the Women’s Cancer Initiative in its fight against breast cancer. Pinkathon has won several national and international awards such as WOW Awards for Best Festival of the Year & Best Sports Event of the Year and EEMAX Global for Best Public Event of the Year for ticketed and non-ticketed category.
Results are as follows-
Raja Rani 21 KM-
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Saigeeta Naik-(01:24:56)
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Riya Shinde-(01:40:16)
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Kranti Salvi-(01:54:31)
Volini 10 KM-
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Soniya Mokal-(00:39:29)
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Sakshi Jadyal-(00:41:32)
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Bharati Dudhe-(00:44:18)
05 KM-
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Madhuri Deshmukh-(00:20:05)
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Yogita Tambadkar-(00:20:10)
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Priyanka Naukudkar-(00:23:28)
V Wash Plus 03 KM-
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Aarati Survase-(00:12:03)
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Jyoti Punjabi-(00:12:46)
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Rishika Shetty-(00:12:55)
