20-year-old V. Divya from Chennai will be India’s first visually impaired girl to run The Spirit of Pinkathon Run from
Pondicherry to Chennai alongwith Pinkathon mentor Milind Soman to spread the message of health and fitness for all women
by Suman Gupta
Mumba:July, 2018… Over 100 participate in the See from the Heart, a blindfold run organised at NCPA and several other locations in Mumbai besides seven other cities across India on the same day i.e. Sunday, 1st July 2018 to encourage and motivate 20-year-old V. Divya from Chennai who will be India’s first visually impaired girl to run The Spirit of Pinkathon Run from Pondicherry to Chennai alongwith Pinkathon mentor Milind Soman to spread the message of health and fitness for all women.
Over 300 participants across Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kolkata and Chennai took part in the See from the Heart run where participants ran/walked 3 kms in pairs, out of which one of the partners was blindfolded for one loop and the other partner for the next loop.
Commenting on the innovative See from the heart Run, Model and Founder of Pinkathon Milind Soman said, “United Sisters Foundation has organised the first-of-its-kind ‘See from the heart run’ across India which is a unique experience of solidarity and inclusion. We wanted to do something special for V. Divya who is the first visually impaired girl in India to run such a long distance. Spirit of Pinkathon run is a city to city run taken up by Pinkathon ambassadors to spread the message ‘If I can, anyone can.’ Through See from the heart initiative, we wanted to spread awareness and also sensitise normal people about the challenges faced by differently abled people and how they overcome the same with their spirit and zeal for life. We have many visually impaired girls participating in Pinkathon across cities and some of them are podium finishers. This blind fold run has provided an opportunity for people to show their support and will motivate Divya to accomplish the mean task.”
The Spirit of Pinkathon Run is an inter-city run, an initiative to celebrate the potential of the human spirit, to spread awareness that a fit woman will build a fit and healthy family and to nurture belief. The ideology revolves around the statement “If I can, anyone can”. The Spirit Run is an attempt for women to break boundaries and expand their limits, an ability to adapt and the creation of resilience to achieve what you think your body can’t, but your mind can.
This August, 20 year-old V. Divya from Chennai will be India’s first visually impaired girl to run The Spirit of Pinkathon Run from Pondicherry to Chennai alongwith Pinkathon mentor Milind Soman to spread the message of health and fitness for all women in the run up to Colors Pinkathon Chennai on 5th August, which will be held at Island Ground. Organised by the United Sisters Foundation, the 140 kms run will be completed over three days – August 2 to 4, 2018.
Divya, our mascot runner, was born with vision in one eye. After completing her schooling at the Little Flower Convent, she is now pursuing her BA degree in Literature at Queen Mary’s College. Based in Chengalpet, her mother works as a domestic help. Divya has always been passionate about running and has represented her school at inter-school sports meets, including one in Punjab in 2016. However, post school, she had to give up her running dreams and come to the city for her college education. With the Spirit of Pinkathon run, Divya has got her opportunity to run again. She is undergoing stringent training under Pinkathon, personally supervised by Milind Soman and Pinkathon Ambassador R. Anitha in Chennai.
20-year-old V. Divya will be India’s first visually impaired girl to run The Spirit of Pinkathon Run from Pondicherry to Chennai along with Milind Soman to spread the message of health & fitness for all women in the run up to Colors Pinkathon Chennai on 5th August at Island Ground. Organised by United Sisters Foundation, the 150 kms run will be completed over three days from 2nd August to 4th August 2018. V. Divya who is partially blind from birth has finished her 12th grade and is very enthusiastic about running. Currently, she is a 100 mtrs runner.
The Spirit of Pinkathon Run from Pondicherry to Chennai was launched on 3rd June 2018 at Marina beach by Milind Soman as an inaugural training run along with V. Divya by running a distance of 5 kms. V. Divya’s training to run this ultra-distance of 150 kms over three days will begin post the inaugural training run. She is being trained for the next two months by Pinkathon Ambassadors and Milind Soman will be personally overseeing her training by giving her important tips and guidance on endurance & strength building as well as nutrition.
“Running has always been a part of my life, and I love the feeling that comes along with it. I am a 100-metre sprinter and one of my proudest moments was when I represented my school at the inter-school sports meet in Punjab in 2016.”
This is Divya’s story. She was born with vision only in one eye, but that did not stop her from anything. She will be running the ‘Spirit Of Pinkathon Run’ of around 140 KM from Puducherry to Chennai on July 1st, 2018. She has a motivation in life to channelise all her energy and passion into running and strongly believes in finding her way. We want to help Divya achieve her dreams.
She wishes to complete her education and get her eye surgery done. And in true Pinkathon spirit, this is where we need your help. We are raising funds for Divya’s B.Ed Degree and Eye Correction Surgery. Follow this link to contribute, and share this far and wide to made Divya’s dream come true:www.bitgiving.com/seefromtheheart
