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Mini P Thomas
Mini P Thomas

PINKATHON

More power to women

pinkathon

Women need to take time out for themselves, says Pinkathon ambassador Milind Soman

Women who fancy taking a selfie with Milind Soman, please take note. Prepare yourself to do some squats and push-ups.

“When I tell women that they have to do ten push-ups, they say they can't. But, if I tell them you have to do it if you want a picture with me, most of them are able to do it,” said the supermodel-turned-marathoner who recently won the Ultraman title after completing one of the most gruelling triathlons in the world. “Women have a lot more potential than they think. Most of the time, what stops them are the obstacles they create in their mind. The body is capable of so much more than they believe,'' he said, as he made me do the push-ups.

Thousands of urban women have kick-started their fitness journeys with Pinkathon, a women's running event, launched by Milind. For many, it has been a journey of self discovery, too. “As the tag line says, Pinkathon is more than a Marathon. It is not just about running,” said Milind. “We know women are active from the time they wake up in the morning till night. But their activity is focused on other people. They are focused on their children, husband, in-laws, jobs and businesses.”

The first step towards health and fitness is to take time out for yourself. “Understand your body, mind and emotions. Respect and value yourself. That is the message of Pinkathon,” he added.

“I've been lucky since childhood to know the value of sport, of a healthy lifestyle and of making the right choices. But there are women out there who have hit the age of 40 or 50 without knowing it. Now they have discovered it at that age through Pinkathon and have managed to change their lives around. That's truly inspiring,” he said.


Those who have never worked out in the past need to take baby steps before the giant leap forward. Step out of your house and see how much distance you can cover comfortably. “If you are starting with half a kilometre, increase it by 10 per cent, which means the next day you will run 550 metres. If you increase the distance every day, eventually you will get to 10 kilometres. You need to increase the distance very gradually. Some people take 10 days to prepare for a 10 kilometre run while some others can take up to 90 days, but eventually everyone will get there,'' explained Milind adding that long distance running is all about mental discipline or the strength of your mind. Even visually impaired women who have never run before have done 10 kilometres in the Pinkathon, with some preparation, he said.

Looking back, Milind said Pinkathon has been a big learning experience for him. An endurance runner, he saw that running was catching up in India in a big way. But the percentage of women taking part in it was just four to five per cent. “I found it baffling. It really got me thinking about why women don't run and why women should run. Finally, I decided to do an event only for women to see what the response is like. That is how I started Pinkathon,” he said.

Around 2,000 women runners took part in the first Pinkathon held in Mumbai in 2012. The numbers were not that great, but the feedback was overwhelming. Encouraged by that, Milind took Pinkathon to three more cities—Bengaluru, Delhi and Pune—in 2013. “Last year, it drew about 75,000 women runners. This year, we are doing it in 12 cities,” said Milind.

When Milind was toying with the idea of starting Pinkathon, many people mocked it saying women will not run. They thought women have no time or interest in running. But Pinkathon proved them wrong. “Women just needed encouragement. We created a space and women adopted it,'' he said with a glint in his eyes.  

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