Oh yes! I have to run again.

You are wondering as to what’s this that I am speaking today? Well let me tell you the full story. Last year I shared my fitness journey with you all, so you all know I love to walk, this year in may I went for a hike in Himalayas and I shared my experience here, so you know I love to hike. Some time back I shared about friendshipitis here and told you all about my friends, those soul mates of mine, whom I generally adore, those same friends thought that I must run a Pinkathon, and those nerds (that’s what I thought of them then) got me registered for it just a week before the run. Now I can walk very well, 6 kms a day minimum, but I can’t run to save my life. I would start panting at the end of 100 meters how in the world would I run 3 kms? Nonetheless, I started practicing, sheer out of the thought that I must be true to the spirit of run and should be able to run a little, though friends comforted me saying that you can walk also no problem but for me a run has to be a run!

At the end of the week I could run 200 meters without my throat going dry, was that enough? Absolutely not! I decided not to go to the run but my beloved husband says “Milind Soman is going to be there, so it’s worth going” (of course he knows what a huge crush I had on Milind Soman {a former model/actor/fitness freak now} in my college days). And of course the run was in my parent’s town, so a reason to meet mom and dad, ok I decided to go.

When I reached at the friend’s place in Pune, was greeted with the Pinkathon kit, which had a very cute white t-shirt, “I am a Pink Sister” written on it. I was thrilled to see the shirt, and this is how my excitement for the run began. (yes a good set of clothes can definitely excite a girl anytimeJ)

We woke up at 4 am as my best friend was running 10kms so she had to reach in time, all dressed up in smart and sexy “I am a Pink Sister” t-shirts. Slowly the magic of the event was working on me. By the time we reached the venue, we were greeted with thongs of women, all ages, from young girls to very old aunties, walking in the direction of the ground. I was astonished at the number of ladies, but nothing could beat my surprise when I reached the actual ground, where there were Pink sisters as far as my vision could go! Wow! I was amazed, thrilled, excited all at once. A huge ground filled with Pink sisters, live Zumba class going on, a super excited Zumba instructor, dhinchack DJ, blaring music and still a fantastic laughter can be heard above the whole amazing mayhem, yet you can’t believe it, there is no Sun in the sky, being winter months, not even daybreak. Wow! Just Wow!

With the girly excitement in the air, soothing cold breeze, we also joined the Zumba and started to feel the pulse of the moment. After a few minutes 10 Kms runners were flagged off, so we cheered for the running enthusiast friend of mine, and me and another friend again joined the Zumba for about an hour. Lastly the 3 Kms ones were flagged off, and now on the running track, I actually started understanding, why the universe has designed to get me here.

I saw amazing girls running, some 21 kms ones with a pacer cheering them to keep going, I saw the determination in their eyes, sheer focus, wow!

I saw some new mommies running with their newborns in the monkey bag on their shoulders, wow!

I saw some cancer survivors running, their husbands or family, running beside to keep support, wow!

I saw some friends just walking and chatting away not caring about the world around.

I saw some aunties in their 60s running the Pinkathon, wow!

I saw ladies with full make up on at 5 am in the morning, and yes no one could miss the bold pink lipsticks.

I couldn’t run as much you know, ran first 500 meters and started panting, but after a while saw this amazing lady in her early 50s, running at a very slow but consistent pace, and cheering, motivating everyone and anyone around to keep running. Wow! I ran the last kilometer with her ( almost full), with little breaks where I walked but could run the full last 500 meters. After I finished the run I went in search of her, I wanted her energy you know. And I found her, Shubhangi; I hugged her to get her beautiful energy. Shubhangi runs only 3 kms every year, just to cheer all the girls like me who can’t run and she loves doing this. WOW!

As we entered the ground again we started searching for the 10kms friend of mine, and I saw an amazing thing. 2 senior couples, 2 aunties were followed by their husbands with towels and water bottles, and all these 4 people beaming with joy, their eyes clinking with the broadest smiles I have ever seen. I asked one of them “aunty you ran?” she nodded still trying to catch her breath, so I hugged her and she hugged me back so tight, I can still feel the warmth, Wow

I can go on endlessly telling you all the stories of my first Pinkathon, which has inspired a lazy bum like me to start running

On the track we also had cheerleaders, yes some handsome hunks, dancing for us with pompoms. We had loud dholes, playing superb bhangra for us at the finish line, there were innumerable volunteers giving water and juice and milkshakes and many family members of the runners lined up to cheer every lady, a simply electrifying atmosphere

Now coming back to the title I chose today, Milind Soman missed taking a selfie with me, ya just 2 girls between him and me, and his security didn’t allow him to come forward, too bad for him. But you know now I like him so can’t make him sad, isn’t it? So I have decided to start running and since the day I have come back the progress is I can run 400 meters without stopping and like this I run for every alternate 400 meters in my walk of 6 kms, maybe by my next Pinkathon, I will oblige Mr Soman by posing for a selfie:)