Pinkathon to celebrate women

Pinkathon to celebrate women

The SBI Pinkathon, an all-women’s marathon to create awareness about women’s health, will be back in the city on February 22.

Unlike other marathons which embrace a social cause, Pinkathon has always been a “celebration,” says Milind Soman, who had conceptualised the run in December 2012 in Mumbai.

“It is about creating an environment where the women can enjoy themselves. After all, we want to encourage them to take control of their health and participate in more such events,” he says.

There will be a squad of cancer survivors, or as Milind puts it, S-Heroes who will take part in the run to demonstrate how “there is life after cancer.”

Gayatri Balu, a lawyer and a cancer survivor, who has her sights on reaching the finish line says, “My ordeal has taught me that it is important to not be afraid of the disease or hide the fact that you have or had cancer. It is just like any other ailment. You have to be strong.”

Gayatri had her operation over 16 years ago, but now is fitter than ever. She recalls, “After finding a lump in my left breast, I had visited Bangalore Institute of Oncology for a test. The doctor there confirmed that I had cancer after a biopsy. I was then referred to Dr Munireddy in Mallya Hospital. He operated on me. After the operation, the prognosis was good. So I did not have to do chemotherapy.”

Calling Bengaluru ‘the breast cancer capital of the country,’ Bhawna Sirohi from the Department of Medical Oncology, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer Centre, stated, “Breast cancer is coming to become the most known cancer in India. The number of new cases of breast cancer in the west is about 66 for every 100,000 women. In India, the number stands at 22 cases for every 100,000 and in Bengaluru alone, it is an alarming 35 cases per 100,000 women.”

Women always tend to prioritise their families, their children and work, before paying attention to their health which is contributing to the growing number.

“Around 40 to 50 per cent of all cancers are preventable. All you have to do is maintain a healthy lifestyle. Exercise, keep fit, maintain your ideal weight and eat healthy,” she observes.

What this run aims to create is awareness about precisely that—to call upon women to embrace an active lifestyle. As a person who has been running since the age of 12 and who has been promoting sports and fitness, Reeth Abraham urges all women to understand the merits of keeping fit.

“When you take time out for yourselves and feel good about yourselves, you can make others around you happy,” she says.

The run, in its third leg now, will have at least 10,000 women runners, informs Milind. “In two years, we had gone from 3,500 runners to 5,000 runners. This year, across the nine cities where the run is happening, there will be over 70,000 runners.”