CHENNAI: Vaidyanathan and Justin Jesudas are two of the few wheelchair marathoners from Chennai. Like any other marathon runner, their days too begin with a five to 10 km marathon practice. They are gearing up for the 2017 edition of Kotak Wheelchair Marathon on September 3.
The first marathon of this kind was first held in 2015 and saw a great response. “We started it as part of our awareness initiative. We wanted more people to know about spinal cord injuries and prevention,” says Vaidyanathan, founder-trustee, Ganga Trust and The Spinal Foundation, who is also the organiser and a half marathon runner on wheelchair. “We wanted marathons where wheelchair users could also participate. And every rupee we raised through the run, we wanted to use in supporting people who are paralysed from neck down,” he adds.
In 2015, there were 925 participants out of which 125 were people with disabilities (PwD). Last year, the marathon was not conducted because of the accident during the Pinkathon. Justin Jesudas, international Paralympic swimmer and rifle shooter, is the brain behind this idea. “We named it ‘wheelchair marathon’. We want to show the abilities and possibilities for a wheelchair user,” he says.
This year they both wish that the count will touch 2,500 as the registrations are still on. “We are expecting 1,500 participants but as it is the Onam weekend, many are backing out. Even if it is 1,500, it’s a significant increase,” says Vaidyanathan and Justin adds, “The response was good last edition; though it was conducted in 20 days, this shows that people are receptive.”
When Justin first came up with this idea, he was only met with encouragement. “Both wheelchair users and able-bodied people were looking forward to this,” he smiles. While the first edition had 1 km, 3 km and 5 km run, this year it will be 5 km, 10 km and 21 km (half marathon). Apart from this, there is something new for people who wish to participate but cannot. “This time there are other ways in which you can participate: first, you can register and run and second, people from Bengaluru need not come to Chennai to participate. They can run for 60 minutes wherever they are comfortable in the city, record the time and take a picture and send it to us. We will send them the medal and T-shirt,” explains Vaidyanathan. Finally, this time they have tied up with an NGO in Bengaluru, Diya Foundation, where intellectually challenged students will walk for an hour at a college ground there for the cause.
While the participants are busy building their upper body strength, they will also have personalities to inspire them on the day of the event. “This time Ankur Dhama, India’s first blind runner to make it to the Paralympics, Major DP Singh, Kargil war hero who runs half marathons on a prosthetic leg and Sailesh Kumar, India’s fastest half marathoner on a wheelchair, will be participating in the event here. We hope it will encourage other wheelchair users to participate,” shares Vaidyanathan.
The marathon will start and finish at Olcott Memorial Higher Secondary School on September 3. Participants can register at www.thespinalfoundation.in. Registration fee is Rs 750.
Sponsor a runner
“We are also doing a sponsor awareness programme where you could sponsor one runner and in your spot, we will bring in one disabled runner and one student from economically challenged background to participate...this is a crowdfunding campaign,” says Vaidyanathan.