Walks for your Body and soul - Fr. Lawrence Dharmaraj s.j

Charitable city walks for good causes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Ahmedabad: After winning the Sabarmati Marathon and Vadodara Marathon, the Kenyans returned to do it again at the ‘10th Annual Motif Charity Walk’ in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The 10-kilometer-run held as part of the charity walk was won by Kenneth Koros from Kenya who clocked 31 minutes. The first runner up in the category was Phillip Bor, also from Kenya, who covered the 10 kilometers in 31 minutes and 13 seconds. 

While Kenneth Koros took part in the Vadodara Marathon this year to stand at twelfth position, Bor participated in the half marathon category of the Sabarmati Marathon-2012 and was ranked sixth. 

Young children and elderly people equally dared the morning chill to take part in the fund raising event. 72-year-old Premshankar Pandya from the city won the senior citizen’s category of the walk. He said, “I run around 10 to 15 kilometers everyday. I have never taken any kind of medicine until today. It keeps all negativity away from my mind.” “The people are very warm and welcoming in India. It feels good to come to this country,” said Koros. While Koros was in taking part in Indian marathons only this year, Bor has been coming here for years. Talking about his experiences of visiting countries to take part in marathons, Bor said, “I visit various countries to take part in the marathon, but I like India the most. The people are good and the climate here is just like Kenya.” 

Over 7,000 people took part in the charity walk, organized in two categories — 5 kilometers and 10 kilometers. As crowd thronged the starting point at the campus of Gujarat Technical University (GTU), musical bands moving around on movable platforms, continued to stimulate the already enthusiastic runners and cheering audience. A total of Rs 49 lakh was raised this year through individual registrations and Motif’s contribution of Rs 10 lakh. The event was also sponsored by 47 companies this year.

This Year's  beneficiary NGOs:

- Ahmedabad Women's Action Group (AWAG)

- Avbodh  Knwoledge Foundation Ltd

- Menaben Charitable trust

- Unteshwari Mata Maria Trust. ( Fr. Girish Santiago)

Congratulations to Fr Girish and to the people of Unteshwari!!

By Fr.Lawrence Dharmaraj s.j