Two Indian Navy officers cross Coimbatore during their run from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to spread awareness about non-communicable diseases

COIMBATORE: To create awareness about Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) and to spread the message of healthy and fit India among the public, two officers from the Indian Navy started their own marathon from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
The officers – Sanjay Kumar from Haryana and Ram Ratan from Rajasthan -- crossed Coimbatore recently.
The duo planned to run 4431 kilometers through 11 states and 91 major cities in 56 days.If everything goes as per their plan, they would be the first Indians to cover the distance in 56 days and they would enter the Guinness Book of Records.
In 2019, a 33-year-old woman Sufiya, native of Rajasthan, ran 4,035 kilometers from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in 87 days and two hours.
Following rigorous planning and training, the duo began their journey on January 12 -- National youth day and so far, they have covered 500 kilometers. They will end their run by reaching Dal lake in Srinagar on March 8 -- International women’s day.
“Every day we run from 4 am to 11 am covering about 50 kilometers and from 4 pm to 10 pm covering about 21 kilometers. On an average, we would cover about 70 to 75 kilometers in a day. We choose service roads to run and during the late evening hours, we would wear reflective jackets to be on a safer side,” said Sanjay.
Explaining that they were hosted by running communities or veteran Navy officers in the cities they crossed, he said that people have been running along with them for a few kilometers in each city and they hold interactive sessions with them to sensitise them about NCD diseases.
Three veterans ran with the duo from Walayar border for over five kilometers and they were hosted by Jat Samaj in the city.
Ram said they ran for about 300 kilometers in three days from Jaipur to New Delhi in September to prepare themselves for this run.
“One of the biggest challenges we face is the climatic conditions and it is difficult to predict the climate. As it is really hot and humid most of the days, we are dehydrated soon and get blisters,” he added. They are accompanied by a physiotherapist Dr Rithesh Ahir.