To contribute their bit in the fight against Covid-19, the running community of Chandigarh and its satellite cities of Panchkula and Mohali — collectively known as the tricity — has come together to raise funds through an indoor virtual event.
Breaking none of the lockdown rules, they will take part in the event from the confines of their homes on April 27.
Of late, the tricity has seen a surge in the running community, with marathons and half-marathons being organised round the year and each witnessing hundreds of participants. For them, running has become a way of life. Since the lockdown, even while staying at home, there has been no alteration in their running routine. They are doing it in a room, on terrace or in balcony and even creating a track around the sofa and table in the living room or just running in one spot.
Now, to put their zeal to some good use, Chandigarh Distance Runners — a club with over 500 active members in the tricity — is organising the ‘Run For Charity, Indoor Virtual Run’, wherein the participants will run for 30 minutes, anytime of the day, on April 27. There is a participation fee of Rs 200 per runner, and all the money collected through registration and other contributions will go towards a Covid-19 charity. For registration, you can log in to www.townscript.com/e/run-for-charity-321024.
“Do you want to help the society in these difficult times, do you want to make the difference? Come join a virtual indoor short run on April 27. The funds so raised would be donated as charity to fight Covid-19. We have been running for ourselves; it’s the time to repay to society with this small contribution,” shared Ashok Giri, who is one of the founder members of Chandigarh Distance Runners, in the message circulated in the running community.
{{/usCountry}}“Do you want to help the society in these difficult times, do you want to make the difference? Come join a virtual indoor short run on April 27. The funds so raised would be donated as charity to fight Covid-19. We have been running for ourselves; it’s the time to repay to society with this small contribution,” shared Ashok Giri, who is one of the founder members of Chandigarh Distance Runners, in the message circulated in the running community.
{{/usCountry}}“With this run, we will able to generate some funds that will be used to arrange food for the needy and simultaneously it will help to generate awareness about the healthy lifestyle. Even within the walls of our house, we can do regular workouts and sweat,” said Jaspreet Kaur, one of the core members of the running group, stressing on daily workout to boost the immune system — the key to fight Covid-19.
Before taking to running in mid-2017, this mother of two had two worries — being overweight and starting the day with a pill to control her thyroid. Running helped her lose 18 kg — from 74kg to 56kg — and for the last one year, she has been able to go off thyroid medications as well. “Before the lockdown I had a thyroid test and the results were normal. Running can do wonders in our lives and I am an example,” said Jaspreet, who will be running again at her home on April 27.