On January 19, 2020, eight Champions from our school made their way to the Home guards Grounds near Metro Cinema to make history: Dilkhush was for the first time represented by 10 athletes, 7 buddies and a cheering squad at the Tata Mumbai Marathon. The enthusiasm was high from both the parents, teachers and students alike, the sheer determination was visible throughout and the pride in their blue Dilkhush jerseys was unmistakable.
The 17th edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon saw the participation of 55000+
athletes and people on Sunday right from 3 am. The Mumbai marathon is the
largest in Asia as well as the largest sporting event in the country.
The marathon saw people from all walks of life participate including Bollywood
celebrities, sports personalities, business tycoons and amateur athletes.
The Mumbai marathon has six different race categories: the Full Marathon
(42.195 km) the Half Marathon (21.097 km), timed Open 10k, Dream Run(5.9 km),
Champion with Disabilities (1.4 km) and a Senior Citizen Run (4.3 km).
Dilkhush had participants in three categories, the Open 10k, the Dream Run and
Champions with Disabilities.
Our representatives, Aditya Kosamkar, Kiran Bodh, Dhruv Shetty, Soham Mayekar,
Emmanuel Alleluya, Eashan Kolwalkar, Prithvi Sengupta, Joshua Chandran
and their buddies braved the wintery chill, traffic snarls and the early
morning wake up call to arrive at the venue by 6 am. The race; Champions with
Disabilities, brought 1596 other participants and their buddies to the starting
line at 7.25 am. During the race, the students in pure camaraderie held hands
and ran, cheered others in their category and even exchanged pleasantries with
all.
Dilkhush tryst with the Mumbai Marathon started with the registration as a
Participating Charity with United Way Mumbai to help in fundraising activities
for the school. Through this portal, two fundraisers raised funds that enabled
them to earn a bib each for the marathon. In the Open 10k run, our
fundraiser Keith Gonsalves a youth from Juhu, completed his race with a
excellent time certificate. And in the Dream Run our fundraiser dressed with
art work from all the classes helped raise awareness about the school.
Though deprived of sleep and the fatigue from the run, all our athletes wore
smiles; a true testament of our attitude ‘ Yes, we can’. Next year we hope for
larger participation and your continual support.
