Recently, a 24-year-old Manipur cyclist Philem Rohan Singh, cycled his way throughout the country to raise awareness about key issues like environmental conservation, climate change and saving water.
He will cycle from Kashmir to Kanyakumari covering Srinagar, Manali, Leh Ladakh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan among other popular destinations during his 4000-km-long journey. The focus of his journey would be on ‘Water For Life’ theme for which he will cover the country from North to South in a span of 2.5 months.
In a similar instance, a 33-year-old marathon runner from Delhi is on a mission that focuses on bringing people of this country together. To accomplish this mission, Sufiya Sufee, is running 4000 kilometers from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and she aims to complete her journey in 100 days.
Sufiya hopes to spread the message of unity wherever she goes. Crossing 11 states, 25 cities and thousands of villages along her route. “My message is very important. There is so much hate being spread on social media. I thought this run will be a good way to counter that,” she told NDTV. The organisers of Sufiya’s ultra-marathon said her message is HOPE: Humanity, Oneness, Peace and Equality.
Sufiya started his marathon on April 25, and since then she had crossed Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. She also told NDTV, that she had put all her savings into this project and is now considering crowdfunding.
With all the achievements, she added one more feather in her cap – she is a Limca record holder and had earlier covered 720 km in 15 days. She started long distance running for physical fitness and said that it has now become her passion. She was working with Air India, but she has now quit her job to focus on running, full-time.
The marathon has also taken a toll on her health as an injury sent her to the hospital and delayed her run by three days. “When I was in the hospital, I was worried about how I would complete my mission. There was a lot of traffic on my route and the stress of it all caused my body to collapse. But I recovered and I have managed to come this far,” she told NDTV.
She will definitely make India proud by achieving this feat. She has showed everyone that if you really believe in something, you can achieve it, no matter how unfavorable the circumstances might be.