A young woman from Raigad, with no place to sleep at night after she reached Mumbai for the marathon held at marine drive, won the five km run. The Pink Run marathon was conducted at the Marine Drive on Sunday morning, with over 6000 women participating in the event.
While speaking to FPJ, Rutuja Sakpal, winner of the first category (18 to 35), said, “I'm from Raigad and came to Mumbai from Lucknow at 6.00 pm on Saturday, along with my brother, after participating in the national athletic trials. We did not have a proper place to sleep at night and slept at the Marine Drive till 12.00 am but the police told us we were not allowed to sleep there.”
According to Rutuja, the siblings later went to a park nearby and slept there till 2.30 am, but they were chased out from there as well by security. They then came back to the Marine Drive and stayed there till the race began in the morning. “I was drowsy as I hardly slept, but wanted to participate and win this race so I did not let anything stop me,” she said.
Asked why she had to sleep in the open, the athlete said they tried checking into a couple of hotels but they were perceived as a young couple and refused accommodation. They then decided to spend time at the Marine Drive.
Rutuja finished the 5 km race with a timing of 19.03 minutes. She was awarded a scooter and a mobile phone.
“I have won medals at the national level since 2018 and I will continue to do so till I win one at the Olympics one day. For many reasons women don’t come out of their houses to pursue their dreams; they have many responsibilities and restrictions which stop them. But I want to tell all women, young and old, that there is nothing that they cannot do if they set their mind to it,” added Sakpal
