Showing the spirit on a Sunday morning

Close to 15,000 enthusiastic runners stepped out on a cool and cosy Sunday morning to try their hand at distance running at the Bengaluru Marathon. And many among them were out there runnning for a cause or two.

Spreading messages of equality, awareness about autism and disability highlighted the Hope Run segment of the event, a five-kilometre race mostly through the Cubbon Park.

Autism awareness seemed to be the theme of the day as groups in specially designed T-shirts, placards and painted faces went through the race, underlining the needs of the affected people.

“We are here to spread the message about autism. Many around us don’t know what autism is and that’s a message that we want to get across to the citizens,” said Aman from BMI foundation, a non-profit organisation.

Another NGO, ‘I Support’, had 22 runners turning up for the race with their faces painted depicting their message about Autism.

“We believe this is one way we can get our message across to the masses. We are 22 guys, mostly from an IT background, who have stepped out today to send out a message to the people,” said Juhi from I Support.

While the autism groups formed the majority in the Hope Run, there were a few others who stole the show thanks to their sheer determination to complete the race. On wheelchairs and crutches they soldiered on, and they were even a couple of blade-runners attempting to conquer the course.

“It’s been eight years that I have been a blade runner. I just want the people know that if we are really determined to achieve something and work towards achieveing it, nothing can keep us away from our goal,” said Baswant Rao, one of the blade-runners.