Jaipur’s biggest inclusion event Cairn Pink City Marathon brings together disabled community

Jaipur city hosted the fourth edition of Cairn Pink City Marathon on 15 December. The event was a grand success with almost 10,000 people walking for some causes. Over hundred people with disabilities also participated making the event one of the biggest inclusive events in the city.

Jaipur, the Pink City of India, is truly a tourist’s paradise. Architectural marvels of its buildings and hospitality of the people is something every resident of Jaipur can be proud of. The city hosted one of the biggest inclusive marathons on 15 December. People with and without disabilities walked together for the Cairn Pink City Half Marathon 2019. Over 10,000 people participated in the walk where hundreds of people with disabilities were also part of. Organizers of Cairn Marathon claim this to be first-of-its-kind event in the city of Jaipur.

Marathon for the right causes

This year was the fourth edition of Cairn Marathon. Headed by Dr Manoj Soni, organisers wanted to spread awareness about the government campaign ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’. The amount from each registration went to feeding a child as part of the ‘Akshaya Patra Serves Children’ programme.

Dr Namit Sharma, Event Co-ordinator for disabled participants says that all of them thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Cairn Marathon.

The marathon was not done for a commercial purpose, but to spread certain social messages. Registrations were free for over hundred people with disabilities who took part in the event. We arranged transportation facilities for them so that they could travel hassle free. The organisers clearly wanted to make this an inclusive event. All the disabled participants were gifted a T-shirt and medal as a token of appreciation- Dr Namit Sharma, Event Co-ordinator.

A successful inclusive marathon

There were three categories for the Marathon. The first 21.1 kms started off at 5.15 am, second 10 kms at 6.30 am and the third 5 kms at 7.15 am. Disabled participants took part in the third category.

Para-sportsman Nawab Khan was the brand ambassador for the disabled category. Sunder Singh Gurjar and Sandeep Singh flagged off the disabled participants walk. “As one of the organisers for the event, I can say that it was a privilege to have our disabled participants for the Cairn Marathon. It was a great success and we plan to have them for our fifth edition next year”, says Dr Namit.

Pratibha Bhatnagar’s 27 year old son Akshay Bhatnagar who has autism participated in the marathon. This was Akshay’s first marathon experience and he couldn’t be happier. “Akshay was excited two days before the event. Since he is a para-athlete, marathons are undoubtedly something he looks forward to. It was a great opportunity for people with disabilities to become part of such a mega event. I also felt that this was a great platform for inclusion”, says Pratibha.