Inaugural edition of ‘SBI Pinkathon 2014 Amdavad’ flagged off on October 12

15000 participants enjoy a Zumba warm-up before the run

Amdavad, 12th October 2014: The inaugural edition of ‘SBI Pinkathon 2014 Amdavad’, India’s biggest Women’s Run was flagged off in the Gujarat capital by avid runner and fitness enthusiast Milind Soman, Mr. B Sriram Managing Director – State Bank of India, Mrs Krishna Handa & Mr. Arjun Handa from Claris on Sunday. Also present for the flag off were Shri A. N. Appaiah, CGM – Ahmedabad, State Bank of India. The event began from Amdavad’s Vallabhsadan, Sabarmati River Front at 6:00 am. An initiative of United Sisters Foundation, Pinkathon is a social event to encourage an active lifestyle for women and create much-needed awareness for breast cancer.

Pinkathon Amdavad flagoff by Ammedabad mayor Meenakshi Patel

Powered by the message of ‘Each One Kheench One’, SBI Pinkathon, India’s Biggest Women’s Run received an overwhelming expression of support with the participation of more than 15000 women of all ages and from different walks of life. This year, following the above mantra, the run also received great support from men as they came ahead by encouraging and enrolling one special woman in their life to participate.

As fun-loving Amdavadis came together to support the noble cause, eminent personalities such as Mr. Jayesh Patel, Mrs Anar Patel, Mrs Rekha Chona, Mayor Smt. Minakshben Patel, Municipal Commissioner Ms B. Thara together with several corporate heads stepped out to spread the social message among citizens of Western India’s biggest industrial and commercial centre.

Emma Barrebo of Sweden emerged as the proud overall winner of the 10k run, while Shristi Shrivastava and Divya Vijaybhai bagged the 5 km and 3 km titles respectively in the multi-category running event. The winners were awarded with a trophy, certificate, medal along with multiple Gift Vouchers from the event’s partners.

Pinkathon Amdavad – Winners of 3k run with Mayor Meenakshi Patel and Milind Soman

The inaugural edition of SBI Pinkathon 2014 Amdavad was sponsored by SBI and co-sponsored by CLARIS. For the unique initiative, Milind Soman along with United Sisters Foundation together and Reema Sanghavi joined hands with the Women’s Cancer Initiative (WCI) led by Deveika Bhojwani and the Tata Memorial Hospital.

Message from Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel

Commenting on Pinkathon, Amdavad 2014, Shri. B. Sriram, MD, State Bank of India said, "We are associated with the Pinkathon to bring the issue of women's health and early detection of breast cancer to the centre stage. In a household, women's health receives the least priority and hence we believe healthy women can make a healthy home and thereby a healthy nation. It is a noble cause and it was heartening to see so many women come together to highlight an issue of national importance".

“I think it is a matter of great pride and joy to have received such a fantastic response in Amdavad today. I’m grateful to each participant for taking the time to run, spread the word, and help achieve our goal of encouraging women's health and fitness and creating much-needed awareness for breast cancer. We have now organised successful runs in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune and Bangalore and proud to add Amdavad to the list. Pinkathon has given us a window of opportunity to reach out to lakhs of women. There are few things better than that in our crusade. Thank you Amdavad”, said supermodel, actor, fitness enthusiast and Pinkathon founder, Milind Soman.

Mrs. Krishna Handa, MD Zivene Design & Development Pvt. Ltd said, “I strongly believe that women have to put fitness in a very high priority in life. Women juggle so many roles in life that their health is very important for them to fulfil these roles. She said “The feeling was exhilarating. I have never run outdoors or any marathon in my life and this was my first and I have surpassed my own expectations by running 10 Kms. I felt proud running, for such an important women related issue. I have never felt so proud of my city 15,000 women turned up to support the cause higher than any other city is a statement in itself. I am happy to contribute to this cause of Pinkathon and I wish all women come and run, walk, enjoy and be more educated about breast cancers causes and prevention's.”

Mr. Sandeep Prakash, Regional Head - West, Amway India, said, “I am glad to see such high level of participation for an event like Pinkathon as it will help in promoting awareness of fitness & health among women. Today’s hectic & sedentary lifestyle, stress, pollution are taking a toll on our body. Creating awareness about the fact that healthy people need supplements is critical. Pinkathon is a beautiful concept to promote optimal health and it clearly aligns with Nutrilite’ s, Amway’s power brand, philosophy of helping people a healthy life.”

Former Miss India and Fitness Enthusiast Gul Panag said, “It is a well known fact that fitness plays an important role in boosting the immunity of the afflicted and running is a great way to ensure this happens. I feel glad that the women of Amdavad came out to spread this message today. I’m proud to be sharing the platform with many other women who are committed to fighting the condition in India.”

Reema Sanghavi, Managing Director, Maximus MICE & Media Solutions Pvt. Ltd. said, “It is vital that we as citizens do everything in our ability to raise awareness about breast cancer and keep fatalities at bay. An activity as simple as running addresses most of the top 10 ways to help prevent breast cancer, not only promoting well-being but also raising immunity levels and improving health to help fight disease. Today, the response from the city has been commendable and we look forward to the next edition in Amdavad.”