New Delhi, July 13, 2016: Pia Hanson, an ultra runner from Denmark, who is one of the 15 elite runners participating in ‘The Great India Run’, is looking forward to her India experience starting next week. The Great -India Run – India’s first ever multi-city Marathon will be flagged off from New Delhi on 17th July and will culminate on 6th August 2016 at Mumbai. The 1480 km long run that has been conceptualized by ProSportify in association with MobieFit Technologies will pass through Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad. The run also has celebrity runner Milind Soman running a special stretch of 570 kms from Ahmedabad to Mumbai via Silvassa.
Pia Hanson, a mother of an 11-year-old boy comes across as the epitome of calm. A portrait of serenity, you’ll rarely see her perturbed by anything. A lot of this, the 50-year-old attributes to her passion that is running.
Hailing from the land of the midnight sun, the runner started her career - at one of Denmark’s finest running clubs. Since then, she’s run over 300 marathons and runs around 2-3 marathons a week on an average. She attributes her success in the sport to the love she feels for it.
“When I run, I run without a watch. It’s the running itself, and the company that I enjoy rather than the timing I achieve,” says Pia when asked about what got her to running.
However, it hasn’t all been peaches and cream though for the veteran runner. “I also work as a thatcher and I do get injuries there, but I don’t let that affect me. Running is the time I’m free, and for me, it’s sacred. For me it feels like the more I use my body, the more energy I get back. It makes me feel stronger,” she further adds.
Pia, who is visiting India for the first time ever, says adapting to the climate changes is a basic requirement for long distance runners. “It should be great fun. You have to adapt to your environment quickly and I’m quite excited to be running in these new surroundings.”
The Great India Run which aims to boost running as a sport in the country will feature 15 of the best ultra marathoners from India and abroad passing through six states in the country. Pre-selected pit stops of the run will consist of a 5K fun run as well as a 21 Km half marathon. The registrations for both the ‘Fun Run’ (Ghaziabad, New Delhi, Gurugram, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Silvassa, Mumbai) and the ‘Half-Marathon’ (New Delhi & Silvassa) across venues can be done through bookmyshow.com for minimal fees of INR 350 & INR 690 respectively.
The inaugural edition of ‘The Great India Run’ will see athletes Arun Bhardwaj, Siddharth Choudhary, David Bredo, Yuri Esperson, Meenal Kotak, Ranjana Deopa, Sreekanth Reddi, Melanie Delainey, Dinesh Heda, Joginder Chandna, Pia Hansson, Sunil Sharma, Shweta Sharma, Kaushal Chauhan and Dhanee Kumar going the distance.
ProSportify & MobieFit plan to make ‘The Great India Run’ an annual event. As the tagline ‘Jeet Har Kadam Par’ suggests the objective of this event is to build many more athletes for the future with the attitude and determination to win. -The revenue generated the inaugural edition of TGIR will be contributed to ‘Go Sports Foundation’ an organization that works towards development of deserving Olympians in the country.
