11 monks from Coimbatore-based Isha Yoga Center will make the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon unique as they join over 40,000 runners to raise funds for the underprivileged children of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh through Isha Vidhya, an educational outreach initiative of Isha Foundation. After completing the Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai Marathons, the monks are all set to run in Mumbai on Sunday.
Part of the Isha Vidhya team of runners is Satish Gujran, one of the fastest Indian runners at the 89 km South African Comrades Run, and Sadashiv Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Infrastructure Debt Fund at IDFC, one of the highest individual fundraisers in Mumbai Marathon who has raised over Rs 1.3 crore in last 8 years for Isha Vidhya.
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Satish Gujran has finished 7 Comrades Run in South Africa so far and will be participating in his 8th consecutive run later this year.
Sadashiv Rao, who recently built a classroom in his parents’ name at the Isha Vidhya School in Coimbatore, says, “Providing quality education to India’s rural children is the most important social intervention that is needed right now in the country. Without imparting education and skills, the enormous potential of our youth will remain untapped. Above all, it has been a joy to be running for these bright kids.”
Satish, who recently ran 248 KM from Mumbai to Shirdi in 3 days and 284 KM from Mumbai to Surat in 3 days, says, “It is my dream to one day run across the length and breadth of India for each of India’s child who does not have access to primary education.”
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Isha Vidhya was the third largest fundraiser at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2016 and raises the largest amount of funds through individual fundraisers at the annual event
