At 56, Mumbai runner proves age is just a number with Pulwama tribute run

Mumbai runner Kishore Sarangula. PIC/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

On Valentine's Day tomorrow (February 14), Mumbai runner Kishore Sarangula is set to show some love for our Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who perished in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.

Going solo

As a tribute to the fallen personnel, Sarangula on Saturday will run solo for 12 hours from 5 am to 5 pm. The Mahim resident will be running around Shivaji Park "to show people, youngsters, especially, that they may have plans to celebrate Valentine's, but they need to take a few minutes off to show love for 40 of our brothers who perished in Pulwama," said Sarangula.

Runner Kishore Sarangula is stepping up for our bravehearts

Sarangula, 56, said, "I also want to send a message that age is a number, and so are timings. The important thing is pushing through barriers and persevering towards goals, being more than you thought you could ever be."

About the venue, he said, "I will be taking rounds of the Maidan. The entire Shivaji Park is my running club and my family." Talking about the 12-hour time of his run, he said, "I start at dawn and finish before sunset, because I want to run with the sun."

The poster announcing the run and motivation behind it

In support

Sarangula, a make-up artist by profession, said, "Anybody who is at the park, if they wish to, is welcome to run with me, even symbolically to show support." "I will also be placing a tribute book near the Shivaji Park Gymkhana [SPG] for people who may not run but want to pen down a message for the CRPF in solidarity. Even a ‘Jai Hind' is enough; keep it simple," said Sarangula, who does not have a ‘support' team on his run, but the SPG is with him. He has permission to use their washroom and drinking water facilities during that 12-hour run.

A date which lives in infamy

It has been seven years since the Pulwama attack. On February 14, 2019, a vehicle-borne suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Indian security personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. The incident occurred in the Lethapora village in the Pulwama district of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed along with the perpetrator, Adil Ahmad Dar, a local Kashmiri from the Pulwama district.