Every runner who turns up at the starting point of the Tata Mumbai Marathon today has a purpose - better their timing, prove their fitness, make a new beginning or to run for a cause.

For Shibani Gulati and brother Varun Malhotra, 36, today's marathon is to prove that if you are armed with strength and courage, any adversity can be toppled. While Shibani, 39, a kidney transplant survivor, is a seasoned half marathoner, the Mumbai Marathon will be a first for Varun, who donated his kidney to his elder sister in 2010.