Prison Ministry and the Marathon

There are some scenes that you see after a marathon which warms your heart, like these kids who are collectively showing off their medals

or these kids who are having a look at the group selfie that they clicked.

Got the chance to cover a Half Marathon conducted by PMI (Prison Ministry of India) in Pune last Sunday.  

Before the first race was flagged off, there was a warming up session held in which the Zumba group (led by Niharika) whipped up some energy in the otherwise chilly morning.  

I was really impressed by the extra energy of these military boys who really belted it out with Niharika without missing a beat 

 At the end all were ready for that mandatory picture with the Zumba instructor. 

I liked the idea of using bicycles (non pollutants) as the pilot vehicle to guide the participants along the route 

The race in itself was fun to observe, as most of them ran with the motto of ‘taking part’ 

Some of them recognised me and waved out calling my name

Some preferred to walk, while some ran and some were properly wired for music

I did notice one lady running bare foot but could not click her picture.
All the youngsters religiously followed the instructions for the cooling down session. 

Don’t miss the little one in the red cap

There were some prominent people to flag off the race, like Ms Girija Godbole who is a film star and also is an ex student of the same school. 

After the function she readily obliged to pose for pictures. 

Varsha Rajkhowa (Ms Scuba International) was also present and spoke about the environment

There was a big group from the CME

Talking about the CME, I have been in Poona/Pune for more than four decades and have not yet gone inside CME

The whole program was held together by Mr Tarun of Radio One. 

There was some light entertainment going on as the participants had their breakfast. There was a band from Lonavala and some skit put up by the school children, I presume they are from the same school (Loyola) 

Look at the rapt attention of these kids when the dancers performed. 

I have made a small video with whatever I could capture and have split it into two. One is of the Marathon and the other is of the Zumba.   

The prize distribution can be seen in this video.
The breakfast served was hot and sumptuous. I liked the fact that it was not packed food but prepared on the spot.

Some random pictures