Michelle Kakade, a resident of Pune, who has embarked on a Golden Quadrilateral Run precisely to dispel the myth of the weaker sex, arrived in Vijayawada on Saturday.
“Women are perceived to be the weaker sex, incapable of taking up such physical challenges. I wanted to prove it wrong. A lot of women in their post-40s tend to become complacent and feel there’s no meaning left in their life. You need to develop certain aspects, which create your identity,” says the 47-year-old housewife.
The sudden death of a friend also played a role, as it set her thinking about the uncertainty of life.
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“He was of my age and one day he was suddenly gone. His death served as a wake-up call for me. I told myself that I want to die after creating an identity for myself by doing something worthwhile. I’ve tried varied things, but nothing has kept me interested for too long. Running is the only thing which has kept me focussed over the year,” she informs.
Through the Great India Quadrilateral Run, Michelle is attempting a Guinness World Record for “Fastest time to travel the Indian Golden Quadrilateral on foot (female)” by running 6,010 km, covering 57 major cities in India and on the country’s most valuable and largest highway project, ‘The Golden Quadrilateral’.
Michelle will be running for 181 days in 164 stages, covering a distance of 143 full marathons.
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Among many other challenges, the toughest part for this woman with iron will is being away from home.
“My husband comes periodically to meet me; I have met my daughter twice after starting this marathon, but haven’t seen my son even once,” she says, pointing to her spouse Anil Kakade, a businessman.
Of the targeted 6,010 km distance, she has already covered 4,176 km.
“In Andhra Pradesh, I have covered the longest stretch, a distance of nearly 1,200 km.”
Sharing her experiences, she says the highway from Kolkata was scenic with lots of greenery around.
“The Mumbai-Delhi belt has more industries and here, in Andhra Pradesh, I’ve come across patches which are pretty and nice to run on.”
With the whether getting hotter, she has been running from 4 a.m. till 9 a.m. every day.
Michelle is accompanied by a physiotherapist while her dietician monitors her food intake from Mumbai on a daily basis.
“I have licence to eat anything since I am burning 2,600-3,000 calories every day,” she chuckles.
Through the marathon, Michelle hopes to generate funds that can sponsor programmes of Concern India Foundation, a non-profit public charitable trust that supports development-oriented organisations working for the disadvantaged sections.