City-based endocrinologist Goutham Meher has attained celebrity status by becoming the first resident to conquer Kilimanjaro. He will be back in the news for running in a marathon to raise funds for the Indian Navy and Visakhapatnam city which were battered by the Hudhud super cyclone.
Besides mountaineering Dr. Meher is very fond of running. He has participated in most of the marathons conducted in the different places in the country. By default, he registered himself to participate in the Vizag Navy Marathon a couple of months ago.
Hudhud caused the Indian Navy a loss of Rs. 2,000 crore.
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The port city and neighbouring district too took a massive beating. Moved by the damaged caused by the super cyclone Dr. Meher turned into a fundraiser. Instead of taking the beaten path of collecting for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) he registered on to an online fundraising website saying that he would run the marathon to cover the loss of Indian Navy and for the re-building of Visakhapatnam city and asked his friends to donate generously on Facebook.
Dr. Meher received an overwhelming response from his friends, several of them NRIs. With two days still left for the event the physician raised five times what he set as a ‘goal’ for himself.
“We can win many battles, but it is not easy when you are against the fury of nature. Cyclone Hudhud battered the strategic naval base at Visakhapatnam, damaging its airfield and other installations. Thirty to forty per cent of trees inside the naval station got uprooted,” Dr. Meher said.
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He was glad that all the income from the First Vizag Navy Marathon would also go for the rebuilding of Visakhapatnam city, he said.