Solo runner’s quest for health

Giridhar Kamath with his tagline Swasth Raho, Mast Raho is a solo runner and Ambassador of Pinkathon Bengaluru. Known  for running marathons barefoot this 49-year-old is a toy manufacturer from Bengaluru. He  recently participated in a solo run of 1850 kilometers from Bengaluru to Varanasi touching six states while proclaiming the importance of health.

Giridhar started his run from Bengaluru on November 2nd with just a mobile phone, charger, ATM card and a hammock. “With just 400 grams of my luggage, I’ve interacted with numerous people irrespective of their age and class. All I needed was a crowd,” starts off Giridhar. He adds, “Random conversations with random people was a wonderful experience for me all through my journey. I introduced myself and they offered me food while I shared the knowledge I have and used to stress on the importance of one’s own health. They were all inspired and assured they would make healthier choices in their daily routine.”

Giridhar believes that by dedicating an hour to our health and some sort of workout it will impact in a fit 23-hour-day. He says, “With forty days run and two breaks  in Hyderabad and Nagpur, I see a difference of six kgs now.  With the help of media people recognise me and offer food and accomadation. Also my Facebook friends who were in those six states that I covered helped me.”

He then adds, “With basic and simple information about the need to give importance to one’s own health, conversations with farmers and truck drivers who were unaware about self-health was fruitful. This motivated me to tour around towns and villages and speak to them about a healthy lifestyle.”

Giridhar planned to cover 50 kilometers by foot in a day and  spend 14 hours amidst nature while running.

He says, “It is essential to strike a harmonious balance between both mental and physical health.The experience of running past six different states got me adapted to their food and culture. My overall expense for the 40-day run was amounted to `15,000. My hammock helped me get the best of mother nature.”

Giridhar said his unplanned solo-trip was exciting and people  made it more wonderful. “I was part of interactions and talks in villages, schools and more. I was also part of the Fit India Movement organised by the Sports Authority of India. I shared the insights about One Hour For Yourself and Swasth Raho, Mast Raho and the young athletes and children from multi-disciplinary sports assured they can achieve miracles by following it.”

Barefoot run, six states, numerous town and villages and untold conversations are what made his 40-day run of 1850 kilometers worth every second of his life. His upcoming plan is to start a run from Kanyakumari to Kashmir once he turns 50 this December.