SBI Pinkathon powered by Women's Horlicks -Empowering Indian Women comes to Mumbai for the consecutive fourth edition

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai, November19, 2015:  SBI Pinkathon powered by Women’s Horlicks – Empowering Indian Women, India’s biggest women’s run is coming to Mumbai for the fourth edition on Sunday, December 13, 2015. Online registrations are open at www.pinkathon.in for the 3km, 5km & 10 km Volini multi-category run.For 21 km drop a mail on info@pinkathon.in . United Sisters Foundation & Maximus Events along with super model, actor, fitness enthusiast, avid barefoot runner and Pinkathon founder Milind Soman formally announced the launch of the 4th edition run in Mumbai. Eminent dignitaries like actress and fitness icon Bipasha Basu, RJ Malishka from RED FM and Devika Bhojwani, Vice President, Women’s Cancer Initiative-Tata Memorial Hospital, Upasana Makati, founder of White Print - India's firstBraille lifestyle magazinewho expressed their wholehearted supported for the noble cause.

Expressing delight on the launch of the third edition of SBI Pinkathon powered by Women’s Horlicks in Mumbai, founder Milind Soman said, “We are very excited to bring Pinkathon to Mumbai once again. We are confident the city and its people will support us and help make this run a success. Pinkathon is more than a Marathon. It is the seed of change and the beginning of a movement that is carried forward by a growing community of empowered women across India, who share a belief that a healthy family, a healthy nation and a healthy world begins with empowered women. The first step in empowerment is taking control of your own health, respecting yourself and understanding and celebrating the value you bring to your family and society.Empowerment is not a gift of society; it is a gift you give yourself.”

The newly titled Ironman Triathlete further added, “Fitness is liberating. If a culture of regular exercise and fitness must take root in India, our women need to become aware about the benefits of fitness. They need to be able to get out and run, which doesn't happen enough due to various cultural reasons. We now organize Pinkathon in eight cities. More than 10,000 women run at each of these events over the 3km, 5km, 10km and 21km distances. They run in running gear but also in sarees, salwar kameez, hijabs or whatever attire they deem fit and keeps them comfortable.”

Renowned actress and fitness icon, Bipasha Basu said, “It’s a pleasure to be associated with Pinkathon for consecutively 4 years now. I feel that Pinkathon is an important platform that encourages women to come out of their shell and talk about their fight with cancer. It gives them a chance to show the world how tough they are to stand against all odds and truly be winners. I wish Milind all the success in this noble endeavour and urge the women of Mumbai to participate in huge numbers."

Deveika Bhojwani, Vice President Women’s Cancer Initiative-Tata Memorial Hospital said, “Having worked towards the cause of breast cancer awareness for several years, I firmly believe that Indian women need to realize how important it is to understand the ailment and its risks. In addition, it is crucial to get yourself checked, spread the word on a personal basis, and adopt fitness as a way of life.”

 Reema Sanghavi, Managing Director, Maximus Events further added “Besides Mumbai, SBI Pinkathon has already been held in various cities like Pune, Amdavad, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore. The multi-city national event has received an overwhelming expression of support with over 50,000 women of all ages, across different walks of life from 6 cities in 2014. This number is expected to cross 75,000 in 2015 with 8 cities. The campaign will be supported with an integrated communication plan which includes several pre- event activities like training runs for baby wearing mothers, first time women runners and cancer survivors. There will also be an extensive online campaign to reach out to the masses and help the movement grow.”

Sanjukta Raiguru, MD SBI Foundation said,“We, at State Bank of India, are proud to be a partner in this great initiative for women called the SBI Pinkathon powered by Women’s Horlicks.The Pinkathon has been created to drive awareness on social causes. Even though it is not a fund raiser, all participants are encouraged to raise money through the Pinkathon, which will be donated directly to the Women’s Cancer Initiative in Mumbai, as well as other NGO's across the country. SBI also appeals to all men in city to ensure that their loved ones participate in the SBI Pinkathon. We need your wholehearted support. Hope to see you there!” Prashant Pandey, EVP Marketing, GSK Consumer Healthcare India  said, “ It is less known that that decline in bone density and bone health impacts a woman’s ability to carry on with her daily routine. Physical strength is rooted in bone health which helps in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We are confident that our partnership with Pinkathon will help generate awareness about bone health in women and encourage them to #RunStrong as they continue to win in their lives with Women’s Horlicks as their partner in this journey.”

In the SBI Pinkathon powered by Women’s Horlicks, visually impaired girls would be participating in the different category run.To prepare them for the main day, unique training sessions are designed with the help & coordination of sighted runners. SBI Pinkathon powered by Women’s Horlicks is organising special training runs in various parts of Mumbai for those registered participants who have requested training for the main day.There will be other differently able will also participatein Pinkathon Mumbai 2015 on 13^thDecember.

Bajaj Electricals will be planting 1000 trees to commemorate the Pinkathon going green in Mumbai. With the Pinkathon's one of a kind initiative, our Medical Partner will be providing a Medical tag for every single participant of Pinkathon Mumbai 2015. This medical tag will provide a free Mammogram to all the participants above 45yrs of age & a free medical examination/ Bone density Testcheck-up for those who are under 45yrs.

RJ Malishka was announced as the mascot for 10 km run.  She was presented with the first bibs and is being currently trained to run in the 10 km category. Milind Soman also highlighted the concept of Pinkathon Ambassadors in every city who are passionate, extraordinary, committed men & women connecting for one cause, health for every woman. Each Pinkathon Ambassador is a part of the Pinkathon core team and registers all the women in their circle of influence. Pinkathon inspires everyone that together, we will do more. Various initiatives are undertaken by the Pinkathon Ambassadors to connect with women across various strata of the society. Pinkathon goes to School is another interesting concept to encourage Mother-daughter teams to run together. The idea is to encourage health & fitness at every age.

Pinkathon in Mumbai has received huge response from corporate sponsors like State Bank of India, Women’s Horlicks, RED FM, Bajaj Electrical, Volini, U.S. Polo, Vario Fitness, Oyo Rooms, Reebok, Red FM, Bisleri, Flashbulbz, IPRS PPL, USF, Maximus, Timing Technology, and Raw Pressery & Enthuzion who are supporting the event.

The focus of the India’s biggest women’s only running event, is to encourage an active lifestyle and overall fitness amongst women, while creating a much needed awareness about breast cancer and bone health and encourage thousands of new or first-timer women to take up running. All proceeds raised from the event will be used for the expenses incurred in organizing and marketing the event, and by the Women's Cancer Initiative in its fight against breast cancer. There is a special registration offer with your registration of 655 you can register your mother/daughter/household help for free. This offer is valid upto 5th December.All participants will get free Mammograms from panelised hospital. The official website for Pinkathon is www.pinkathon.in through which participants can register online. Twitter Handle: @pinkathon10k

About Maximus Mice & Media Solutions:

Founded by Reema Sanghavi (ManagingDirector)& Milind Soman (Director) in 2008. SBI Pinkathon powered by Women’s Horlicks – Empowering Indian Women, like all other Maximus event is characterized with their trademark of effective brand communication & fiery enthusiasm. Maximus has been supporting the cause since its inception and working constantly to take it to greater heights. Both Reema and Milind feel very strongly for the cause and have worked diligently to make this a national entity that resonates with the women across India.

Women’s Horlicks proudly announces its association with Pinkathon- India’s Biggest Women’s Run. In line with Pinkathon’s objective to promote health and wellness in women, Women’s Horlicks also encourages women to #RunStrong and create awareness about ‘Bone Health’ for women over 30.

As one gets older, weak bones impact a person’s ability to carry out their day to day work. This is especially true for women after 30 who experience a clear decline in strength on account of low bone density (Women may lose up to 1% of bone density every year). It is then one should take extra care and build the bone strength to help in doing more with their lives. Women’s Horlicks has 100% RDA of Calcium and Vitamin D, these are important for bone health. Women’s Horlicks helps provides bone health maintenance.

About GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd:

GSK Consumer Healthcare Ltd is the category leader in Indian health food drinks industry. Our flagship product Horlicks leads the market, while Boost is among the top three health food drink brands that India prefers. Our manufacturing plants are located in Nabha, Rajahmundry and Sonepat. In India we have an engaged workforce of over 3500 employees. GSK also markets and distributes a range of everyday health products such as Eno, Crocin, Iodex and Sensodyne. Our marketing and distribution network comprises over 700 distributors and a direct coverage of over 8 lakh retail outlets.

GSK Consumer Healthcare Ltd is an associate of GlaxoSmithKline plc. Of U.K. one of world’s largest consumer healthcare companies. We have a heritage that goes back over 160 years. Our purpose is to help more people around the world to do more, feel better and live longer with everyday healthcare products.  Our goal is to build a global, growing business - we call a Fast Moving Consumer Healthcare (FMCH) company - dedicated to everyday healthcare with all of the scientific expertise and quality guarantees that demands, working at the speed and with the genuine consumer understanding the modern world expects.

About Women’s Cancer Initiative – Tata Memorial Hospital (WCl-TMH)

Women’s Cancer Initiative – Tata Memorial Hospital is a non for profit NGO led by, Dir. Tata Memorial Centre. Dr.R.A.Badwe, President, Mrs.Devika Bhojwani, Vice- President and Dr.Sudeep GuptaGeneral Secretary along with other cancer physicians & surgeons and volunteers. The Initiative's core activity comprises material support of socially and economically disadvantaged women who are diagnosed to have breast and gynaecological cancer. The Initiative has supported hundreds of such women to complete their prescribed treatment with chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, and surgery and rehabilitation therapy. The Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) is a grant-in-aid Institution of the Government of India that is run under the supervision of the Department of Atomic Energy. It comprises of the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) and the Advanced Centre for Training Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC). The TMC has a 70 year long and proud history of service, education and research in the field of cancer.