Anjali Saraogi is the first Indian woman to run the complete 89 km stretch of the Comrades Marathon that is the world’s oldest annual ultra-marathon between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. She won the Bill Rowden Medal for her effort and this mother of a teenaged daughter is 43 years old. She has proven yet again that age is just a number. She started running when her 18-year-old daughter Mamta encouraged her to take part in a city marathon two years back. And the best thing was She finished first. She then realised how much she enjoys running and then she vowed to continue till as long as she could. And now proves a firm in her belief that no dream is too big if women can overcome the impediment of fear.
In a report, she said women usually undermine themselves according to me our fears are our greatest limitations. And so we should have to live more time with our dreams than our fears. She thought of the starting an international career after when she came second in the same year at the Mumbai Half Marathon that was her first international running event. However, her life on the road has not always been that smooth. Her career as an athlete received a major blow when she was injured while preparing for the Chicago Marathon earlier this year. And she said the doctor told her that she won’t be able to run in the future. Talking about her fight to get back on track, she said during recovering period one day she felt when one of her friends gifted her Amit Seth’s book ‘Dare to Run’. He was the first Indian to have completed the Comrades Marathon in 2009 and received the Spirit of Comrades Award last year. His book inspired her to fight on her injury.
