For the very first time in India, a 44-year-old Mumbai woman, Preeti Lala has beaten 23 men in a 24-hour stadium race in a proud victory.
Recently, at the Ageas Federal Life Insurance 24-hour Stadium Race, Preeti Lala, a yoga instructor, and a social studies teacher, won first place. As per the Times Of India, Preeti Lala won the race by completing a whopping 193.60 km, while Parwinder Singh – who completed it at 154 km – bagged the second position.
In a 24-hour stadium, the athletes are expected to run around an athletic track of 400 meters. The track is set up with tents and also places for athletes to pause and take a breath. While sharing her experience of this proud victory, Preeti shared how she had previously sprint a 24-hour run but she could never manage more than 100 km. So, she assumed this time that it would be no different.
But, when the announcements were made, she realized that she was fairing better than others.
The key aspect that kept her worried was the sleep deprivation that hit many athletes between 1:00 am and 4:00 am. When she covered 100 km in 12 hours, she knew she could cover the extra 50. While sharing the details with the Times of India, she mentioned:
“Once I had 100 km in my bag, I knew I would run, walk or crawl for another 50 km easily.”
While growing up Preeti never thought of becoming an athlete when she was growing up. At school, sports day meant a holiday. It was after she had a daughter, she realized that she wanted to have better health. Since then this young mother is regularly participating in fitness events. She ran her first 10-km run 6 years ago and since then she has been part of various 12-hour and 24-hour races.
Not just Preeti, there are many mothers who restored to running to maintain their health. Even Anupriya Kaur and Priyanka Kapur are some of many mothers who trusted running for being fit after motherhood.
At IFORHER, we are proud of Preeti for such a feat. We hope her inspiring achievement will encourage many more women to pursue their passion and dreams!
