Mumbai: The shortest run of 1.3 km ended with the loudest cheers. The participants deserved it, said those cheering them on at the finish line. They were the champions of disability. The segment at the TMM 2025 moved other runners. The participants themselves, who at times hurtled down the tar road route in their wheelchairs or had to manoeuvre carefully over the sometimes unfriendly, uneven tarmac, smiled later with abandon. The marathon, they said, afforded them this joy. The category saw a total of 1,089 participants.
Rajeshwari Mane, a law student and an accountant from Vikhroli, was with friends Rohini Sathe and Vinod Rawat, both in wheelchairs. Rohini’s husband, Vinod, who had a leg amputated below one knee, works at KEM Hospital, where he said they work on making equipment available to those in need. He is also a fencing player and recently completed the base camp at the Himalayas as the first above-knee amputee, and his dream next is to scale Everest. “It is not about name and fame, but to chase a dream that’s on the bucket list,” he said. As he spoke to TOI, others wheeled in speedily, excited to have completed the ‘run’, carrying various sports articles, including a cricket bat and a basketball, as part of the Wheelchair Sports Association’s plea to support the Paralympics.
Among them was Manoj Sharma, who works as a delivery person with a scooter with an attached sidecar.
Ahilya Nagar Kajal Salve, 30, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident two years ago, was with by her mother, Sunita Salve, who was her buddy. Wheelchair-bound Kajal, who had to give up her career after the accident, was happy to participate in her first marathon. “The atmosphere was electrifying with people cheering for us. My mother pushed my wheelchair during the entire stretch. My aim in life is to be independent in every possible way, even if I am on this wheelchair,” Kajal said, smiling as a senior citizen runner congratulated her.
Mumbai: The shortest run of 1.3 km ended with the loudest cheers. The participants deserved it, said those cheering them on at the finish line. They were the champions of disability. The segment at the TMM 2025 moved other runners. The participants themselves, who at times hurtled down the tar road route in their wheelchairs or had to manoeuvre carefully over the sometimes unfriendly, uneven tarmac, smiled later with abandon. The marathon, they said, afforded them this joy. The category saw a total of 1,089 participants.
Rajeshwari Mane, a law student and an accountant from Vikhroli, was with friends Rohini Sathe and Vinod Rawat, both in wheelchairs. Rohini’s husband, Vinod, who had a leg amputated below one knee, works at KEM Hospital, where he said they work on making equipment available to those in need. He is also a fencing player and recently completed the base camp at the Himalayas as the first above-knee amputee, and his dream next is to scale Everest. “It is not about name and fame, but to chase a dream that’s on the bucket list,” he said. As he spoke to TOI, others wheeled in speedily, excited to have completed the ‘run’, carrying various sports articles, including a cricket bat and a basketball, as part of the Wheelchair Sports Association’s plea to support the Paralympics.
Among them was Manoj Sharma, who works as a delivery person with a scooter with an attached sidecar.
Ahilya Nagar Kajal Salve, 30, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident two years ago, was with by her mother, Sunita Salve, who was her buddy. Wheelchair-bound Kajal, who had to give up her career after the accident, was happy to participate in her first marathon. “The atmosphere was electrifying with people cheering for us. My mother pushed my wheelchair during the entire stretch. My aim in life is to be independent in every possible way, even if I am on this wheelchair,” Kajal said, smiling as a senior citizen runner congratulated her.
