RFI Stories
Inspiring stories of AID Run For India Cincinnati Team
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Deval Motka - Servant Leader. Mother. Runner. Chief Data Officer at Genesco. Global Data Power Woman 2021/2022
"If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else." - Brooker Washington.
8 years of running, 1 full marathon, countless half marathons, pacer for Ohio state - I could easily say that I had accelerated my pace of love for this sport. I had made every important decision of my life while running. Being a data professional, I inspected every mile of data and analyzed it, then connected it to leadership and then wrote about it. Running was my life.
Then pandemic hit.
It hit hard and the easiest thing which was to tie laces of shoes each morning at 5 am, seemed tough! Personal losses and never-ending news paused all miles. Virtual races did no good to me and I kept waiting for the real human touch, the real in person race.
Finally, in May 2022, I had made up my mind to just show up at the Flying Pig without practice. 2 weeks before the Pig, I accidentally stumbled upon a Facebook RFI post by Srini. They had just finished the Heart Mini and were about to get on the Pig. Not sure what made this solo runner in me dial the phone, but it was probably the best dial of 2022!
I fondly remember my first Sunday run of 8 miles in late April. Anupa and Sri Mirle got a buffet brunch that was larger than a lunch. We sat by the parking lot in MCC and I knew I had connected!
6 months hence, I have loved bringing in speed workouts at the track, created some coffee Sunday runs, talked endlessly about pride and fear of this sport and most importantly, benefited from strong friendships formed along these miles. And the food keeps getting better 😀
I couldn't have finished my 2nd full marathon without inspiration from this group!
Maithili Patil - Hospitalist Physician at Trihealth
In January this year(2022), I got a message on WhatsApp about a running group that was going to start training for Cincinnati’s Flying Pig half marathon. I hadn’t ever run more than a 5K and that too over ten years ago. Two years of the pandemic had been mentally and physically draining (I’m a hospitalist physician and barely had time to see my family let alone exercise). I decided to take a chance- hoping it would get me outside, thinking about and talking to people about things other than Covid and hospital medicine. The AID India fundraising part was completely secondary to me at that time. I dragged along a friend for that first one-mile run dressed for sub zero weather. The handful of other participants were newbies like me. That first run, panting after half a mile and shivering in the cold, made the half marathon seem like a pie in the sky. But the organizers (Srini and Rajesh) were as welcoming and encouraging as they could be. Fast forward to today- 10 months and three half marathons later-I’m really thankful for this group that has made me a regular runner and forged close friendships. Hearing about the good work done for water projects in the villages of my motherland is the icing on the cake. One click on a random forward turned out to be a stroke of luck for me.
2 Half marathons in three weeks. Hearth mini 10k Many more to come
Teja Bund - Technical Regulatory Manager at Givaudan
Maithili forwarded a whatsapp message to me and that’s how I joined the second weekend in January 2022. Huffing and puffing I couldn’t even run a few yards, and I thought about the Flying Pig half marathon which seemed like a distant dream then. Continuous encouragement from the coaches is what made me continue. So glad I joined this group
2 half marathons and Hearth Mini 10k in 2022 and a 11 mile hiking challenge.
Kalyan Adapa - Program Manager GAP
I ram my first half marathon at the 2022 Flying Pig which is a bit of an achievement me. Forget dreaming about it, I was actually averse to running until about 6 months ago. I took this up only for contributing to a great cause of soil and water preservation projects in India. But what I experienced during the run was something totally surreal. It was 30K+ positive, motivated and beautiful souls running on the course along with countless other positive, selfless and beautiful souls on the sidelines who constantly cheered on every runner and provided everything from water to gatorade and bananas and more and made it an experience to cherish. The way people were cheering, egging and helping each other was a sight to behold especially in these extra ordinary times that we currently find ourselves in and just goes to reaffirm the faith in humanity one more time.
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