Milind Soman takes Pinkathon to 52 cities in India: It's more relevant now to go into the tier two and tier three towns

For Milind Soman, it’s been over a decade of highlighting the cause of women’s health and wellness through his initiative Pinkathon. Having seen the difference the movement has created over the years, Milind Soman is now excited as he takes Pinkathon further to a much bigger reach.

“It was very exciting for me to see the response that Pinkathon got when we started in 2012, and since then, with the help of the Ambassadors of Pinkathon, it has grown even more. Before the pandemic, we were in about 9 or 10 cities, and now our next plan is to take it to 52 cities, which is one event every Sunday. I think it's more relevant now to go into the tier two and tier three towns. Maybe the events will be smaller, but the footprint will be bigger,” he shares, adding, “From metro cities, ideas do trickle down into rural areas but that takes a long time. So, if you take the experience there directly, it is what is going to help change the mindset. And the best way to spread a message is to keep repeating it.”

Milind reflects that the motive behind starting Pinkathon was to help women understand the need of focusing on themselves. “It's about women's wellness, it includes physical health, mental health, and emotional health. When you take out time for yourself, you're making sure that you consider yourself important enough. The reason why i started Pinkathon in the first place was that i realised that women were neglecting their health,” he says, adding, “The whole role given to women in society is that you must take care of everybody else, but then you end up neglecting yourself. So, our message right from the beginning was that the cause is you. Even if you want to help people, you want to give 100%, you have to be 100% first.”

The actor proudly admits to the impact that Pinkathon has had in women’s lives across the country. “Last year we started another event called Invincible Women, and that run ranged from 3 km to 100 km. Women who started in Pinkathon with 3 km, some of them are now running a 100 km. The positive influence and impact on their familes has been tremendous. For this recent edition of the JBG Invincible women's run with Pinkathon on December 14, 2024, we merged the two events as the Invincible Women of Pinkathon. And it’s for everyday women who are housewives, corporate employees, businesswomen. The oldest woman who ran 100 km was aged 67,” he says. Corporates have also become more interested in the message of Pinkathon and Invincible Women. In this edition LaShield by Glenmark and Bank of Baroda were extremely supportive.

Talking about how Pinkathon has evolved over the years, Milind shares, “Over the years, we realised the roadblocks and obstacles, and we try to address them. We were the first event to introduce a breastfeeding zone. We created events where women would run in sarees just because some of them were not comfortable wearing shorts or tights. We have had visually impaired women running, so, we created training programs for guides for them,” he says.

Overwhelmed by the impact that his movement has created, Milind shares, “It's very easy to help people and it's satisfying. When I see these women and their journey of empowerment happening in front of my eyes over the last 10 years, it is an incredible feeling. It just encourages you to do more.”