A resident of Ghatkopar and a mother of two, Mehta couldn’t just push herself to participate in the marathon in the last three years. But this time she is determined to take part in the 7-km Dream Run. “If I can’t run, then I will walk to the finishing line,” says Mehta.

Mehta has also been successful in convincing two of her friends to participate in the race just for the fun of it. “Even if we cannot seriously run like others, we will chat up all the way and motivate each other to finish the race,” she says.

Oldest marathoner
At 94, he will defy age and became the oldest participant at the Mumbai Marathon on Sunday. Meet Dattatry Balse, for whom age is not a barrier. And for someone who walks 10 km a day, the 7-km Dream Run will be a cakewalk.

“I get up at around 3.30 am and put on my jogging suit after morning chores to join my friends as I am not advised to walk alone,” says Balse, a former banker who retired 33 years ago. Every day, Balse sets off from his Grant road residence to the other end of Nariman Point.

Balse, who has been jogging for 65 years now, says there is nobody except for him and his two friends on the Marine Drive Promenade so early in the morning. “I am extremely health conscious and walking is in my blood,” he said. And it’s not just jogging that’s behind his good health. He recently won a local yoga and gymnastics competition. “I performed ‘dand’, a type of yoga at the competition. Last year, he was felicitated as the oldest marathoner.

They have a heart for marathon
‘I am running for myself’ is what 53-year-old housewife Vrushali Vadhavkar says whoever she meets during her morning jog.

Vadhavkar, a resident of Vile Parle who underwent a bypass surgery in 2004, has been certified fit for the Dream Run. “We (heart patients) are told not to run so we will walk but will finish the race,” she said.

At the Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre, where Vadhavkar trots on the treadmill daily for three years now, there are 47 other patients with heart-related problems who have resolved to take part in the marathon.

Among them is retired captain Kulbhushan Agarwal (64), who has been a sportsman in his younger days.

“I was very active until I developed a blockage in arteries and was advised an angiography. But now I am fit and ready for my second innings,” says Agarwal.

Agarwal, who underwent angiography in 2004, is very particular about his exercise and diet. Agrawal, who now teaches naval officers five days a week, works out every day and spares time for morning walk.

He has convinced his wife to walk along with him as well. “My wife is not participating in the marathon but one change the marathon has brought is that it has motivated my wife to walk as well,” he says.

Both Vadhavkar and Agrawal are looking forward to experiencing the electrifying atmosphere on January 21 as Agarwal prefers to call the event a “carnival”.

Surgeon puts on jogging boots
Milind Sankhe looks like any other jogger striving hard to be fit. And this neurosurgeon from Hinduja Hospital knows very well the importance of good health. Dr Sankhe will take part in the Dream Run with his friends from the hospital.

“I take marathon as a challenge to my body and am participating for four years now,” Dr Sankhe said. “Given a chance I would run for awareness for epilepsy,” he says, practising alone with the help of a book.