One man captivated the imagination of the crowd that had gathered to watch their friends and family participate in the recently-concluded Goa Pink Marathon. No one knew this man and many had come to check out Milind Soman but they left the event praising national skating champion Rana Uppalapati.
“I met this delightful guy, Rana Uppalapati, when I went to cheer my wife and friend at the finish line of the Goa Pink Marathon. He had skated to Goa from Mumbai. This guy kept skating up and down the marathon route cheering on the participants to push themselves. Brilliant stuff Rana,” said Vivek Savio Ferrao from Mapusa.
While Rana skated, there were two ultra runners Jayraman Rankawat and Inderpal Khalsa with him. The three of them traversed the 600 kms from Mumbai to Goa from April 6 to April 16. They were on a mission to promote ‘Goa Going Pink’, a mission aimed at spreading awareness about breast cancer and promoting health and fitness amongst women.
“I am glad that Goans shared their appreciation. It is the feedback that always helps in learning to do more in any role. Seeing so many first time runners was reason enough to skate 25km speaking to everyone on the road which was my stage to spread the message. Though I have always loved Goa, this trip was about the journey and not the destination. I still managed to recuperate by the beach in a laid-back setting and also visit a place or two to try the local cuisine,” said Rana.
When asked if there was any special moment during his stay in Goa and whilst interacting with the locals, Rana said that the best feeling was finishing last with a first-time-runner doing the 10km run. “The fact that she chose to take that step and complete the distance was phenomenal. Similarly, pacing with the winner of the 3km run was equally nice. She was full of energy running like how I would run when I was at school. I wanted to speak to her about conserving energy, so paced along. Overall, Goans were friendly and receptive. Skating to and fro gave me the opportunity to touch base with many in a short span. They were full of fun and smiles while they participated for the cause of fitness and breast-cancer-awareness,” added Rana.
After having studied Information Technology followed by relevant work experience, Rana has been part of expanding a family business in retailing for the last ten years in Visakhapatnam. When asked to talk about how this journey began, Rana described it as being as spontaneous as it could get.
“Since Pinkathon set a platform for the runners, I used it to skate however unsuitable the roads and the terrain were. It was a jump from the comfort of home and the structure of work to the uncertainty of the road,” said Rana
His association with Pinkathon started incidentally when two ambassadors came to him to discuss about sponsorship and organising the Vizag Going Pink event. “After skating backwards for 21km at the Vizag event and then at Hyderabad carrying a special child with Down Syndrome whilst also encouraging participants, the association became stronger,” he said.
“When I decided I wanted to do this, I had no agenda as such, I just wanted to experience the unknown. In such journeys, nothing is certain – the roads, the people, the route, the destination. Before undertaking this, the maximum distance I’d skated at a time was 10 km and I used to skate in competitions twenty years ago. I raced against trams and trains while at university and put on skates during meetings too, but I never planned to do something like this. I decided to take part in this journey with an open mind, accepting whatever comes my way, the way it is. There were a lot of people who were concerned about me doing this, because I had a major injury three years ago, but I decided to do it anyway,” added Rana.
At the end of the first two days, the difficulties from the skating point of view hit him in full force with the sweltering heat, roads and terrain. “There was one part of the body that would ache each day, but by transferring weight I would heal it along the way. Apart from hydrating the body with fluids, I would keep the mind, soul and heart with writing, thoughts and intent. So, even the 12km uphill and subsequent downhill curves were conquerable. By the end of the journey, I found myself more upbeat than tired.” said Rana.
Rana who updated his facebook page with his thoughts , metaphors and general observations shared an interesting post where he spoke about how without gear to protect and no gadgets to measure, the product of time and distance was only in the speed of the mind.
“A sense of detachment, accepting yet overcoming sudden changes in life, sexual and domestic abuse, being strong, evolution, fruition, continuity, industrial pollution, alcoholism, gender equality, the thankless journey of many a woman, untouchability, empathy, narcissism, mediocrity, construction not destruction, people, relationships, hierarchy of needs, earning the day, walking the path, were either the thoughts or issues that became inspiration for the writing that transpired over the days,” said Rana.
There are countless memories that stay with him such as a truck driver following him slowly and not speeding past him till he completed a tough part of the terrain or how he stopped and interacted with women at the ghats or how a child who had met him along with the way took his phone number and still keeps in touch and kept inquiring about his health.
“Some smiled, some appreciated, some cared, some taught, some learnt, some quenched thirst, some displayed curiosity, some expressed concern and yet some invited me to a wedding in their house. Stoic stares or excited whistles, ignorance were extinguished from the minds,” quipped Rana.
