Pune Marathon is about inclusivity and promoting good health: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

Pune, Dec 13 (PTI) Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on Saturday asserted that the Bajaj Pune Marathon is about inclusivity and promoting good health while underlining a 31 per cent rise in the number of female runners.

The sixth edition of the Pune Marathon will be held on Sunday with Fraser-Pryce as the brand ambassador along with American sprinter Noah Lyles.

“You talk about speed when you talk about running a hundred meters, but then a marathon is about endurance and really having a strategy. The marathon is about inclusivity and promoting good health and just showing the Indian population that they too can fly,” Fraser-Pryce told PTI here.

“As a Caribbean athlete myself, I understand the importance of encouraging the nation to really rise and giving them the platform to excel and providing opportunities where they can grow, so it was fantastic to come on board for this initiative.” Fraser-Pryce said coming to India for the first time after multiple invitations was also due to the fact that the marathon will feature an increased number of female participants.

“I've been invited to India many many times but I've never had the opportunity to come and this presented a unique opportunity,” she said.

“I read that there was a 31 per cent increase in participation for women and to me that's the nail on the head for me to be here because it means that the team is really and truly creating an atmosphere of well being and positioning women at the front of what they do,” she added.

Lyles, also on his maiden trip to the country, said his fans in India had been asking him to make a visit.

“About two years ago, I told my agent that I got to get to India. I had an increasing number of followers and supporters and fans on my social media, just constantly growing and I'm like, ‘okay, this is something that I need to interact with’,” he said.

“But there's no track meets in India for, I'd say, athletes of my caliber. I'm like, ‘okay, well, we got to find something else’. So I'm telling my agent, 'we have got to find something'. He's like, ‘there's this marathon that they have. They've been having for quite a few years and they would be interested in having you'.

“We tried to do it last year. Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough time in the schedule. But we were determined to get here this year,” he added. PTI DDV PDS PDS