Kerala   

On a marathon run with a mission

Anand Haridas

CREATING AWARENESS: Marathon runner Peter Dulvy (right) and Rahul Noble Singh, members of the Heels on Fire team, who plan to run 600 k.m. across the State in less than a month. The team was in Kochi on Tuesday. - Photo: Vipinchandran

KOCHI: It is a marathon, with a difference. Peter Dulvy and his companions plan to run 600 kilometres across the State in less than a month. But the marathon athlete has more in mind than just running.

While Mr. Dulvy, a part-Irish and part-Indian veteran of many marathons, runs along the rural Kerala, Desmond Roberts, a New Delhi-based Malayali photographer will go on clicking his camera and Rahul Noble Singh, a London-based travel writer, will take notes.

"This way, we are giving voice to the people who are normally not heard," said Mr. Singh. Mr. Dulvy is quick to add: "This is just a beginning. During our run, we will interact with local people and NGOs. Thus we will be relaying the messages about issues like development and environment to a wider audience."

It started off as a challenge that many have not done, running along the roads of Kerala in the height of summer. Though they could find sponsors like Reebok and Gatorade, the health drink, as well as the India Tourism office at London among others, it was no simple task indeed.

"We run between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. and later in the evening between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. In between we interact with the local public and do a bit of filming. Then there is the deadline for filing reports of our day out for the website," Mr. Dulvy said. A detailed log of the run appears in the website, www.heelsonfire.org.

The three-member team hopes to link up various movements during the course of their run, which is expected to end at Kanyakumari on May 27. They will come back to Kochi to "Run for Life" along with the Heart Foundation.

"We prefer a soft-footed approach towards destination promotion through tourism. We might even highlight Kochi as a running destination," said Mr. Dulvy. For the time being, they serve as ambassadors for carrying news about Kerala's achievement in social development, advanced health care facilities and high literacy to the world outside through the Internet. The website aims to serve as hub of discussions on issues like these.

The run has already caught the attention of many from across the world. A Swedish runner Jenny Tholin and British runner Daniel Inman are now running with them. Indian legend P.T. Usha joined them during the stretch at Payyoli.

After Kerala, what next? "May be, the `Heels on Fire' will move on to development issues in South America," said Mr. Dulvy.

They will keep on running, and telling the world about stories of people living along off-the-beaten-tracks.

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