Running for daughters’ education, barefoot cook wins Beed race

A 47-year-old cook, Ramabai Ranveer, won a 3-km race in Maharashtra’s Beed district after running barefoot in her everyday sari. With no formal training and only slippers, she said her determination to support her two daughters’ education drove her victory

Beed: Running barefoot in a sari, a 47-year-old woman who works as a cook has won a race in Maharashtra’s Beed district. Ramabai Ranveer had never trained, and she ran barefoot because all she had was a pair of slippers. But her motivation — to fund her daughters’ education — propelled her, she said.

The ‘Amrit Daud’ had been organized on Saturday morning at Ambajogai by the Bharatiya Shikshan Prasarak Sanstha to mark the Amrit Mahotsav (75th anniversary) of its Kholeshwar educational complex. The race stretched from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk to Bhagwan Baba Chowk, a distance of about 3 km. Wearing her everyday cotton saree, Ramabai, who stood at the rear of the pack of women runners at the starting line, might have appeared out of place.

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Initially, she had her slippers on, but finding that they were slipping off, Ramabai took them off, held them in her hands, and ran barefoot. Braving cold, damp asphalt road and sharp stones, she gathered pace while clutching the edge of her sari. One by one, she left the competitors behind, crossing the finish line and winning the cash prize of Rs 3,000.

Originally from Hingoli, Ramabai relocated to Ambajogai following the death of her husband, taking up domestic work as a cook to fund the education of her two daughters, she said. “I run every day just to keep my household afloat. Today I ran for myself and to fund my daughters’ education,” she said after receiving the winner’s trophy and cash prize.