‘Taare Zameen Par’ star Darsheel Safary and ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5’ star Avneet Kaur are excited to encourage the kids of Mumbai to put on their running shoes for the Mumbai Juniorthon. The event is all geared up, to help on December 6.
Darsheel Safary
Avneet also tweets, ‘Hello everyone! I will be flagging off one of the races at the Mumbai Juniorthon! Hope to see many of you at the run!’
Avneet is particularly known for her dancing skills seen in numerous popular dance reality shows. She says, ”Sports is really close to my heart and I’m feeling very grateful and thankful to be a part of this event which promotes sports. Mumbai Juniorthon takes the first step for every child to be fit and healthy.”
Avaneet kaur
The event has also tied up with numerous NGOs which work for children through various mediums, thus making the run not merely a run, but a run for a cause. The event intends to highlight the rise of obesity and other diseases due to lack of physical activity among children and the need to play outdoors for the physical, social and emotional well-being.
“I really like this idea of children helping other children who are not so privileged like us, it’s the least we can do at our age,” she adds.
Mumbai Juniorthon is the first ever marathon event for children in Mumbai and intends to be an annual affair which the kids would look forward to every year. The event is divided into five categories on the basis of age and distance. The race will be followed by an entertaining carnival which includes games, food and fun activities.
Darsheel, who spends 2-3 hours daily on outdoor activities such as swimming, cricket and football, says,”There are lot of marathons for the adults in Mumbai but this is something which is happening for the us kids, which is really exciting.
Nowadays everybody is just glued to their video games, phones and tablets, it’s time we all should step outside and have the old traditional fun of outdoor games which is much more fun. The sleep you get after getting tired post such games is the proper good night’s sleep,” he says.
One of the country’s most popular fitness gurus Mickey Mehta says, “This event is initiating the kids to come out in the open because kids are becoming nerds these days, they’re all claustrophobic.
When they mingle with the elements of nature and environment, their minds open up. They’ll get to experience the taste of collective energy of running together, walking together and to try to get into field sports rather than computer games.”
One of the presenters of the event is KidZania, a company in which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is a stakeholder.