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Social Initiatives
DRDP Satara

Satara  February 14,2019

  

Mission:  

Satara Runners Foundation, established in 2012, is a non-profit organization with a mission of promoting a fitness culture & healthy lifestyle through physical activity, especially distance running.

Satara is a quiet & beautiful city, surrounded on 3 sides by the rugged mountain ranges of the mighty Western Ghats.

The location, climate and terrain of this mountainous region has many similarities with the Iten region of Kenya, famous for being the centre of Kenyan middle and long distance running and considered one of the best places to train, due to the altitude, the tranquility, the perfect climate and the great trails.  

Satara, the erstwhile capital of the Maratha Kingdom, has a long tradition of being the breeding ground for leaders from all fields like Sports, Politics, Education, Social and Environmental activism.

It has also produced several talented and internationally successful runners who made their mark in the field of Distance running. [ from Nanda Jadhav in the 1980s to Lalita Babar, who recently became only India’s second ever female runner to participate at the highest level in the Olympics ]

With the success of our entirely home grown event, the Satara Hill Half Marathon, more and more young runners from our region are now getting interested in developing a career in distance running. There are already some dedicated coaches and groups working towards this objective , but they suffer from a paucity of funds and resources.

We have also tried our best to support runners to the extent possible, but we have now decided to do this in a more structured and organized manner.

This is what we seek to address through our new project –

The Distance Running Development Project [ Satara ]

The Distance Running Development Program aims to provide aspiring and talented youth with the opportunities to achieve their highest potential in running, especially distance running, with a special focus on local talent, in Satara District.

The program will provide scholarships to young local athletes according to financial need, natural talent, athletic skill and a willingness to work hard towards achieving excellence.

Through fundraising events, sponsorship, web-based resources and more, we also intend to partner with like-minded organizations to raise and donate funds to benefit the growth and development of deserving and needy athletes.

We aim to promote middle and long distance running at the grassroots for local athletes, to encourage, nurture and provide them professional training and national / international exposure in order to compete at the highest level.

We believe Satara possesses extraordinary raw running talent that needs to be spotted and nurtured in the right manner. We are hopeful that this project will help discover such talent and make India proud in the years to come.

The program will provide a holistic approach to training of athletes, which will include Sports Nutrition, Sports Scientific and Physical training, and Mental Preparation Programs.

We intend to pool together the collaborative efforts of teachers, parents, coaches, mentors, fitness professionals, performance analysts, physiotherapists, sports psychologist, and dietitians all contributing to assist young runners achieve their goals.

With initiatives to propel runners forward in their running careers to international standings and participation in world-renowned athletic events, Marathon Association Satara is committed to supporting promising athletes through complimentary entry and registration for marathons, travel assistance, lodging and stipend/ sponsorship programs.

When you register for PNB MetLife Satara Hill Half Marathon 2018, through the DRDP SATARA quota, you will be contributing Rs 1000/- directly to the Project.

We are committed to using the funds raised through this platform to help deserving and underprivileged athletes in the best way possible.

Let’s all contribute to support and nurture deserving young talent.

Together we can and will do it.

DRDP SATARA (2017-2018)

DRDP (Distance Running Development program) is our humble effort to help runners especially from our predominantly rural areas.

We carried out the following activities under the DRDP scheme in 2017-2018 :

1) Scholarships for young Runners-

We have provided a Scholarship amount of Rs 5000 per month, to 4 young and talented athletes, selected on the basis of their recent performances at various running events.

We hope that our support will play a role in nurturing their development and further progress as distance runners.

The athletes selected under the DRDP scheme for 2017- 2018 are as follows :