Baramati Marathon saw an unexpected yet surprising finish. 61 year old Lata Bhagwan Kare emerged victorious outrunning all the other usual experienced runners. The organizers, competitors and spectators were all taken by surprise as it was her first ever race. She took a huge lead right after few minutes of the race.

Lata Kare was the surprise element to the race. Everything about her was surprising, her age, her running gears, her dress code. She raced at the age of 61 wearing a traditional nauvari(typical Maharashtrian saree) and no running shoes or any kind of footwear. Yes, you read it right! She raced a marathon barefooted.

Lata lives in a small town named Pimpli which is 7 km from Baramati. She works as a farm labour and came to know about the marathon just few days before the race day by some of her relatives staying in Baramati.

“When I came to know about the competition, I decided to participate in the event. I gathered courage and informed my son that I wanted to run the Marathon. Initially, he gave me a weird look as in his opinion it was not possible, given my age. But I was determined, so he finally gave in,” Lata said to the DNA Reporter.

She also said that she walks around one kilometer to reach home from her work place every day and this helped her to stay fit for the event.

“I used to go for morning walks daily, but I had never run. If I had even tried to run, people would have found it strange and they would have asked me uncomfortable questions,” Lata said laughing.

Lata also revealed that while she was standing at the start line she was feeling nervous about the contest – “I felt a little awkward, as all the other participants were staring at my dress. That also made me a little nervous. However, when the race began and I started overtaking them one by one, I gained my energy. While running, I was talking to myself and telling that I want to win this race and I did it.”

As a matter of fact, she started the race wearing her slippers on. But slippers slipped out of her foot a couple of times within a few meters, to which she decided to get rid of them and ran barefooted.

“We never expected a participant like Kare to be the winner of the race. It was pleasant surprise. We were extremely happy while handing over the trophy to Kare.” – said Sachin Satav, the organizer with a surprising look.

Following her unbelievable run, everyone came running to her and ask only one question “Whether she would run more races in future?”

To which Lata replied – “I want to. But only god knows whether I remain as strong then as I am today.”