Seventy one-year-old running coach from Marine Lines, Savio D’Souza proved that even a battle with colon cancer can’t break his spirit or slow him down. At the Mumbai Marathon that was held recently, Savio completed the 21 km run in little over two hours. He admits friends and family were worried if he would be able to pull it off. “I did not overtrain. The idea was to complete the distance and prove to myself that cancer can’t break my spirit and that I can do it. I was not competing with the others and ran in a controlled manner,” says Savio, who has been a part of the Mumbai Marathon since its inception in 2004.
Savio was diagnosed with cancer in December 2022 and began training for the marathon in September 2024, after undergoing surgery in July 2023. He says, “I started with walking just to regain my confidence. When I managed to walk 5-10 kms without any problem, I started with walking and jogging for 1 km to check if I could do it and gradually increased the timing.”
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