This 19-year-old athlete from Pune ran a marathon to fund her sister’s wedding

Poonam Sonune, a gold medallist in South Asian Junior Athletics, participated in Pune half marathon and won Rs 1.5 lakh, which will be used to fund her sister’s wedding.

Most athletes in India were not born with a silver spoon. In order to climb the success ladder, they had to face a lot of difficulties. Despite inadequate facilities and poor finance background, many still managed to triumph life’s race and make the country proud, thanks to their determination and hard work.

While we have come across many such stories, this 19-year-old athlete from Pune has gone a step forward to help her family overcome hardship.

Recently, Poonam Sonune from Sangwan village in Buldhana district of Maharashtra ran a marathon to fund her sister’s wedding. Her father, an agricultural labourer, could not afford the wedding of his elder daughter. Hence, Poonam took up the responsibility to arrange funds for her sister’s wedding on her own.

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Poonam, who bagged a gold for India at the 2018 South Asian Junior Athletics, this time participated in the Pune half marathon event and won a cash prize of Rs 1.25 lakh, reports Storypick.

Coming from a family with a poor financial background, it was not an easy task for her to get into athletics. It was solely the display of her athletic skills in school which helped her get selected to get trained at an organisation run by boxer Vijender Singh, reports NDTV India.

Unfortunately, Poonam’s father could support her training only halfway through. However, after raising funds through CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities, Vijender Singh endorsed Poonam for further training and participation.

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Despite raising money, Poonam will not be able to attend her sister’s wedding  as she has been selected for the South Asian Games.

But this isn’t the end of road for Poonam, as she wants to win more such marathons to make sure that she builds a house for her family.

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