GUWAHATI, March 13 � Taking forward her fight against smoking, Kripa Sagar, a 49-year-old woman, is here in Guwahati to motivate smokers to quit the deadly habit.
As part of her campaign �Take A Breath of Fresh Air - India: Run To Quit�, Kripa has committed herself to a marathon of 42.2 kilometres in each State of the country to spread the message of quitting smoking joyfully through running.
She has so far covered 12 States in India.
The 13th run will kick start in Guwahati on March 15 from Sarusajai sports complex. The run is being organised by the Sports Authority of India and supported by Athletics Association of Assam and Department of Sports and Youth Development,
�Take A Breath of Fresh Air� was conceived around four years back by her, a 45-year-old woman then who�d managed to quit smoking after taking to running, Kripa had learnt that there was a direct relation between running and her giving up of smoking.
She said, � I had learnt that the reason why all smokers get addicted to cigarettes was the �feel good� chemicals (serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, etc) released in the brain while smoking a cigarette. These chemicals give a sense of being in control and some kind of peace and a sense of calm. I discovered that these very chemicals get released in the brain while going for a long run. This was how I was able to quit smoking so easily.� So far Kripa had covered States like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Pondicherry, Punjab, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.
