Starting my period the night before a marathon would absolutely lead me to withdrawing from the race and eating several pints of Ben & Jerry’s instead. This is exactly why Kiran Gandhi is a hero and deserves all of the gold medals.
Gandhi is a Harvard Business School Graduate, drummer (playing along side M.I.A.), and all around badass. Instead of reaching for chocolate, she woke up, put her running shoes on, ditched the tampon, and finished her race in 4 hours, 49 minutes and 11 seconds.
Did you just say ditched the tampon? Yes, yes indeed, I did. Her reason? She writes, “If there’s one person society won’t fuck with, it’s a marathon runner. If there’s one way to transcend oppression, it’s to run a marathon in whatever way you want. On the marathon course, sexism can be beaten. Where the stigma of a woman’s period is irrelevant, and we can re-write the rules as we choose. Where a woman’s comfort supersedes that of the observer. I ran with blood dripping down my legs for sisters who don’t have access to tampons and sisters who, despite cramping and pain, hide it away and pretend like it doesn’t exist. I ran to say, it does exist, and we overcome it every day.”
While I would never personally run a marathon, let alone run it sans tampon on the first day of my period, I appreciate the message Gandhi is sending. Plus, homegirl raised $6,000 for Breast Cancer Care!
To read more about her experience, visit her website.
Original article via The Independent.
Image via Instagram.
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