Solicitor, corporate lawyer, author, long-distance runner. Vinod George Joseph has donned many hats. The latest feather in the Dua Associates Partner’s cap is his decision to raise money for Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) by running the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in January next year.
The CPAA is a registered NGO working in the field of cancer for the last 45 years, with the objective of alleviating the suffering of needy cancer patients.
In a telephonic interview with Bar & Bench, Vinod Joseph reveals details about the fundraising initiative.
On his inspiration to run for the cause
“I felt sorry because there’s so much poverty around us. I have been doing long-distance running for a while now, so anyway I would have run the marathon. This time, I thought I’d use this opportunity to help those in need.”
On the process of raising money
“The process is very simple. SCMM has tied up with United Way Mumbai, which is a charity which vets a number of other charities. You can raise money only for an approved charity. There are a number of charities to choose from and I picked one that appealed to me a lot. I created my own fundraising page and told all my contacts that I’m running this marathon, why don’t you donate some money to CPAA. There is no real co-relation between my running and people donating money, but it is an opportunity to highlight the work that the charity is involved with. It’s a very common way of raising money abroad. I used to work in London, where people used to do these activities often.”
This is not the first foray into long-distance running for the legal professional. He has previously completed two marathons – one in 5 hours 23 minutes and another in 5 hours 49 minutes. When asked about his expectations for the upcoming marathon, he says,
“This time I hope to complete it within five hours.” One might wonder as to how a busy corporate lawyer can find time out of his schedule to prepare for daunting events like marathons. “The running is all done early in the morning. I run for an hour two days during the week and once during the weekend. That makes it three, sometimes four days a week, which is not too bad.”
Vinod Joseph’s fundraiser page can be accessed here.