Plain City teen will be race “Champion”
This October, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon offers an opportunity for athletes to race for a good cause – but for one 18-year-old Plain City resident, the race offers a means of giving back to a hospital that has supported her throughout her journey as a patient.
The 45th annual Columbus Marathon kicks off on Oct. 18 and continues through Oct. 19. The event features several races – the marathon, half marathon, the Jesse Owens 5K and 1 mile fun run/walk and a free kid’s run.
Race Director Darris Blackford said what makes the marathon truly special is its 13-year-long partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“What it really did for us is made it, really made our event part of the community,” Blackford said.
He explained that the partnership has made the event important to people who don’t run or walk but still believe in supporting the hospital with various fundraising opportunities from sponsors to donations.
Blackford said that they consistently raise over $1 million per year for the hospital – much of which comes from the “Children’s Champions.”
“People that are running or walking, they become what is called a Children’s Champion…people supporting the children, people supporting the hospital,” Blackford said. “They do fundraisers of all kinds, there is no minimum, but if you hit certain goals you get certain perks.”
He said that another avenue of fundraising comes from the children. 24 miles of the 26-mile course features a “Mile Champion,” which is a child that is a patient or former patient of the hospital who works with sponsors and partners to raise money.
“Having them out there in the race really inspires people, runners and walkers to do the race, to sign up for it, maybe to fundraise,” Blackford said. “So many people tell me…they’re out there feeling sad or struggling, challenged, tired or worn out and they see those kids and they really are like ‘look, I can do this.’”
Plain City resident Pragalya Arumugam, who is a Mile Champion in this year’s race, is choosing to embrace her own authenticity and use her story to uplift others.
“A lot of us who are mile champions here at Nationwide, they all have unique backgrounds and own stories to tell, so in a way I think just using the lessons that we’ve learned from our experiences to motivate the people who are running the race is what it means to be a mile champion,” Pragalya said.
Shortly after moving from India to Ohio, Pragalya was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at just 14 months old, a prognosis that causes serious hearing loss.
“It was almost like fully deaf,” she said.
After trying hearing aids during treatment at Nationwide, Pragalya still did not respond to sound, until cochlear implants ended up being the best solution. She explained the difference between the two prosthetics.
“I like to think of hearing aids as like (a) microphone. They amplify sound, they make it louder,” she said, adding that people with moderate hearing loss can get help from hearing aids, while those with severe hearing issues tend to go with cochlear implants.
“It’s really different, because none of these technologies actually cure hearing loss…(with) cochlear implants, there’s more artificial sound.” Pragalya explained that she hears things differently with the artificial sound – which is programmed and mapped to replicate the sounds that people with normal hearing experience.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), a cochlear implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin to “directly stimulate the auditory nerve.”
Pragalya graduated from Dublin Jerome High School, where she learned how to speak up for herself. She started initiatives while in school, including an ASL learning group and her own non-profit called Hear2Connect in 2022. The non-profit’s main goal is to create a place for people with similar hearing loss issues, mostly students in school, to go and connect with each other.
For the Columbus Marathon, Pragalya is raising money for the speech and hearing clinic – which is the same team that she has had since her diagnosis.
“That’s where my journey started. So I guess this is just my way of giving back and showing my appreciation for the team at Nationwide that changed my life for the better,” Pragalya said.
During the race, she said each mile champion gets their own tent with a unique theme.
From superheroes to unicorns and even Ohio State Buckeyes Football-themed tents, Blackford said they see it all.
Pragalya centered the theme of her tent around her love for crafts, which will feature many handmade art pieces such as dreamcatchers for the athletes.
“Mine will be ‘DIY Dreamland,’ because I love arts and crafts,” Pragalya said.
Two back-to-back miles of the marathon come with special meanings. Mile 10 invites Mile Champions from previous years who have grown up. Mile 11 is called the remembrance mile in honor of children that passed away from health issues.
“It’s sad, but it’s joyful. These families are not there in mourning, they’re there to celebrate their children,” Blackford said. “While the runners and walkers are somewhat mixed in their emotions…even though the families are celebrating, it’s still a pretty emotional (thing).”
Blackford said while there are spaces in the marathon and all other races for sign-ups, he is expecting them to sell out this month.
“I think this year is going to be the biggest ever,” he said.
Blackford said registration money goes into putting on the event, but most of the rest comes from sponsors.
“We don’t want the fundraising dollars, we want it to all to go to the hospital,” Blackford said.
Pragalya said that her experiences working with all of the team members in the hearing clinic have inspired her to pursue a career as a health professional.
To see more or donate visit https://www.givesignup.org/pragalya25 or make a donation at the race itself in October. To register for the event or volunteer, visit https://www.columbusmarathon.com/.
