Meet Sakshi Jaiswal, A successful entrepreneur, mother, fitness enthusiast from Bangalore.

Join us in congratulating her on finishing her full marathon recently in Mumbai.

A full marathon means running a distance of 42.2 kilometres. Months of intense training goes into running one. Running a full marathon by itself is no ordinary feat and Sakshi ran the entire distance in 4hours and 25 minutes! Even in running circles, finishing a full in this time is considered amazing. What’s more amazing is that Sakshi ran this distance on the second day of her period with a cup. What cup? you may ask. She ran the entire distance like a champion blazing through the streets of Mumbai using a menstrual cup as it was the second day of her period!

We spoke to Sakshi about her experience, and this is what she had to say.

She was introduced to the cup by her friend Rupal and she has never looked back since then. Running with sanitary napkins was always uncomfortable. Chafing and shifting were major problems which caused painful rashes and what bothered her more was that she had to find dustbins to dispose of used napkins and if she didn't have access to a trash can, she felt that it was criminal to throw them out in the open. This is when she tried Stonesoup’s Menstrual cup on her friend Rupal’s advice and she thanks her stars for ditching the pads. Her biggest complaint, “ Why didn't I find this magical cup earlier?” Yes, that’s what happens usually after you use a Cup.

On the day of her run, Sakshi got ready and left for the run as early as 4.30 am and she returned after her run only at 11.30am. She says that her run was so great and she didn't even remember that she had her period! there was no leaking, she didn't need to worry about the pad shifting nor did she have to worry about finding a dustbin to trash her pad. She says that switching to a cup was one of the best decisions in her life.

There can't be a bigger testimonial to using a Menstrual cup than Sakshi’s story. Running a full marathon on the second day of your period should convince even the biggest sceptic. Hats off to her. She is truly an inspiration.

Most women are anxious to try the cup as it is something new and its surrounded by a lot of myths. In fact, the cup is the most hassle-free way to manage your period.

Yes, you need to research and find a good brand which uses medical grade silicon to manufacture their cups. Sakshi used the Stonesoup cup which is tried and tested, made from medical grade silicon and recommended by Gynaecologists and marketed by women who are social entrepreneurs committed to the cause of our environment.

Medical grade silicon is what is used to make nipples on feeding bottles of babies. They are completely safe and non-reactive.

Sanitary napkins are full of plastic and chemicals which have been proven to be extremely harmful to women. Moreover, the sheer number of trashed sanitary napkins are causing havoc to our environment. They lie in landfills for years, they are a leading cause of choking and blocking drains everywhere.

At this juncture, we women have to make a conscious decision of moving away from these pads and start using sustainable means of managing menstruation. Every day hundreds of women are switching to cups but it isn't good enough. We need millions not hundreds to switch.

The aftermath of Mumbai marathon was literally tons of plastic bottles and tetra packs strewn on the streets:(. Mumbai, like other big cities, is already on the brink of a garbage explosion. There’s just no space for more trash. Sadly most of the plastic ends up in sea... How long will nature take this atrocity? We don't know!

In the midst of all this mess, a few amazing people like Sakshi have done their bit to reduce the trash on mother Earth.

If She can run a full Marathon like a champion using a Menstrual Cup, there's no excuse for other women to shy away from it. Use it and you’ll never look back...