About Founder

Soni Rao, popular among her friend circle as Kuhu Rao for her cheerful and chatty nature, is a multi-faceted personality. She is a philanthropist, environmentalist, a runner and the owner & founder of Universal Runners Marathon (URM). Her managerial skills, compassion, generosity, and enthusiastic dedication are among her strongest traits. Soni Rao’s particular interests include charities related to women, healthcare, environmental issues etc.

She was born in small town of Kosli (in Haryana) which is famous not only for contributing high proportion of soldiers and officers to various armed forces of India but also for number of teachers it contributes to the Haryana education system. Her father was an Army officer and her elder brother is currently serving the NSG an Indian special forces unit under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

At the very young age of 19, Soni Rao, decided to carry forward the legacy of her town and family members (of serving the nation) in her own way.  Since then she has been working for one social cause or the other. However, her life changed for good when, in 2016, she visited the Earth Saviours Foundation- a Gurugram based NGO, dedicated to serve the less privileged people and is making every effort to protect the environment.

Radiology Technologist by profession, initially Soni Rao carried on her social work related activities along with her professional commitments. She actively participated in various campaigns organized by the Earth Saviours Foundation like “Do Not Honk campaign” etc. However in March 2017 she left her well-established career and decided to commit her life for the betterment of society. She founded the Universal Runners Marathon (URM) with the objective of creating awareness about the social and environmental issues plaguing the country as well as the importance of fitness in one’s life.

Since March 2017, URM has successfully organized more than 20 marathons for various social causes like Women empowerment, Noise Pollution and many more. Soni Rao donates the proceeds from these events to Earth Saviours Foundation to support and contribute the efforts of Mr. Ravi Kalra, founder of the NGO.

On 24^th August 2018 Soni Rao was awarded with the Nirbhaya Jyoti National Women Achievers Excellence Award organized by the Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust along with PR Professionals. She is also one of the ambassador of Pinkathon-India’s BIGGEST Women’s run founded by Bollywood celebrity Milind Soman along with Reema Sanghavi.