Marathons and beyond, city runners lace up to go the distance

His running technique was flawed, his shoes did not fit the bill. But when a lonely Forrest Gump, pining for his Jenny, shot off from his home on a run that took him across America, it drove home a point — distances are doable.
That’s a realisation slowly dawning upon runners in Pune. ENT surgeon Neelam Vaid recalls her early morning runs on empty roads in the Pashan area while training for her first half marathon in 2013.Today, she has to bob and weave her way past a sea of runners in the same area, particularly on Sunday mornings. The competitive spirit has kicked in too, with runners not just content breasting the tape in marathon, half-marathon and 10km races but constantly seeking to better their timings.
At 54, Vaid too is pushing the limits with her running, having even done the gruelling Comrades race in South Africa (either 91km downhill or 89km uphill). Training is of the essence — apart from practising distances, there’s strength work and nutrition to look at. And to think, Vaid says, that while practising for her first half marathon just 5 years ago, she had no trainer, wore no tracker on her wrist, had no idea of terminology like speed and counted distances by the kilometre milestones along the roads.
The need to get runners better organised and goal-driven is what spurred Atul Godbole to take up coaching around 3-4 years ago. The 38-year-old IT professional, himself a four-time half Ironman, trains Vaid and another 45 runners for long distances and triathlons. Next year, he and 11 other team members will participate in the Comrades while some others will attempt the half Ironman in Sri Lanka.
A big name in Pune’s training scene is that of Kaustubh Radkar, who has completed a stunning 22 Ironman races across all six continents and was the fastest Indian in the Comrades event in 2016. The 36-year-old has also finished three half Ironman races besides having run more than 50 full marathons. Clearly, he was piling up the laurels for years but few people were noticing.
Not anymore, though. Radkar says running achievements are much talked about today and that a half marathon isn’t thought of as inappropriate on someone’s bucket list. The interest in endurance running began around 2010, he says, with the push for marathons starting around 2015-16. He believes his role as coach is to provide a holistic approach to athletes. “Running more is not the only factor in getting better at distances. One needs nutrition, strength training and, above all, mental fitness,” he points out.
Colonel J Muthukrishnan (48), who took to running in 2010 and has done 24 full marathons in India and abroad, recalls 10km being the maximum competitive distance back in the day. “Perhaps, only the Services then had runners specially coached for the marathons. Serious coaching began in Pune only in the last 2-3 years. Holding endurance events is also just about a decade old in India, with the number of participants none too high then,” he says.
A typical training week for Muthukrishnan includes four runs of varying distances, strength training at the gym and daily stretching. He trains under Bangalore-based Ashok Nath, whose Chi plan focuses on running efficiency, body composition and nutrition.
In matters nutrition, Maitreyi Bokil thinks runners chronically undereat carbohydrates. The 28-year-old nutritionist and exercise physiologist, who has done her masters from the University of Columbia, explains that carbs are essential for long distances and sprints alike, and help stave off aches and pains in the body. “Runners need to get 30-60 gms of carbs every hour. That’s why long distance races have refuelling stations every 5 miles or so,” she says.
Bokil, who herself has run three full marathons in the US after training vigorously in Central Park which was next door to her university, pitches for bananas and Gatorade as a must-have for runners. The latter, especially, is the best bet for the body’s need of sodium, potassium and carbs, she says.
So, has distance running come of age in Pune and, perhaps, the country? Radkar says the number of runners participating in races is certainly on the rise. ”The Pune Running event held in 2014 had around 5,000 participants in all distances starting from the 5k, but that number has ballooned to around 14,000 now. In most big races across the country, around 3,000 people take part in the full marathon these days. Still, that is nothing compared to events like the Berlin Marathon which is forced to limit its intake to 35,000 or the New York marathon which gets 50,000 entries. We still have a long way to go,” he points out.