City road runners' group celebrates eight years!

It was a sea of fun, pride and sheer jubilation, as a Mumbai

road runners

' group, celebrated eight years of

fitness

and vigour. The group has members from all parts of Mumbai and they have been

running

regularly on weekends and for special events. They did two runs: a 21-km run from

Carter Road

to

NCPA

and a 10-km run from NCPA to Babulnath and back. There was an adrenalin rush in the air and post the runs, everyone gathered at

Nariman Point

for the celebrations. They cheered each other and posed for pictures, too. Said Ram Venkatraman, who started the road runners' group, "We are like a one, big happy family, now. Fitness can and should be for everyone." Suvarna Joshi who has been running with the group for three years, now, added, “It’s great to see so many people taking to running in the city. We wish this movement grows.”

Helping Mumbai stay fit
Sudhir Prabhu, resident of Kandivali recalled their journey: “We started with just 50 people and now we are almost 10,500 plus, so it’s definitely a proud feeling. It is helping so many people stay fit and for a busy city like Mumbai, this is the best thing to happen. And who says running has to be boring? We add

yoga

, fitness and

football

sessions to our running.”

There is so much talent among the city’s underprivileged
Manohar Rodrigues, resident of Vile Parle, who has been running for 11 years now, said, “More Mumbaikars should join the road running group.” He also says there is so much running talent in Mumbai that people don’t know about. “Did you know, real talent comes from the underprivileged areas? Unfortunately for these people, they don’t have nutrition and can’t afford coaches. We also have a group of elite underprivileged runners and have helped them get registrations for major events. We also help them with the kit, shoes etc, that they need.”