Push the limits of fitness with a little help from Striders

Nothing can hold back these enthusiastic runners from putting on their running shoes and hitting the road, neither scorching heat nor torrential rain. Weather’s moods are gladly borne when you are getting in shape for the next Mumbai marathon scheduled for early January, 2011. And these aspiring marathoners, training to graduate from the beginner to advance level have a little help from Striders.

Striders was conceptualised by duo Praful Uchil and Deepak Londhe in 2006, two years after the Mumbai marathon was first organised and they now train at least 30 to 40 runners every day.

“GiveIndia, an NGO, contacted us to train some corporate employees for the marathon. In 2006, we were training around 15 people; now the number has risen to around 150,” says Uchil. Today, Striders trains anyone who aspires to run in the marathon.

A tight training schedule is laid out before the runners who meet four times a week at 6am either at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse or the Hanging Gardens. These sessions include slope training, long mileage training, step training, slow-fast training, among others. Training begins from February and goes on till January next year.

“The initial three months encompass ‘strengthening training’ that builds mental as well as physical strength. The following three months focus on endurance training. Towards the final month, we tone down the routine to make it lighter on the body as we don’t want any injuries in the final stages,” says Londhe. 

Rohini Kelkar, 51, head of the department of microbiology, Tata Memorial Center noticed a tremendous change in her marathon timing after being trained by the duo. “In 2008, I completed 21km in 2 hours and 50 minutes, and the following year I completed the same distance in 2 hours and 17 minutes,” says Kelkar proudly.

Kelkar enjoys her morning drill and does not miss it for anything. “For me, every morning is a surprise,” she says, recollecting one such occasion when she ran into Anil Ambani and said a ‘hi’.

It’s not just the Mumbai marathon that people are getting trained for; some are also eying the international ones. Navin Wadhwani ran in the Gold Coast marathon in Australia and is all set to participate again this July. He feels assured that the Striders are professionals who personally monitor each individual’s progress.

Everyone agrees — running outdoors is much better than on a treadmill. Sandeep Kothari, who has been training with the Striders, admits, “You already win half the battle if you train outdoors as you can easily judge the temperature and the surface you’re running on.  It will be exactly the same as at the marathon, whereas indoors, you have a controlled temperature.”

Running in a group is not about competing with each other but competing with oneself, says Wadhwani: “The more you increase your mileage, the more you test your body.” Kelkar seconds, “Each one of us encourage others while we are running; it is this encouragement that pulls us through.”