Getting out of bed during winters can be tough, but fitness enthusiasts love this season. There is an ardent connection between winters and marathons, the sunrise and the nip in the air on early mornings.
‘Running Buddies’, a training community at Borivali National Park in Mumbai on 30th November hosted over 1000 runners for their Winter Run 2019.
Objective Behind The Run
The Borivali National Park, where the run was held, has always been a weekend long run practice ground for ‘Running Buddies’. The planning takes about 4 months to organize a perfect run based only on the experience of attending such events in India and globally. While registration fees were charged, the objective of this run with limited number of participations was to sensitize people about the environment issues pertaining to the Borivali National Park and to encourage running.
People Who Run The Show
The run was spearheaded by ultra-marathoner Naazmin Zaffar, who is a known face in the running community. Members of ‘Running Buddies’ motivate each other apart while training achievers are rewarded from time to time to blend in fun into running while getting benefits of professional training for at no cost.
Naazmin Zaffar is supported by Jeetu, Rahul and Sumit, who run the show with coaching which have propelled some to the next level in athletics. Their expert skills and experience transform people from walkers to serious runners. The love for running, is the spirit which brings people together.
Why Running Becomes An Addiction
Naazmin Zaffar says, “Fitness grows on you. Running is something that anyone can do. A meal after marathon works well for our runners. We had Jumboking as our food partner for the second year now. The burgers have good carbs.”
Dheeraj Gupta, MD of Jumboking who is a runner himself joined ‘Running Buddies’ three years ago. Since then, he has encouraged 12 more of his team members to run marathons, being the boss and being concerned about employees’ fitness.
Dheeraj Gupta, founder and MD, Jumboking believes group dynamics encourages people who do not want to run too. It is all about camaraderie. He adds, “It was a fabulous run. It is important to maintain work-life balance, and this was a great opportunity to introduce the entire team to benefits of running. We take up this exercise once a year. I train with Running buddies that focuses on core fitness and helping to get fitter with running activities.”
Gupta will soon be running his 7th Tata Mumbai Marathon later in January 2020.
Employee Speak
For many, it was their first marathon experience and believes that positive encouragement from their boss and colleagues adds them to the list of running enthusiasts now on. Being a foodie and we enjoying good food means to also balance it out by keeping fit.
