24 the guidetuesday, october 27, 2015, mumbai,webwww.mid-day.com, twitter@mid_day

The Facebook page of Kalyan-Dombivli runners group has a promising 167members

DIPANJAN SINHAdipanjan.sinha@mid-day.com

A LONG-DISTANCE run wasonce a solitary activity; lonesomesilhouettes would rhythmically jogthrough roads before the crack ofdawn with little company orcheering. But now, with socialmedia and the increased populari-ty of hitting the tarmac, theMumbai runner is no longer flyingsolo in his/her achievements tocover that extra mile or to improvetimings.

New-age running apps likeRunkeeper and Runtastic andsocial media platforms likeWhatsapp, Facebook and Twitterhave turned this community into aclose knit one, where they sharehurdles, achievements, and routesacross a space-starved metropolis.Be it Thane or Borivali, ShivajiPark or Worli, city runners aregoing the extra mile to help otherswith routes (check map) and chal-lenges, and to announce upcomingevents, informs Mumbai-basedrunner, Girish Mallya, who someof his running comrades call theRunning King of Mumbai.

Mallya, 39, a marathon runnerfor 15 years now, has completedseveral marathons, multi-stageultra marathons and completedthe Marathon Des Sables, titledthe toughest footrace in the world.He says that they announce allmajor events on Facebook andTwitter. New runners from differ-ent parts of the city get help fromthe other: be it how to treat kneepain after a long run or what couldbe a possible running route in con-gested parts of Santacruz.

“We post details such as timingon social media platforms. Fordetails about the run, I use appslike Runkeeper, which is now verypopular in India and hence a lot of

my friends are on it. I also usePumatrac, which has good socialmedia integration,” informs themedia professional.

City on the runMallya is a part of the FacebookgroupMumbai Road Runners thathas 3,527 members and is bustlingwith activity about upcoming run-ning events like the Bandra NCPAHalf Marathon powered byTirumala Mulund 10K Run onNovember 1. “Mumbai RoadRunners is one of the premierFacebook groups that connectsseveral runners in the city andaway. But there are smaller groupsspread across the city that con-nects runners from those areas,”he adds.

In the far-flung eastern sub-urbs, Kalyan Dombivli Runners(KDR) has a promising 167 mem-bers. A member of this group,Mandar Kakade, a 33-year-oldfinance professional, informs thatthey usually train on the Badlapurhighway. “The stretch is of almost19 km with good inclines neces-sary for training. We train there

every Sunday. We also have aWhatsapp group where we talkabout various events to participatein, the experiences during the runand post-run feedback. There areplenty of motivational ideasexchanged on the Whatsappgroup. Planning for events is alsodone on this platform,” he says.Another member of the group,Devendra Mane, a 30-year-oldinsurance professional, informsthat the Kalyan-Dombivli stretchoffers many short practice routesas well. People living in Andheri

are not left out either. TheLokhandwala Running Club inAndheri meets at LokhandwalaJogger's Park and heads off fromthere. “We meet every Tuesday,Thursday and Sunday at 6 am atthe entrance of LokhandwalaJoggers Park. We have runningroutes ranging from 6k to 21k.Rain or shine, we have no off days,”Darshan Divakaran, from the club,says.

Suburban coolThose in Thane andNaviMumbai,seem to be blessed with scenicroutes that draw people from themore coveted real estate zones fora run. Sunil Gwalani, 49, amotiva-tional speaker from Thane informsthat the route in Upvan, Thane(W) is lined with trees and climbsup to 1,300 ft, thereby testing therunner’s endurance. “The route isnot just popular with Thane’s resi-dents but also attracts a lot ofrunners from south Mumbai,” headds. Amlesh Karle, 40, a chemi-cal engineer from Thane who runswith a group, who call themselvesRuntastic, agrees, saying, “Thesocial media groups keep the run-ning community together byinitiating various activities likeNavrun where many of us ran 9km for nine days in a row. We run-ners are now a big and beautifulextended family.”

However, the stretch that startsfrom Carter Road in Bandra andwinds its way down to NCPA inNariman Point, via the regularroute of the Mumbai Marathon —Mahim Causeway, Cadell Road,Shivaji Park, Prabhadevi, WorliSea Face, Haji Ali, Peddar Road,

Babulnath, and Marine Drive —remains popular.

Route of the matterRam Venkatraman, who is a mod-erator of Mumbai Runners, andhas been running in different partsof the city for several years, now,informs us of a perfect stretchinside the Aarey Colony's forestthat is under constant threat fromdevelopment and possible trans-formation into a cluster ofhigh-rises. “We run beyond theNew Zealand hostel, which is astrenuous climb for about 1 kmand then further there is anotherbeautiful patch of 1 km climbingup to the Aarey Guest House.People who run or walk or cycleinside Aarey Colony are amazedthat such a beautiful green part ofMumbai also exists,” the 53-year-old company secretary shares.

Some runners, however, are notvery comfortable about makingtheir routes public by postingthem on social media. ShaktiSalgaokar, a 31-year-old writerwho mostly runs in Dadar, says, “Ido use apps like Runtastic to trainbecause it gives me good feedbackon my running but I am averse toposting routes on social media forsecurity concerns. I share it inclosed groups or among friends.”

Run AlertThe Bandra NCPA Half Marathonpowered by TirumalaMulund 10Kwill be organised on Sunday,November 1 at 5.15 am fromBandra.

TOREGISTER LOGON TOmumbairoadrunners.com

Girish Mallya, a media professional, has been running marathons for 15 years

Runtastic: A mobile app thatallows you to keep track of yourfitness progress and share itwith friends on the app. It tellsyou if you are too sore to run ona given day.Runkeeper: This mobile apptracks your walk or run and iscompatible with the AppleWatch. It is also one of themost popular apps in India.Garmin: Allows you to trackspeed, heart rate, distancecovered and improvement. Alsohas inbuilt training plans.

Popular apps

NCPAMarg,Nariman Point

HangingGarden

BandstandPromenade

Universityof Mumbai

Eastern ExpressHighway

service road

Sanjay GandhiNational Park

UpvanLake

ParsikHills

Palm BeachRoad

KhargharHills

Badlapur

Karjat

MAP/UDAYMOHITEMap not to scale

Social media has turned the city’s running community into a close-knit one,sharing trials and triumphs with each other regularly

Run,Mumbai, Runhealth

COMMUNITY FITNESS

Amalesh Karle (extreme right) with his Runtastic group