“My daughter! Having her in my life made me realize that I was grossly overweight at 94kg and I decided to do something about it.”
Achievement
“I have managed to bring my weight down to 64kg since August 2004.”
Soon after his daughter was born in July 2004, Sandeep Goel’s life took a turn for the better. “I realized that I had been careless about my weight. At 94kg, I couldn’t do many things without feeling tired quickly. That was when I decided that if I didn’t do something about my weight, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything, let alone time with my daughter.” Around the same time, he took up sports sponsorship management at Zee Sports.
A friend told him about the benefits of running, and Sandeep was an immediate convert. Since September 2004, he has kept a five to six days-a-week running schedule. He has also been running every day for about half an hour since March 2007. “I have not broken my running regimen for the last 10 months and don’t even intend to.” He ran his first marathon in Bangalore in 2005 and has since participated in six half marathons. “More than making me fit, running daily has made me mentally strong. It’s true that running helps you burn excess calories. But for me, a daily running routine also helps in handling all the pressures of the office. The discipline it requires has given me the right attitude to life.”
Ishaan,17 Mallika,15
Motivation
Both Ishaan and Mallika Arya have been taking part in their school sports meets and are hooked to long-distance running.
Achievement
The brother and sister duo enrolled for the 7km run at the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon in October. They didn’t realize till much later that they had actually finished 21km, in two hours 10 minutes.
Sports captain of Green House at New Delhi’s Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Ishaan also captains his school soccer team. His younger sister Mallika, a student of Vasant Valley School in New Delhi, is not far behind: She has already taken part in a number of CBSE zonal athletic meets. And both have been following a strict running routine for a long time.
In October, they took part in the 7km race in the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon. “It was great fun,”says Ishaan.
Mallika is even more thrilled about her feat. “I called a friend in Jor Bagh when I crossed her house and told her that I was actually finishing a half marathon. Nobody believed us.”
Incredibly, the next day Mallika even had to go for her school zonal trials for 100m, 200m relay and long jump events. “I just had to put the tiredness away and focus on the race. I got a gold medal in all three events,” says Mallika.
Myrelle Machado
Motivation
“A close friend said I could lose weight with a regular running schedule.”
Achievement
“I have been losing 1kg a month for the last eight months. Now, running is an addiction.”