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Uma and Krishna Chigurupati. Together they run the craziest marathons in the world
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Marathons are not supposed to be romantic. Gruelling, yes. Muscle cramps and burning lungs, yes. So when Hyderabad-based couple Uma and Krishna Prasad Chigurupati decided on their first marathon together, they picked one that involved wine. Copious quantities of it. “Just like water stations, they had wine stations," Krishna says. This is Le Marathon du Médoc, in France’s fabled wine region of Bordeaux. Runners pass through 59 vineyards—on the official race map, the water stops are marked by tiny red goblets. The landscape undulates with green and gold, grapevines and rose bushes, old stone walls, and châteaux rising like islands out of the green. In cellars under the châteaux, draughts of vintage cool and mature.
For Krishna and Uma, there could be no better pairing than running and wine country. Intrepid runners, and wine lovers-turned-winemakers, Le Marathon, which the couple ran in 2006, marked the beginning of a fine and unusual romance, through running, for them.
Uma and Krishna have also run over 25 marathons together. Uma is now chairperson for a running group called Hyderabad 10K Run Foundation, which organizes the Hyderabad Heritage Marathon, now in its third year. Their passion for running has spread to family, friends and colleagues. Employees from Granules India are regulars at running events in Hyderabad.
In 2010, they became the only married couple in the world to run marathons on all seven continents in one calendar year. “Both Uma and I were going for a wine course in California (US), and we found out that the LA Marathon was a day before our course started," Krishna says. “So we went and ran that." While running in Los Angeles, Krishna and Uma felt the urge to break out of their usual practice of running in city marathons, so they chose the Safaricom Marathon, whose route goes through the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.
One spectacular run followed another, as the indefatigable couple followed the global running trail—the Australian Outback Marathon, the Porto Marathon in Portugal, the Buenos Aires International Marathon, Argentina, and the International Gobi Marathon in Mongolia. The race for the seven continents ended in the most audacious run the couple had ever attempted—the Ice Marathon in Antarctica in 2010.
“We had never run on ice or snow," Krishna says. “The only run we had as preparation was next to the Hudson river in minus 6-7 (degrees Celsius) to test our warm clothes."
They came back from Antarctica just in time for the first harvest at their vineyard near Hampi. In April 2011, still driven by their insatiable thirst for adventure, they ran a marathon in the Arctic. Through it all, there was work to be done, and a family to look after (Krishna and Uma have three children, twin daughters and a son). “Luckily the children are grown up," says Krishna, “two of them are working and one is in college. But balancing between work and practice and travel—and not just travel for the marathons, but for business as well. It was tough."
Soon after their wedding, Uma and Krishna began Triton Laboratories, the predecessor of Granules India. But then for more than 15 years, Uma chose to stay at home to bring up the children. Once the children began college, Uma decided that the time had come for her to challenge herself. In 2003, the organizers of a 10K run in Hyderabad came to Krishna for sponsorship. Granules India contributed, and also pledged to send a hundred employees to participate. That’s when Krishna and Uma decided that it might be fun to do the run themselves, though they had never run before.
“But there is one marathon that’s my dream," Krishna says. “A run from Hampi to our vineyard, and at the end of the line, you get all the wine you can drink."
“I will not organize the marathon!" Uma says, shocked.
“No, no! It will happen! It will be a great experience," Krishna insists. “It will be in the crushing season."
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