running events – Running and Beyond

Bringing Diversity in Running

On February 23, 2020, 25-year old Ahmaud Arbery went for a run in the Satilla Shores, an upper class locality in Glynn County, Georgia, United States of America. In the process, he entered an under-construction site and spent some time inspecting it without causing any damage. Alarmed by the presence of a stranger in that area, the neighbours chased him and eventually killed him. His crime – A black person jogging in a largely white neighbourhood.

It was one of the many racial crimes that happen in United States. But, this time, it raised a question – Did the crime occur because it was unusual to see a black person go for a run? In her column for New York Times, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela wrote,

Running has been a pastime marketed primarily to white people ever since “the jogging craze” was born in the lily-white Oregon track and field world of the late 1960s. Black people have not only been excluded from the sport — one survey by Running USA found under 10 percent of frequent runners identify as African-American — they’ve also been relentlessly depicted as a threat to legitimate, white joggers. The most apparently egalitarian exercise of all, running, is anything but — especially when it comes to race.

The lack of representation of black runners in long distance running should come as a surprise for many outside the US, especially in a sport dominated by the likes of Kenyans and Ethiopians. As Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes in this article, that blacks are under-represented in most sports with the exception of basketball. The last known racially discriminative practices in long distance running can be traced to the Comrades Marathon in South Africa which allowed black athletes from 1975 onwards; and apartheid itself being dismantled only in the early 1990s.

Mitchell S. Jackson, in his Pulitzer Prize winning article, “Twelve Minutes and a Life” asks some simple questions to ponder about.

Peoples, I invite you to ask yourself, just what is a runner’s world? Ask yourself who deserves to run? Who has the right? Ask who’s a runner? What’s their so-called race? Their gender? Their class? Ask yourself where do they live, where do they run? Where can’t they live and run? Ask what are the sanctions for asserting their right to live and run—shit—to exist in the world. Ask why? Ask why? Ask why?

These questions are not only applicable to runners in United States, but everywhere, including India. Recreational running in India is only about two decades old, and has relatively been free from the shackles of casteist society, as only would like to assume so. From my personal experience, Running Groups have been the ‘most open’ social group that I have ever been part of – in comparison to family, school, college, workplace, and others. The characteristics of open group,

Open to people of all age groups and gender.
No discrimination based on race, religion, caste, or economic status.
No discussions on physical characteristics or body shaming.
No restrictions on clothing or footwear; and runners are rarely judged based on what they wear. You can see runners sporting clothes dyed in every colour in a spectrum!
No entry/exit formalities.
Consideration for the weakest – In most group runs, the last runner is rarely left alone.
No hierarchy

The concept of diversity is rarely discussed, as one would easily assume that running groups would easily be an effective sample of the population. If I use three attributes to categorise runners – gender, religion, and caste – I feel that it is not the case. While it is not possible to verify my assertion on caste or religion due to lack of data, under representation of woman can be explained through data from running events, if we assume that participation in events to be a proxy for regular runners. Anecdotally, I would assume that many women runners participate in events more than regular runs.

Participation of Woman Runners

Most running events in India offer equal prize money for men and women participants and entry fee/process also remains same for all genders. If I use the finisher data from Mumbai Marathon over the last decade as a sample, it is very clear that the % of woman runners have been stagnating at around 7.5% for the full marathon and about 18.7% for the half-marathon. The positive side to the data is that the number of woman participants are increasing in the same rate as men participants. It is still disproportionate to gender balance in India (sex ratio of 943 for 1000 males; Much higher in developed states though)

In comparison with international events, 33% and 44% of the total finishers in Berlin Marathon 2022 and New York Marathon 2022, were women runners. Further, New York Marathon has introduced third gender as a category. There are plenty of reasons for this disparity and it needs a more nuanced and detailed discussion.

I am using Gender only as an example to highlight the lack of diversity. The same applies to religion or caste or urban-rural divide when it comes to diversity, but the evidences can only be anecdotal. The issue remains the same. Mere absence of discrimination does not automatically imply inclusivity or diversity. There need to be a willing and conscious application of affirmative actions to ensure diversity.

Affirmative Actions

In November 2020, Runners World organised an informative discussion between four runners from diverse backgrounds “to Make Running More Diverse” and arrived at four simple ways.

Focus on changing the system
Adequate representation in media
Influential runners using their voice to highlight the issue
Running clubs to strive for inclusivity.

Recreational running is still in its nascent stages in India and some of the issues discussed in the article above may not be relevant in Indian context. However, it certainly gives some orientation to think through the issue.

Firstly, we need to recognise the lack of diversity and the need for it. While the first part is easier, the second part present some challenges. Running is an individual sport and one can happily pursue it without being concerned about this issue. More over, there are many critical areas where we lack diversity. Hence, it is unlikely that issue will even be considered as a starter in many forums and groups.

Bengaluru based Runners’ High, started by Santhosh in 2009, have always focused on inclusivity since its inception. Although not an ‘open group’, as runners pay training fee to be a part of the group, Santhosh has successfully integrated his work with schools for underprivileged with the group. When asked how he managed to do it, Santhosh said,

“I don’t see Philanthropy distinct or as a separate stream of activity in our community. It is in line with our philosophy of none any lesser, none any better. Once admitted in our programs, there is no difference between paid or unpaid runners.”

Over the years, Santhosh has been instrumental in getting many children from underprivileged backgrounds to take up to running; and now some of the children from earlier years are leading the training for the younger ones.

Second, promotion campaigns for running events is a good opportunity for showcasing diversity. Unfortunately, most events use stock photos that largely contains photographs of runners outside India. The natural inclination for most Indians is to use pictures of models from caucasian ethnicity. In addition, use of image correction softwares results in using images of non-existent runners with flawless body shapes. After all, what’s the point of using images of runners who don’t resemble any closer to the target audience?

Third, creating forums and ‘safe spaces’ for interaction and engagement of runners from under represented groups. Although running groups as such can be a safe space for interaction and expression, it would certainly help people to reach out to someone ‘like them’ before integrating with the larger group. One such initiative that I have been aware of is the Chennai Runners Women Ambassador’s program, which facilitates woman runners to reach out to those already running with different groups.

Finally, the responsibility remains with every individual to rise up to the occasion. Recreational running is relatively a new social activity and is certainly not mandated to carry the regressive ills of the society from the past. While it is easier to blame elsewhere for the lack of diversity, it is still important for everyone to reflect it on themselves. I don’t hesitate to say that there is lack of diversity among those I choose to run with; even if they are more heterogenous compared to my acquaintances before running. The onus is still on me to use running as an instrument to know more about the ‘other.’ Over the years, I have always found widespread acceptance in many places as a runner. It is up to me to reflect on what I can and have to give back through running. As Eliud Kipchoge once said,

“A running world is a healthy world. A running world is a wealthy world. A running world is a peaceful world. A running world is a joyful world.”
– Eliud Kipchoge

I would like to thank Santhosh and Ram Viswanathan for kindly accepting to review and provide feedback. The opinions expressed in the article remains with me.

Venu Sir – A Tribute

It all started with a casual conversation during May 2009. VPS and Shahid had then started a “Chapter” of Chennai Runners; morning runs were started at MCC, Chetpet during weekdays, in addition to the ‘home ground’ at Alwarpet. A new runner had started running with them. A regular walker until the age of 64, he had taken up to running with much apprehensions. To make him feel comfortable, VPS suggested to me to post a note on the Chennai Runners Google Groups to encourage him. I sent out a casual response to his mail on the group, completely unaware of whom I was trying to Encourage

Good one sir! Mails like these make me have second thoughts about bunking the next day’s run! Keep going on and on!

Eight years have gone since that conversation and little did I realise, that it was a beginning of a special relationship. It is certainly an understatement to say Venugopalan or Venu Sir, as we affectionately called him, has been an inspiration and a pillar of support for many initiatives by Chennai Runners over the past eight years. There wouldn’t be many runners, young and old alike, in Chennai who had not been touched by his warmth and kindness. During the days when the google groups were active, he contributed immensely and his mails were a treasure of knowledge – well researched scientifically and from his experience, as he constantly experimented with his running.

In July 2009, he was a participant in the ECR Run, which I happened to anchor on behalf of the Chennai Runners.

His kind words following the event certainly helped us to set the vision for the future,

the ECR event was very successful mainly because the entire core group of Chennai Runners (the International Marathoners) were in the centre of organising the event. We all SALUTE you for your selfless service. You are on your way to make ECR runs count at International level.

Since then, he has been part of most events organised by Chennai Runners, as a runner, volunteer, as well as Pacer. In 2014, I was assigned the task of finding pacers for Chennai Marathon for both the marathon as well as half-marathon categories. I wished to make the 6-hour bus driven by inspirational runners that would give the event a grandstand finish for the event. I hesitantly requested Venu Sir, as he was in best of his running form and a potential winner in veteran category of the full marathon. He always prioritised the cause of encouraging runners and gladly accepted the offer. Along with Arun Krishnan and Hariharan, they formed one of the best pacing teams ever in any marathons. The picture at the finish line would stay in my memory for years!

In 2016, I invited him to address the STAR Runners and he gladly accepted to do so. His presence and encouragement to runners was a great support for our initiative.

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His experiments in running is an example for anyone and everyone to emulate. He ran his first marathon at Auroville in 2011. I too participated in the event was totally exhausted at the 40th Km. It was there I saw a determined Venu Sir overtaking me and pushing me hard to the finish. From 4:55 in that event, he improved his timings for full marathon to 4:05 in Chennai Marathon 2013 and repeated it a month later at Mumbai in Januray 2014 with the same timing. He further went to finish at the top the runners above 70 years at Mumbai Marathon in January 2015.

He was never obsessed over podium finishes or prizes. His timings could have helped him secure a place in Boston marathon but he wasn’t the one to be fascinated by it. His disciplined approach to running, coupled with his ocean of knowledge on the subject served as an inspiration and example for everyone to follow. He always had kind words of encouragement for those who took up to any activity related to running, be it organising or writing about it. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this blog owes its existence to him, as he was one of the regular readers and the highest contributor in terms of comments.

With Venu.jpeg — Final meeting with Venu Sir. Chennai Runners anniversary – March 2017

It is tough to admit that he would not be with us anymore. Over the past 177 days of running, I am sure every Chennai Runner has met him at least once and had the joy of being wished by him. The roads of Chennai is certain to be poorer without his presence in the morning. There would be a void which is almost impossible to fill in. As the running movement in Chennai gains from strength to strength, one man has certainly played his role and left behind memories for everyone to look back and reflect.

Personally, I am indebted to him for the multitude of interactions and the support towards every endeavour of mine – running, organising, blogging or the STAR Runners initiative. His response to my very first mail sets out his expectations from me, which I hope to live up to in his memory!

I am honoured by your kind encouragement. I have great admiration for you and I value your raw enthusiasm, I can almost feel it though we have never met. You have a very long innings to play in bringing running as a way of life in India.

Running and Environmentalism

After Religion, if there exists a social group that breeds more hypocrites, it must be Environmentalism. Although, my friend Rajesh does not see much difference between the two as he considers environmentalism as just another new age Religion.

We still do not know where the green brigade stand on iconoclasm, whether they will fight crusades, or create backstories to fill out the mythology. But make no mistake, this is a religion alright. Across national boundaries, never have a group of people been so singularly driven by a single ideology

Environmentalists are everywhere… To begin with, in those places where they can be more visible and attract adequate attention. They find every human activity as a potential threat and at times, they even find the mere existence of humans threatening to the environment. Apparently some scientific study told them that Earth existed before human beings and hence, it should continue to exist even without them. With more people taking up running and participating in running events, it has started becoming an issue of concern for these saviours of Earth. Believe it or not, in the eyes of environmentalists, Running is becoming a major threat to environment and can potentially damage the Earth, giving it only a few days to survive!

Take the example of this scintillating piece of ‘research‘ with this sensational finding…

A new pair of synthetic running shoes typically generates 30lbs of carbon dioxide emissions, the researchers found. That’s an unusually high carbon footprint for a product that does not use electricity, or require sophisticated components. The researchers said it was equivalent to leaving a 100-watt bulb burning for an entire week.

Mind you, if you leave 100-watt bulb burning for an entire week, you will end up writing cr@p research work like above which is more harmful to the society than running!

The major area of moral hazard that environmentalists care for is that of running events. Running events are increasing and the participation in these events are always on rise. Apart from the increased emissions of carbon di oxide, there are two areas of concern for these ‘morally upright,’ ‘socially conscious’ folks.

1. Increased carbon emissions due to increased travel to and from start points of running events as well as morning runs – Yes, but for running events, most people would prefer to lock themselves in their homes on a Sunday morning and pray that the Earth should be protected by evil forces!

2. Increased levels of Garbage – This is a single most sensitive issue for many environmentalists. Even if a runner generates far less per-capita garbage compared to a Saturday night party goer (you might see some of the environmentalists there, as they need a breather from their busy schedule to save the world!), it still matters the most. Potential areas are in the water stations and breakfast areas. Forget the fact that many of them carry loads of water during their training run, they should not be entitled to drink water on a race day from a paper cup as it will end up generating garbage. Also, the post run breakfast must be discarded in favour of runners going back home and preparing their breakfast. I was once advised by a chain-smoking, air-miles chasing, beer-drinking environmentalist that water stations in running events must have re-usable cups that can be cleaned after each runner uses it. Keeping the difficulties (I have once been in such aid station and cleaned a few cups) and hygiene factors aside, such a suggestion coming from a person who employs a maid servant to wash their own tea cup, was ironical, to say the least!

There is no harm in being a environmentalist or preaching about it (if you have people willing to listen to them). I don’t intend to discredit the work of environmentalists in general or the runners who are sincere in their attempts to do their bit for the environment. There are some fine work done by both these groups which indeed serve as a model for rest of us to emulate. It is the so-called ‘environmentalists,’ having to eke out their living by mere preaching, that annoys me the most. One such ‘voluntary’ group managed to squeeze out a sizable amount in terms of TA/DA bills from a running event and another group pulled out after their pitch on ‘run to save the Earth’ on realising that they cannot make money from the event! So much for ‘caring’ about the Earth.

All said and done, someone who runs on the road day-in and day-out is definitely more connected with the environment and aware of the issues than those sitting in comfy air-conditioned rooms and typing pages on “How to Save the Earth for dummies”