Mumbai: It's been more than a month that the entire country has been locked down amidst the coronavirus outbreak, leaving its citizens caged in the four walls of their home. Thinking of ways to spend their time, a Navi Mumbai-based runners group came up with a unique idea of organising a relay competition, that too at home. A total of 56 people participated in it on Sunday.
The Furious Running Culture Foundation (FRCF) is Navi Mumbai's first runners group, which is registered with the charity commissioner. The group, which promotes fitness, was founded two years ago and has now 155 registered members. Before the coronavirus outbreak, members would usually meet thrice a week in the morning. Two days were allotted for workout, while Sundays were fixed for long runs. The lockdown has halted the group's activity completely. This is when the group decided to give each other a running challenge to be completed inside their respective houses. This Sunday was the first time the group decided to organise a competition.
At a time when we all are stuck within the four walls of our home, keeping physically and mentally fit has become even more crucial. “If you want to stay fit physically and mentally, exercise is the best way and what better exercise than running," said Milan Rai, president of FRCF.
How are they competing with each other?
Each team has four members, including one woman, and each player had to run for two hours. There are a total of four slots of two hours (8am to 10am, 10am 12pm, 4pm to 6pm, and 6pm to 8pm). Participants were asked to run either inside their house or in their building's common passage without breaking any social distancing norms.
Smart watches or mobile applications built for measuring fitness determined the results. The group that covered the maximum distance was declared the winner and received a certificate and a memorandum.
69 years old Daksha Kanavia completed 17.16 kilometres between 8am and 10am. "It was a different experience. I laughed a lot running like this in one room or from one room to another. It was fun and I enjoyed it completely. It has its own benefits as well," she said. The other group completed around 60 to 70 kilometres on an average in their time slots.
“After the lockdown was announced, we initially started with giving small challenges to our members to do yoga asanas, squats, lunges, planks and so on. One of our members recently ran for 21 kilometres in his building corridor. This is the first time that we conducted an entire home relay competition," said Rai.
In another event, 2,896 runners from 25 states and from 12 other countries participated in the Go Corona Virtual Run on Sunday. The run was organised by Striders, an outdoor fitness and marathon training group. In the early hours of Sunday, VK Gandhi, the senior most runner in Striders, virtually flagged off the run on Facebook live.
The registration fee for this run was Rs 200 for each participant. The entire amount collected from participation will be donated towards the PM CARES FUND. Striders’ founders have also donated towards the registration of 100 kids in Deonar and Meghpar.
