The biggest impact that the Mumbai Marathon has created since its inception in 2004 has been on the fitness culture and lifestyle of running enthusiasts. And the 53-year-old Mumbaikar Rajesh Tagore is a prime example of that fact.
Tagore has been participating in the annual event for several years and exemplifies everything that the Mumbai Marathon stands for.
The growing love for TMM
"Running full marathon is a great experience. Mumbai Marathon is improving its facilities continuously like on-track water facilities, goodie bags, Running the Mumbai Marathon is a great honour. It helps me maintain fitness, keeps my weight in check and I can do that since I keep my diet in check,'' he added.
Marathon helping the residents stay fit and healthy
Stressing on the weight loss aspect of fitness, Tagore feels the Marathon has helped him a lot in this regard.
"I have not put on weight because of Mumbai Marathon otherwise I would have been 20 kilos extra by now. Mumbai Marathon helps me in my health schedules. It keeps me in check from the month of June when I start my regime of running 5-10 kms almost everyday. This has been happening almost everyday.
"Even during rainy season also I keep running and it also helps me run other marathons like Hyderabad Marathon. After the Hyderabad Marathon, the intensity of the marathon also increases everyday. We increase it to 10-12 kms of running everyday and that works out to 4-5 days in a week that comes 20 days in a month,'' Tagore revealed.
Rajesh Tagore's love for running
Tagore's love for running started more than two and a half decades ago.
"I started getting into running in the year 1998 as part of a physical goal. I was attending a training program and the trainer asked me to get into running habits and that's how it started. I used to run 15-20 minutes a day and I used to feel sufficient and gradually over the years the practice increased to 30-45 minutes."
"During the Covid years, the practise completely stopped as we could not go outside and were sitting at home. The complete lockdown for more than one and a half years had an impact. The work also stopped. Work-from-home was the standard working format and in 2020, 2021, 2022, I regained more than 20 kgs of weight. So in 2023 Marathon, I could not improve the speed for the first time and even after that this year also the practice has not been very good. I'm expecting a tough marathon."
Tagore feels Mumbai Marathon has changed his life completely.
"Mumbai Marathon is a game changer and life booster in terms of energy, appearance and remaining physically fit for life and I intend to run Full Marathon for atleast the next 30 years," he concluded.
