and financial consultant by profession,
but a runner by passion. An ultra
marathon runner, he has completed
marathons from Vasco to Miramar, while
the routes from Vasco to Bogmalo and
Vasco to Hollant are now a piece of cake
for him.
His interest in training and running
is a recently discovered one which
came about when he came across the
announcement for the first Goa River
Marathon in 2010. “For the first Goa River
Marathon, I could only walk 5km, but in
the next year, I could complete the 21.1
km half marathon,” says Dinesh, who
is happy to work with members of the
Vasco Sports Club like Abhijeet Salkar,
Rakesh Unny, Stanley and Hemant. The
Goa River Marathon is the single largest
running event in Goa.
Over the years, Dinesh has
participated in 18 half marathons
and 8 full marathons which includes
completing the Bangalore Ultra 75
kms Trail in 2014, where he was the
first runner up and was part of Satara
Hill Marathon 2015 Pacing Team and
Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.
He has been fully supported by his wife
Bharti, who has also started walking
and running to give him company. “She
started running with me two years ago
and also participated in the Goa River
Marathon.”
Dinesh successfully completed the
12-hour Mumbai Ultra Marathon where
he ran 103 km. As this was an invite only
marathon, Dinesh was selected as one
of the Goans for the marathon. He has
also participated in marathons in cities
like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai,
Delhi and the most recent one in Pune
last week. The next marathon will be
a 24-hour marathon in Bangalore on
November 7 and 8, which is even more
challenging as it is will be on an uneven
surface, cutting through trees instead of
a smooth road.
“What I love about running is that if a
training program is followed, it is injury
free. One has to be well hydrated and
should not stress themselves. I run for
four days a week and exercise for two
days; I find time from my work to go
running. My exercises include yoga and
cross training. I start out running early
in the morning, sometimes at 3am if I
have to cover long distance like Vasco to
Panjim,” says Dinesh, who lovingly eats
what his wife prepares. “She understands
my dietary needs and prepares what I
need for my runs,” adds Dinesh.
The Vasco Sports Club which
organises the annual Goa River
Marathon has also seen a considerable
rise in popularity for marathons. “The
first year of the marathon saw the
participation of around 700 participants
with few Goans but a majority of
national and international runners. The
next year, we introduced the 10 km
run which attracted more Goans and
in the fourth year we had nearly 800
Goans participating in the same run. It
shows that Goans want to be fit and are
changing their mindset towards running.
We also organise training workshops
with experts for interested participants
before the annual Goa River Marathon
which will be held in December,” says
Abhijeet Salkar, treasurer of Vasco Sports
Club.
‘Sussegado Runners’ is a group
formed in each city of Goa where a
group of runners meet early in the
morning and go for runs or exercises
together. “When the first group was
formed in Vasco, we received a good
response and soon we got requests
for other places in Goa. We now have
groups in Margao, Panjim, Mapusa and
the most recent was Ponda,” says Rakesh
Unny, Secretary of Vasco Sports Club.
This year, the Goa River Marathon will be
organised in association with Mobiefit
and FirstRun. Mobiefit is a startup in
the mFitness space, which launched its
first app ‘FirstRun’, this year. ‘FirstRun’
is an app designed to get beginners
running, with over 50,000 active users.
It currently offers a 5 km and a paid
10 km running program, with running
enthusiast Gul Panag coaching runners
in each session. In addition, ‘FirstRun’ will
also offer runners a chance to sign up for
the Goa River Marathon scheduled to be
held this December.
