How many times have we heard from various people at various occasions how they’re fond of outdoor activities like a morning run but due to “shehr k haalaat” or the daunting weather, even not so great infrastructure of the city (Karachi in specific) they are kept from it? More often than not, right!
But then there is a truly devoted lot to the practice who despite all of the cons, are absolute pros at it since years now and as every marathon in the country or abroad passes by with their vibrantly bustling participation back to back, they manage to make Pakistan proud, proving all over again how humans with passionate souls make the world go round, creating beautiful success stores for other to be inspired from!
These people are family men with flourishing careers & businesses which require a lot of their attention and hard work. Only, they have really tapped into the art of ‘balance’ and ‘time management’ which allows them to add this truly rewarding dimension – that of maximizing self-growth by achieving goals & breaking old records. They train regularly and now try to finish two races a year.
When we speak of marathon running and Karachi in the same breathe, the one renowned athlete that comes to our mind instantly is Adnan Gandhi – who has dedicated twenty years of his life at 40something today, having taken part in ten different marathons world over! Co-owner of Core Gym Karachi which proudly is quite the community made of the city’s finest, most resilient and sought-after runners, cyclists, body-lifters, mountaineers and gymnasts alike and the absolute training hub of more than half the marathon runners participating at the ongoing Dubai Marathon and Ironman 70.3 2020.
So to get more insight on the psyche of such perseverant athletes who seek immense pleasure and a healthy sort of high from running and a little about how they blossomed into what they are today, I spoke to the man himself and this is what he eloquently had to share…
“I consider myself a runner. My diet, personal style, gym workout, and even circle of friends have always been centered on my passion and belief in the simple yet demanding world of marathon running. All marathons are 26 miles or 42.2 kilometers. After 20 consecutive years of completing 10 different marathons and over 100 half-marathons all over the world I decided after the Dubai Marathon in 2017 that I wanted to try my hand in triathlons. I presented the idea to my running group in Karachi and we decided to try and finish the 2018 Dubai Half Ironman (aka Dubai Ironman 70.3). The challenge with training for any race in Karachi is that you only really get the months of September to February to train in the cooler conditions required for the really long distances or the fast pace needed to build power. I trained from July to October in 2018 for the Istanbul Marathon as well, and there was never one time that any run longer than 20 km was done without being over heated or dehydrated. But the Dubai Marathon and Half Ironman are both in January and February, respectively, every year which allows us to train that much harder for 3 or even 4 months prior to the event.
Having said that, we only had one other experienced Ironman distance (half and full) runner in the city to count on – Asad Tungeker, i.e. We took tips from him but went about improving our biking and swimming to finish the Dubai Ironman 70.3 in 2018. It was much harder than I thought and took me nearly 7.5 hours to complete. It was the single hardest race I’d ever done and I was surprised to even finish. But having learnt all the lessons from the training and the race itself, our entire team is trying again this year. I have set myself a personal goal of finishing under 6.5 hours and shave 1 hour off my previous time. Myself, Bilal and Asad ran the 2018 race, and this year are joined by Ali, Miqdad, Usman, and Danish. Bilal, Danish, and Usman are running as one team in the relay for the swim, bike, and run; respectively.
All in all, there are nearly 22 Pakistanis participating this year, of which 19 are just from Karachi. That’s nearly 4 times more Pakistanis compared to 2018’s participation!
My immediate group of 7 will be racing this year as a new team called ‘Sports In Pakistan’, lead by Shoaib Nizami. He’s the co-owner of the very successful bike shops in Karachi and Lahore called Bikestan and has worked to elevate the country’s professional cycling circuit and competitiveness. We look up to his agency to help provide the framework we need to regularly train and try and improve our times in the endurance sports of long distance running and triathlons. This race represents ‘Seaview Running Clubs’ (SVRC) – our first professional partnership for a race which we hope will inspire others to train in Karachi for the races within closer range of distance from Pakistan, and maybe even launch our own races.
Swimming is 1900 meters in the race. All the training was done in swimming pools. We did 5 open water swim sessions. Biking is 90 kilometres in the race. All of it was done on either Shareh-Faisal or in the seaside roads that extend from Creek Club all the way to Mai-kolachi. Running is 21.1 kilometres. All of it was done from Seaview to Creek Club’s outer perimeter roads or in Zamzama Park.”
Hearing Gandhi talk about the marathon alone had me charged up and sure will have the same effect on you as you read through his strenuous training and dedication, alongside his fellow pro runners.
Let’s stay tuned to the games of Dubai Marathon Ironman 70.3 and keep our fingers crossed for our countrymen to bring home the trophees! Yihhiiie…
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