Hyderabad, January 17: A decade ago, Hyderabadi couple Uma and Krishna decided to take a more active interest in their health and fitness.
What started with brisk walking and running slowly graduated into half and then full marathons. “Initially it was about fitness and enjoying the nature. For years we simply stuck to brisk walking at KBR park,” says Uma, who is the managing director of Krisma Estates.
After running various marathons across the globe, the couple decided to take up the challenge of seven continents in a calendar year.
“When I pitched in the idea to my wife, she thought I had lost my mind. But, but once my training began, Uma did not want to be left behind, and joined in,” says Krishna Prasad, who is the CEO of Granules India.
So what kind of training regime did they follow? “It was nothing elaborate — just running 15-20 kilometers per week and yoga exercises. But, last year, one marathon was like a practice session for the succeeding marathon,” explains Uma, who a part of the core group that helped organise Hyderabad’s first 10k run.
So, how different are the exotic marathons when compared to regular city marathons? “Very different. Firstly, the number of participants are very few in these exotic marathons — the Gobi Desert marathon had only 13 participants,” explains Uma, as Krishna continues, “Initially we do have those measly numbers of participants around, but later on, we found ourselves running on our own — running alone in the middle of Gobi Desert, running amongst animals in Kenya, or running on ice in Antarctica.”
Their last marathon was on the ice lands of Antarctica. How was the experience there? “Antarctica is a place for adventure and sports. Reaching that place itself was an adventure,” says Uma, as she is interrupted by her husband, “The Ice Marathon requires people to take a special airliner to get them within a few hundred kilometers of the South pole. Due to the extreme weather conditions, we had to keep various precautions in mind. Unlike other marathons, participants were discouraged from walking as the body doesn’t warm up and it becomes impossible to run. On the other hand, we were also advised not too push ourselves too hard because excess sweat would freeze into icicles.”
At an age when most people like to settle down into a comfortable routine, this couple decided to get adventurous. What was the motivation?
“Uma is in her late forties, and I, in my early fifties. It was quite a challenge to juggle between work and our latest passion. But, I always wanted to do something different, and thought, this is it,” said Krishna.
It was not just the running itself that was the main attraction. “The best part definitely was the fact that we were there together. Other people should be there to experience it. Running together led us all the way to Antarctica. Also, these trips have revived my long lost passion for photography,” says Krishna with a smile.
So, what next? “The North Pole. We want to plant the national flag in the North Pole next,” concludes the couple.
–Agencies