Marathon and its Impact !!!

Marathon is not only an athlete’s arena but a wide open opportunity for anyone and everyone, irrespective of profession, gender and age. The society which inculcates a running culture stays healthy and disciplined. Various Business leaders across the world often cite marathon running as a metaphor for the perseverance, discipline, and endurance needed in leadership. To name a few, whether its Jeffrey Immelt (General Electric), Richard Branson(Virgin Group) or N.Chandrasekaran(Tata Group), they are known for their dedication to fitness, with marathon running being a common pursuit.

Besides, there are millions of people around the world who choose to run marathons. A full marathon means 42.195 kms (26.219 miles) run which normally gets completed by runners between 2 hrs to 6hrs (official) with average time of 4 hr 45 minutes. Finishers whose only target is to complete the marathon, may finish in 8+ hrs which brings them no less sense of accomplishment than the top finishers. Rightly so, as it takes a huge amount of preparation, effort, time, commitment and mental strength to run a full marathon. These runners are part of the 0.01% of world’s population to achieve this which brings a huge moral booster(besides the health benefits) for them.

On an average, 3000 calories is burnt to complete a marathon against an average daily calorie intake of 2500 calories. So, if one looks at Marathons from an independent view, he might not find a good enough reason to run these marathons considering the time taken, energy lost and mental stress. Then what makes the marathon click with millions of runners which is growing year on year. What are the X-Factors to brings in runners for a marathon?

1.?Marathon is not an overnight achievement. When one starts running, even 1 km run is tough. Normally, its 200 meters run/ 200 meters walk and so on till 1 km as the lungs are not prepared yet. As the practice continues, 1 Km changes to 2, 5, 10, 15 and so on, week by week and month by month till one reaches the milestone of 41.195 km. These practice runs brings DISCIPLINE as runners plan for the run, find time for the run and improvement is tracked continuously. One starts waking up early for the run and is super active for the rest of the tasks during the day, post the run.

2. Marathon is not an individual game but a team game. A runner always performs better in a group than his sole running exercise. When a runner SOCIALIZES during the practice sessions, he benchmarks his performance and tries to match up to the next best runner. He learns the tips and tricks to improve on a regular basis and focusses on CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.

3.??As one gets into rhythm of running, runners observation about their eating habbit improves. When one eats fatty, oily and unhealthy food on the prior night, there is a drop in running performance. Hence they start focusing more on a HEALTHY DIET for better performance.

4.? In a busy schedule of personal and profession work life balancing, its very tough to find time for self. Running long distances gives you a lot of time with yourself and probably it’s the best time to think about your short, medium and long term goals. You don’t have any distractions during this time. One can do a lot of INTROSPECTION while running and try to find ways to bring self-improvement. Sometimes out of the box and very relevant solutions gets triggered during this period.

5.??Runners always have the final goal of 42.195 km in mind. This necessitates them to PLAN the run and EXECUTE well to complete the run which is a very classic benefit in the thought process of runner. They breakdown the vision into smaller targets and focus on short term goals. Runners consider 3 kms/5 Kms/10 Kms as incremental goal and rest are just multiples of that. Speed is also modulated based on the experience of the marathon runner.

6.?Even though a runner practices for a marathon and plans his run during the marathon, he/she needs have an ENDURANCE within himself/herself. This is developed as an outcome of the practice sessions which goes on till the day of marathon. This strengthen the lungs, muscles and mental thinking while controlling the body vitals.

7.?While endurance helps the runner not to give up physically, there is PERSEVERANCE and TENACITY ?is another trait which helps the runner not to give up and keep putting in the effort till the end, even though it may be tough and hard. Perseverance is gradually built in runners while they do their daily runs and beating their achievement day after day. During start , even a 30 minutes run might be too long and tendency might be to give up but as the runner continues his practice this 30 minutes changes to 1hr>2 hr>3hr>4hr>5hr>6hr.

? Overall, the journey of preparing for and completing a marathon mirrors the effort, dedication and resilience required for success in corporate life, making it an apt metaphor for professional growth and achievement while enabling a personal growth and sense of satisfaction.

Happy Running !!!