They live together and some even work together, but it’s when they step out in the morning for a run, that their bond grows stronger.
Couples who are running together at the Airtel Hyderabad Marathon, talk about how running has helped them bond and why they don’t complain about waking up by 5 in the morning.
‘Running is the only time we’re together’
For Revathi Pogadadanda and husband Chaitanya Dantuluri, running turned out to be the only time they could be together. “We have been married for five years and my husband and I have weird schedules. I head a radio station and he’s a filmmaker.
When I come home, he’s usually leaving. Weird as it may sound, but we actually speak only over the phone or spend time over the weekend,” she says. This is the first time they are running the half-marathon together. Revathi had earlier gone for a half-marathon in Pune.
“When I got into running, I became addicted to it. It took me some time to convince him. At first, he thought I was going mad but now he understands my madness,” she says with a laugh. And running together has proved to be beneficial for them. “He understands my strengths and weaknesses and I understand his, so while running also we keep pushing each other,” says Revathi.
‘A new perspective’
Simmi Gaba and her husband Ankit Aggarwal, on the other hand, are “together 24x7”. They run their own IT company and recently even started their own sports and fitness company. And running has helped them de-stress. “We have arguments because of clash of ideas since we have our own start-up. The other day we had an argument over dinner but when we get up for a run, which can sometimes be as early as 3 in the morning, everything is forgotten. And by the end of the run we are in such a great mood that we don’t remember the fights,” she says.
The couple has also travelled to different cities to take part in marathons. “We went to Bengaluru and Mumbai last year and that turned out to be a vacation for us. We go for a run, spend time together and come back home with a medal!” she says, adding, “Every Sunday after the run, we go for breakfast.” Talking about how running has helped them, Simmi says, “Of course, it has helped both of us stay fit and has even helped us find more friends in the Hyderabad runners group. Running has given us a different perspective to everything. And now, it’s very easy to synchronise our fitness activities.”
‘He never leaves me behind’
They have been together for 11 years now — since college — and have been married for two. Sukhbir Kaur and her husband Amit Tripathi, who work in an IT company, have found running as the perfect stressbuster. While Amit was always an athlete, Sukhbir admits that she initially started running just to be with him. “He had taken a break and started running again two years ago. I joined him just to be with him, but today sometimes it’s me who pulls him out of bed to ensure we don’t miss running sessions,” says Sukhbir.
Talking about the initial days of running, Sukhbir says, “I was slow but he would never leave me behind. He would always run along with me. Today, both of us support and motivate each other. It’s a very different kind of ‘we time’ for us, apart from the time we spend with our friends or at home. When we are running we are quiet and appreciate the environment we are in. And it helps us de-stress and keep calm,” she adds.
