Global runner with local link off to Boston

THIRUVANANTHAPRUAM: Fresh from his successful run at Berlin Marathon last month, Vijayaraghavan V. is now all set to take part in a half marathon at Trivandrum Marathon here on October 30. The 41-year-old entrepreneur who belongs to the city and now settled in Bangalore, ran 42 km in 2.55 hr gaining entry into the 2018 Boston marathon. His performance at Spice Coast marathon in Kochi in November 2015 had already ensured a berth for the 2017 Boston marathon.

“I do two marathons annually and half marathons in between. This is to keep the body fresh and fit for select races,” he told DC. At the Mumbai marathon in January, he was forced to pullout after 26 kms following asthma problem. But that didn’t deter Vijayaraghavan from training hard for the Paris Marathon in April where he completed the race in 2.59 hrs. “Pulling off a marathon under 3 hours is a big thing for amateur runners world over. Spice Coast marathon 2015 was a turning point. I clocked 3.14 hr and came first in my category. Paris was awesome where I could cut down the timing by 15 minutes,” he said.

“Over 40,000 runners took part in Paris. It is far superior to marathons elsewhere, very well organised. People from 70 countries took part,” he said. Barring Boston Marathon, the entry into London, NewYork, Chicago, Berlin and Tokyo are through lottery. “Each category has an age group. I run in 40-45. For gaining entry intothe Men’s category in Boston you need to clock below 3.15.

But with so much competition across the world, you won’t get an entry even if you clock 3.14.   Vijayaraghavan, a member of Tracs, said three years ago when the group was formed only few people ran. “Initially even I found running on the roads embarrassing. But recently when I ran with Tracs there were 20 people on a Sunday. It is also encouraging to find many female runners,” he said. Vijayaraghavan is hopeful that the second edition of Trivandrum Marathon will encourage more people to run.