Venkat Ramachandran
As a pregnant sky turns orange to give birth to the new sun, he stretches and pulls out his orange towel to start his run. Interesting that the orange towel has been his faithful running partner since his first ever run in 2012! And now it has become his identity. He runs with ease, literally soaking in the charm of nature, enjoying his every step and rhythm in the process. There is no trace of rush, tension, or conflict – just his mind, body and movement in perfect sync. Meet this free-spirited runner – Venkat Ramachandran, who has been running with Bessie flyers since August last year.
A banker by profession, Venkat discovered his natural flair for running when he had a brief time-off-from-work window between jobs in London.
Surprising himself with a 6 km solo run on the very first day, he realized he had the potential and desire to run longer distances.
The secret of getting ahead lies in getting started. This wannabe began his quest by browsing through all possible information that he could gather, sourcing his knowledge from online forums and books. While the book “Born to Run” helped frame his thoughts, a friend’s completion of the daring 89 km Comrades marathon in South Africa, served as a stimulant in bringing out the marathoner in him.
Within just 3 months of regular running, he attempted his maiden half-marathon, the Cheltenham Circular Challenge in London. Though the off-road event on a multi-terrain route posed a huge challenge, finishing that race reinforced his belief that running was something he would pursue, always!
Post his relocation to Chennai, he continued enjoying his solo runs, and signed up for almost all the races that caught his attention. Happily sporting the pair of Reebok shoes, that has guarded his feet for nearly 3 years (whoa!), he has never missed an opportunity to run wherever he travelled. An adventurer and nature lover, he’s always on the look out for new routes to explore, be it around Chennai or Cheltenham.
With an open-mind to try group running, Venkat joined Bessie Flyers. His runs then became more structured and consistent, perfectly complementing his gym workouts on non-run days. The inspiration that he draws from seasoned runners in the group, and the running connection that he shares with some co-runners seems to bind him to the group. Nevertheless, the ruminating runner continues to catch his personal running space whenever he feels like – during travels or otherwise.
15 half-marathons later, Venkat has found his space in the 21.1 km mileage. “It gives me the perfect feeling. Though I have gone up to 38 km, it’s the half marathon distance that leaves me feeling good”, says the flexible runner, who might attempt a full race or even an ultra marathon, someday when he feels a strong urge to try it.
An avid collector of quality run t-shirts, he signs up for marathons that appeal to him, and takes a year’s gap before repeating a race. After trying races of different nature, terrain and location, this enthusiastic runner looks forward to 3 half-marathons before TWCM in December.
As we complete our St. Thomas Mount hill run on a Saturday, when he opened me up to his running world, I couldn’t help but marvel at this free-thinker, who believes in enjoying life by living his dreams. In a world that’s driven by propaganda, here is a guy who has it all, and yet runs (walks!) around, pulling his feet back to the ground from the air each time, in every sense.
Join us for a run tomorrow, and meet this unconventional runner, who quietly makes his way forward from the back of the pack – a running style that suits his philosophy!
Bessie Flyers run schedule for Thu, 6-Aug:
HIIT @ Bessie beach
Assemble: 5am
Start at: 5:15 am