Mumbai's Dream Run

Why does the Mumbai marathon matter? In its 20 years, it has turned running into a fitness goal, a business model, and a passion

- Shrenik Avlani

MUMBAI: The third Sunday of January is a day like no other in Mumbai. Runners from across the country—and international stars from around the globe—pound the city's streets, chasing glory, validation, pride, new records and a test of their endurance.

It is also the day when the impossible happens—traffic disappears from South Bombay till lunchtime, and the railways run special trains in the middle of the night for runners. This is the Mumbai Marathon, a beloved sporting ritual the city has been hosting for two decades.

In the 20 years since it was first flagged off, numbers have swelled from just a few thousand runners—barely a hundred for the Full Marathon (42.195 km), a little more for the Half Marathon (21 km) and a couple of thousand for the Dream Run (5.9 km). "I watched the first race and ran the second one. There were only a few hundred runners for the longer races in the early years," says athletics coach and sprinter Ayesha Billimoria.

On Sunday, 60,000-odd participants will assemble at 5 am at the start line for the Tata Mumbai Marathon. It's a milestone year for an event that kick-started the city's love affair with distance running.

The Early Years The early years weren't a runaway success as creating awareness in a pre-social media world was difficult. Procam International, the promoters of the race, would publish advertisements in newspapers, advertise on billboards, and reach out to athletics coaches and schools to create awareness.