Run for your life

With every mile you travel, you add another milestone to your journey. Chandigarh Distance Runners (CDR) has come a long way since its inception in 2016. Started by a group of people, it now has 250 active members, who love to run long distances together. 

One of the founding members, Ashok Giri, a Chandigarh-based advocate, informs, “I was always into running and feel that after this group came into existence, as more and more people got associated with it, it helped me and many others see the world in the positive light. The morning run clears your mind, improves your health. Plus, you get to hang out with people who are from different professions.” 

Ashok, who took part in marathons in various cities, feels Chandigarh is the best place to be in, best parks to run in and of course, cycle-friendly roads to paddle on. He will be participating in a marathon in London in April.

The best part of CDR group is that people in this group run for themselves and, of course, to motivate other non-runners in Tricity. The organisation comes up with different activities or challenges to motivate the members to make running as necessary a habit as breathing. To celebrate Independence Day in a different way they formulated a challenge called Independent Fitness Challenge, which started in the month of June and culminated on August 15, 2019.

This group of enthusiastic runners is having more than 2500 Facebook followers. Being the biggest running group in Tricity, the members have planned this Historical Relay Run from Chandigarh to Delhi on December 21&22. This would be first of its kind in North India. The plan is to have seven groups each having 4/5 runners, who would run a minimum of 20 km, then giving way to the second group. The run would start early morning on December 21 from Sukhna Lake and would culminate on Sunday evening at India Gate-Delhi. Ashok says, “The theme of this run is Fit India Movement to promote healthy lifestyle. I feel people in Chandigarh are now giving attention to their health so much so that every morning Sukhna Lake is jam-packed with no parking space for cars.” —Sheetal