Mumbai: Runners have the least rights here, says running community

Kranti Salvi, marathoner

A bright March sky turned dark for the running community, as news of Rajalaxmi Ram Krishnan's death spread. The sizeable running community chats were buzzing through sombre Sunday. For many runners, weekends are their ‘long run morning'. They are on the roads looking to put in at least 25 km to 35 km, if preparing for a running event.

Marathoner Kranti Salvi said, "I know this would have been her long run, as she was preparing to run the London Marathon on April 23. You need to run on the roads, when you are doing distances. Going round and round in parks is not an option for many. Moreover, many parks seem closed for upgradation. With roads taken over for different projects, footpaths encroached or unusable, where do runners go?"

Salvi recalled how two years ago "a taxi had hit a young man who was jogging on Marine Drive. My husband and I put him in a cab and rushed him to hospital. He had been flung in the air and he was bleeding from his ear. He eventually recovered."

Also Read: Mumbai: Jogger in Worli killed by speeding motorist

Wellness ambassador

Naveen Hegde, a familiar sight on the Shivaji Park-Worli run route and one of the founders of the Mumbai Ultra race, said, "I ran with Rajalakshmi on one of the practice runs before the Mumbai marathon... Today, we have not just lost a runner, but also an ambassador of wellness. This [her death] is also a huge de-motivator for runners everywhere."

The rights

P Venkatraman, the founder of YouTooCanRun, an initiative to promote running, said, "The city needs some demarcated zones, markers that differentiate between pedestrians and vehicles. We do not have this now. Pedestrians have very little rights here, and runners, even less. Even hawkers come before pedestrians. We are one of the most dangerous countries when it comes to the roads."

Marathoner Satish Gujaran said, "Runners and cyclists feel unsafe. So many runners here are preparing for the London Marathon and Comrades. The rules and punitive action should be so strict that people are scared to race their cars at any time."

Anand Kane, a long-distance runner, said, "Unfortunately, this is not the first and won't be the last. We have examples of road stretches that are suddenly shut down and sometimes roads narrow down. The terrain changes continuously, taking runners by surprise." Runners have flagged infrastructure problems, poor footpaths, speed devils in cars and on bikes early mornings and need for better lighting.

"Generally, we have scores of runners who have witnessed these reckless drivers zipping dangerously past, the party-hearty whose day ends at 4 am, as they are going home at that time, and our day is just beginning," they ended.