The runner Mumbai can rely on

Chauhan seen training runners at Mahalaxmi Racecourse. Pics/Atul Kamble

Marathoner Suraj Chauhan's morning begins when the city has briefly lulled into sleep. Starting his day with prayers at 3.30 am, a ritual he never skips, Chauhan heads to the Mahalaxmi Racecourse for a 25-km run. On days when he isn't running, he is seen pushing others to stay on the track.

Having completed 121 marathons across the state and bagging 37 medals, Chauhan has become the most sought after man amongst runners at the racecourse, who seek his help with training and stretching. Officers from the Mumbai Police force and their family members form the biggest chunk of the 47-year-old's fan club.

A native of Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh, Chauhan arrived in the city as an 11-year-old for a "Mumbai darshan", but decided to stay back with his father, Chiranjilal Chauhan, a sanitation worker in a building at Nepean Sea Road. After his father's unexpected demise a year later, the teenager briefly moved to be with his mother in Delhi, only to return a few years later. Passionate about martial arts, he enrolled at a training centre in Mumbai Central, while moonlighting as a sanitation worker to make ends meet. His tryst with the running track began somewhere in his early 20s, after he got a job as a domestic help at the house of an ad film director at Nepean Sea Road. "Apart from doing the house chores, I had to also take his pet dogs for a round twice a day at Mahalaxmi Racecourse," he says. Chauhan says he'd spend the mornings running, despite his employer trying to prevent him from doing so. "One day I participated in a foot race at Thane. My employer happened to see me on the road, and publicly humiliated me, in front of everyone," he says.

Suraj Chauhan, 47, who lives with his family in a chawl in Worli, has completed 121 marathons and bagged 37 medals

Around this time, he was spotted by Mumbai police officer Pradeep Lonandkar, now a retired ACP, at the racecourse. "He suggested I run for marathons," he says. Since Chauhan was unlettered, Lonandkar filled up his form, and that's how he ended up participating in his first 21-km run, the 2013 Vasai-Virar Marathon, and that too, barefoot. "I stood second in the race, and even received a cash prize... this gave me a huge confidence boost." Chauhan continued to chase his dreams, running many more marathons, while still working as a domestic help. "One day, after I won a medal, a big photograph of mine got published in a newspaper. My employer lost his cool and insulted me. He was plain jealous of my fitness and ambition."

That was the turning point in Chauhan's life. Tired of the insults, he quit his job in 2014, and devoted all his time to training. "Initially, I was very upset, but soon I felt as if I had been set free from a prison." Chauhan gradually started reaching out to fellow runners at the racecourse, offering to help them with training, stretching, physiotherapy, acupressure, and yoga. He charges a small amount for his services. At present, he helps more than 30 to 40 people daily at the racecourse.

Helping an athlete stretch

Chauhan, who lives with his family and three children in a chawl in Worli, admits that not having a regular salary has come in the way of giving his family a good life. "I have no money to buy a flat... Medals are good for recognition, but they won't help you survive. My children are growing and need separate rooms to study, but I feel helpless as I cannot do anything for them," he adds.

He still runs barefoot, as he cannot afford a good pair of shoes. "My feet have now become like iron…" he quips, while admitting that he has suffered injuries in the past. "When I was running a marathon in Satara, my foot got badly injured. I was bleeding, but I didn't realise, as my focus was on the running track. Later, I had to take bed rest for a month," he adds. Retired ACP Lonandkar did offer him a pair of shoes for running a marathon, "but I cannot gain my original speed if I run with shoes on," he says. Speaking with mid-day, Lonandkar says, "Suraj is an inspiration to many of us, training at Mahalaxmi racecourse. He has made his own career."

Harshad Aherao, superintendent of Thane Central Prison, remembers injuring his knee in 2014. "Suraj recommended some exercises, which helped me heal. I could run a marathon soon after," he recalls.

Senior IPS officer Krishna Prakash, who has run more than 50 marathons with Chauhan, says that he is not just his "running partner," but also his personal physiotherapist. "He is not trained professionally or medically, but he knows all the pressure points. If you take a physio session with him, your muscles feel relaxed." Prakash adds, "He has learnt and honed his skills despite being hit by crisis time and again. He truly best represents the old adage, ‘where there is a will, there is a way'."