Rashmi Mohanty
Rashmi started running as a way to lose weight in her late 30s. In 2010, she started long distance running. Having been an athlete all her student life, getting into a discipline motivated by the desire to go long or go faster was easy for her. She found a group of like minded people who supported her, motivated her to move from a 10k to a HM distance quickly and since then she has done half marathons, marathons and ultra distances.
She is a numbers person and therefore recording each and every run of hers on a sports watch is important to her. She spends an inordinate amount of time analysing data for various statistics such as pace, speed, HR, cadence etc. and uses that to change her training program and improve her running. Running with friends keeps the joy of running alive for her and many of the running friendships she formed in the initial years are still going strong.
Rashmi has run a number of local and international races. She did her first HM at ADHM in 2010. Her first sub -2 hour HM run was at Mawana Marathon 2013 and that is very special for her. In 2014 she moved onto ultra distances and completed Comrades Marathon back to back in 2014 and 2015 for the up and the down run. She has completed two world majors – Berlin in 2016 and Chicago in 2017 and is mighty proud of her PB at Berlin Marathon of 4:06. In 2017 she hit the century club with her maiden 100k attempt at Bangalore Ultra and set a course record in her age category for the 100k distance. Since then she has done many more of 100k runs – few of them being a 100k at Maclehose Trail, HK, a hilly trail ultra; 110k Malnad Ultra, a 100k at Craze Race, Singapore.
She draws a parallel between running a marathon and life. Running has her taught he that every big goal can be accomplished by breaking it into smaller goals. To her any challenge can be overcome by adapting and reorganising on the go, to not be afraid of experimenting or taking calculated risks, and most of all by believing that it can be overcome. In all her years of running, she has learnt that she can do more than what she has imagined is possible. She quotes the a study which says that,” when your mind says you are ready to quit – you are only spent 40% physically”. Her mantra is to beat that voice in the head and just “Keep at It”.
As a working woman, managing her passion along with the family and professional commitments is not easy. Long runs, recovery and travel for races have to be balanced by an equal focus at work and at home. And she ensures she prioritises her demands well.
She believes that an active fit mother or parent, is the best role model for the kids to take up sports and lead an active lifestyle. And which is why she loves encouraging others to run – the easiest of the fitness activities.
