Once unsure of 5km run, 41-yr-old from Goa is now set to take on 42km at Mumbai marathon

Mumbai: The first time he ran 10 years ago, those 5km seemed never ending and unforgiving. This Sunday, Pramod Divgi is ready to trot 42km at the Mumbai marathon. "I'm looking forward to it," the 41-year-old from Goa says non-chalantly.
His maiden run in 2015 was "extremely difficult", he recalls. Unsure and unwilling of doing the first run, he got into it as it was on his wife's bucket list. Panting, puffing, and completely stressed out, he somehow managed to cover the 5km distance without any training or knowledge of even the basics of athletics. But at the end of the 5km run, Pramod says he felt a thrill, a sense of achievement.
That was the first step to his journey on the running track. He attempted a 10km distance, then the half marathon before taking the plunge into the full marathon. There's been no looking back ever since. His real-life story is inspirational for those who aspire to run, but are reluctant to get started.
This will be his fourth year participating in Tata Mumbai Marathon. "I'm looking forward to it," he says, speaking of the energy that reverberates on the streets of the urbs prima on D-day. It's a jamboree – streets teeming with fitness enthusiasts, crowds cheering aloud.
He and his clique of at least 37 runners from Goa will descend on Mumbai for the race. Pramod is one of the co-founders of a fitness group of people from the small coastal state. The group, Fit Swaggers, encourages Goan people from all walks of life to participate in sports and fitness activity. "Today, running is a part of life. Fit Swaggers only eggs on people to take up sports to stay fit and healthy," points out Pramod, a programme manager with Yoska, a sports event management company.
Today, waking up at the crack of dawn for a run has become a routine. "There was a time I hated getting out of bed at the early-morning sound of the alarm… I've come a long way," he says.
Besides Pramod, the entire Divgi family residing in Porvorim — his wife Nehali and elderly parents — participate in run events. Why, even his 6-year-old boy Satyaansh did a 3km run with other children last Sunday.