A tale of determination - Reeti Sahai and "runwithreeti"
Reeti is an entrepreneur, mountaineer, cyclist, dog mom, certified fitness trainer, and marathoner who kick-started her running journey 13 years ago. She is also the founder of a running community known as ‘Run with Reeti’ wherein she inspires, motivates, nurtures, and coaches individuals from different age groups and professions across Delhi-NCR.
With Reeti, we’ve learned that the urge to grow and follow a passion with all our might not only helps an individual but an entire community.
Reeti, a sports enthusiast and an outdoor human being since childhood found it hard to even hit the gym after entering the corporate world. It was then, that she decided to buy a pair of shoes and go running in her free time. She gradually started to cover smaller distances over a period of time to develop a forefront runner in herself.
Reeti has finished 5 World Marathon Majors so far and is eager to participate in the 6th and final one (Tokyo) in the next few months. Reeti considers every race of hers to be full of learning and memorable in its own way.
Being an entrepreneur and a dog mom, it’s a challenge for her to find time to train.
Despite all the challenges of not being able to manage time, find a companion to run along with, or choose a safe path for training, she has constantly tackled every single one through her sheer willpower, grit, and determination.
Run with Reeti
In the peak summer of Delhi- June 2021, runwithreeti was born. No, it was not a midsummer night’s dream but a reality that she embarked upon by creating a community that had to do with what she loved, and that passion only multiplied. Runwithreeti focuses on bringing a change in the way one looks at running as a sport. It aims to make it focused yet fun.
Today, runwithreeti has over 250 active members across Delhi and Noida who belong to an age group between 15 to 65. Some members belong to various walks of life as housewives, Defence personnel, Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, Nutritionists, Entrepreneurs, Engineers, students, Investment bankers, and the list goes on.
En route to this journey of runwithreeti, there were many milestones that the community has accomplished. Reeti recalls, “Be it the first Half Marathon by many or the numerous podiums that we’ve won. Our focus was always clear. No! Not speed or Personal Records on terrain, but to bring together like-minded individuals to test themselves on the track, with a single-minded focus on living a healthy life based on a common passion for running”.
The spirit of runwithreeti has brought out the best in many, as they’ve become more confident and bright in life running along the diverse age groups within the community and learning from each other.
For amateur runners as per Reeti..
- Start slow and increase the distance gradually over time
- Running is you vs you. Compare yourself with no one
- Enjoy your journey throughout and make beautiful memories
- Understand your body, everyone is built differently.
Last but not the least, Rome wasn’t built in a day and so is the case with endurance.
Edited by Faiz Alam