Mr. Verghese got into running by accident while posted in Chicago with Motorola over his first winter there in 2000 and ran his first ever marathon in Chicago in 2001. He has run 52 marathons across 6 continents including an 89 km Comrades in South Africa. His 50th marathon was the Everest Base Camp Marathon in May 2014. He plans to run an Antarctic marathon in November, 2016 and is seeking a sponsor to see how they can leverage this in their business.

He started Running And Living Infotainment Pvt Ltd as an entrepreneur with the goal of getting 200 million people running, and building running into a brand activation platform for marketers to leverage strategically. This was the fusion of his marketing experience and the feel good and social benefits of running he had experienced and then researched. Running And Living works with brands and companies and combines some runs around an activity such as road cleaning, sapling plantation, or a focus around health and running - blood sugar, the heart, etc. building in employee engagement where required.

Mr. Verghese is a prolific writer on the subject of running. His articles and running related content reaches over 3 million households through print, TV and radio. Running And Living has had over 150,000 participants in their 150+ runs across 10 states of the country, with 75+ running groups. Running And Living also works with Governments on the importance of running and promoting it at the grass roots, as well as doing talks at schools and colleges on how sports shape character as well as working with corporates in the areas of leadership development, team building and productivity enhancement. He has just written a book - Running And Living available on Amazon and Flipkart. Running And Living Infotainment has been featured on the cover of the WEEK, on NDTV and other national media over the years.

ET:  What mantras would you share for people who find it hard to get started and even harder to stay consistent with running/chosen sport?

RV: People get into running or a sport for a spectrum of different reasons, ranging from health issues, to it being fun, social, or being their profession or business. Focusing on the 'non-business/profession' motivations, and sticking to the personal, I would say that the key thing in any sport including running, is that you should enjoy it, and be having fun.

Starting off is always the biggest challenge because instead of learning from the better sportspersons around you, you could get over awed by their proficiency. In the case of running, the key is to make a start, and perhaps team up with a friend or neighbour in a nearby park. Perhaps run and walk with music, perhaps listen to the birds chirping in the early morning, look at others around you as they walk and run and say to yourself - if they can, so can I!

We must also remember that the 1st 2-3 weeks are going to be the toughest and perhaps, keep two things at the back of your mind - focus on each week and see how much better you are doing and feeling, and also if you want to have an audacious goal in mind, sign up for a 5 km run to keep you focused and motivated, and then follow a training program (and there are lots of them on the internet) to keep progressing injury free and make sure you enjoy running more and more, as you get better.

ET:  How do you see distance running influencing one's life in general/career in specific?

RV:  Some of the benefits of distance running include:

• Distance running is a great teacher in life.
• It builds self-confidence and optimism.
• Distance running gets us to experience the runners high and puts us into a positive frame of mind so that we begin to focus on solutions rather than the obstacles themselves.
• It teaches humility.
• You get back what you put into it.
• Reminds you that you are unlikely to continuously get better by doing more of the same, but you need to get smarter by training smarter.
• Huge tasks are like a marathon, break it into parts, train and plan well, keep cheering your progress and focus on the end goal, nothing is then impossible - tough, yes!
• It's a great way to building relationships - within families, forging new friendships, and strengthen bonds within and across teams.
• Running builds perseverance and self-confidence, which are both required in good measure in our careers, as it enables a 'can do' attitude.

And I could go on and on.

ET:  How did you come about starting a movement such as 'Running And Living'?

When we got back to India in 2003, I found not a single store or any resource of any value for someone who wanted to start running in India. A few years later, I started writing on running and also set up a website, https://runningandliving.com, and then was overwhelmed when I would receive e-mails from people telling me about how 'I had changed their life'. That gave me goosebumps and got me thinking once again and I decided to switch gears and try and fuse my 25 years of marketing experience across diverse industries and geographies, with my 7 year old passion for running and set up an entrepreneurial venture. Running And Living is a marketing venture focused around using running as a platform to engage consumers with brands in a fun and memorable way. We also try and get people closer to the environment, as we run on beaches, in forests, in the upper Himalayas, and on the Formula one Race Track and other offbeat locations. We now do 20 runs a year, have a vibrant social community, with our content on running reaching out to a few million households, periodically. We now have around 60+ running groups across the country and our goal is to increase that to 1,000 so that no matter where you are located, you would have someone close by with you - physically or virtually. Our goal is to inspire 200 million people to start running.

ET:  Tell us how Running And Living's various programmes are benefitting the corporate world?

RV:  Running And Living is a marketing platform for both internal and external connects for a corporate or for a brand.

We try to get a company to get in their employees, suppliers and customers and other stakeholders to come and participate as a team, and get engaged together in our small and cosy runs which have 200-1,500 participants - never more than that.

If they come on board as a lead brand engaged with the event, then we get the brand to be up front and centre of the whole experience, apart from getting their stakeholders and brand ambassadors, etc. to participate and some employees to give out medals, and certificates at the finish line. That's a good way for the whole ecosystem of a brand to be engaged as one. The brand also gets a 2-4 month window to engage with the target audience through our facebook communities at https://www.facebook.com/RunningAndLiving and at https://www.facebook.com/groups/48840145643/, our e-newsletter to an active lifestyle audience, and our website, while they leverage their reach through the traditional media via their communications team.

We also do workshops for corporates on putting some more passion into life, team building and leadership - with running as the intervention medium, and try to make it measurable.

So the benefits range across:

• Team building.
• Innovatively connecting with influential target consumers with a 2-4 month window of communication.
• Getting the brand centre stage within the running experience and being remembered.
• Leveraging PR with business magazines and papers on innovative marketing.
• Getting a 360 engagement for the organization.
• Social and digital media engagement and involvement.
• Rolling this out to multiple offbeat locations, through the year.

ET:  Your book - 'Running And Living' that was launched in June, 2015, is not really about becoming a great runner, instead, it talks about getting more out of one's life and achieving greater happiness! Please elaborate.

RV:  As far as I know, we have only one life on this planet and we have to make it count, and live it to the fullest. One of the best ways to do that is to have a dream, unfettered and unconstrained, like that of a 5 year old, and then for us to go out and start living that dream. That gives both purpose and a meaning to our life.

Running is a great way to enable this, as it gets you on a high, gets you into a positive zone and enables you to think and dream big, unshackled by constraints.

A dream helps to keep us charged up when the chips are down, and it gets us to celebrate small victories along the way. Running does that for us as we do our 1st ever 1-2 km run and pump the air with our fist as we finish, and then go to longer distances, breaking those mental barriers one by one. Learnings from long distance running help us to stay focused and motivated, realising that there are going to be challenges and nothing is ever going to be smooth sailing all the time.

It helps us reach closer and closer to our potential within. Sometimes you can be surprised when you find where you have reached. That realization gives us a big boost within, as well as a great sense of pride. Nothing better than a positive self-charged person and a community, to help change the world for the better.

For more information on my book, please Click Here.

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