Running is fine, but how about some life skills

NEW DELHI: L Suriya won the 5,000-10,000 double at the South Asian Games early last year, and has since ruled the Indian women’s distance scene. But put her before the media, as she was on Saturday with Sudha Singh and the upcoming Parul Choudhary, she struggles for words.

Thus on Sunday, after the Tamil Nadu runner had won the Indian elite race with a course record, she was asked about getting to keep the bonus, unlike the men who had to share after four dipped under the old mark.

“Tax katke panch lakh (Rs 5 lakh post-tax, prize money plus bonus),” she grinned as the audience erupted in laughter. Suriya looked around a touch perplexed.

A day earlier, the trio had stumbled through a media chat when asked even about diet and training. Indian women’s distance running is on the rise, and national campers’ weekly mileage of 280km under foreign coach Nikolai Snesarev, a hard taskmaster, is serious business. This in altitude no less, though it makes winning races a breeze.

Olympian Sudha Singh, 31, admits motivation lessons will help in the all-round development of athletes and boost their awareness and confidence to take on world-class rivals.

“Most of the distance girls are from villages and humble backgrounds. You can’t expect them to show that confidence,” said Sudha. “And most of them are not from families with educated members. In fact, our English has improved talking to Nikolai.”

Awareness among Indian athletes for starters will let elite runners discuss the finer points of training with the coach rather than merely follow instructions. Road running itself is rapidly evolving globally.

Athletics is taking young Indian women from the hinterland around the world. Perhaps, the time has come to take them beyond the beaten track.