Chennai

Consisting of over 250 people, the members of Tower Twisters call themselves nothing less than a family. “The group was formed in April 2014 by a few fitness enthusiasts. Residents of Anna Nagar, ran around the locality. However, what started with 10, grew to over 50 within a year and now they have 250 runners. “We have fitness enthusiasts from across all age groups. The oldest one we have is Venugopalan Arunachalam, who is in his 70s and is an inspiration for many of us. Also the best part is the male- female ratio which is 50/50. On many days there are more women running with us. On a bad attendance day we have 40 runners. When the footfall is good, we have over 80 members coming,” says Vikram M, member of the group.

The drill starts at 5 am. “We run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Rest of the days, we do strength training. On Fridays and Sundays, the members have the option to do cross-training. We either go in for long cycling rides or swimming,” he says. 

Most of these runners prepare for various marathons and these strenuous sessions help them achieve their goals. “On Saturdays, we go on longer runs. We start from Anna Nagar and run till Gandhi Statue on the Marina Beach. People can chose their preferred distance. On other days, we run 10 – 12 km. 

On Saturdays, they can take a U-turn whenever they wish to. Also, we have an expert coming once a week who would help us out with the strength training,” says Vikram, who adds that they are not just about running. “We all are foodies. We live to eat and we workout so that we can eat whatever we like. We are like a family and we ensure that we organise get-togethers where members can come with their friends and family. Apart from that, we have our anniversary celebrations too,” he says. 

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