MUMBAI, Jan. 11 -- When Tata Sons chairperson N Chandrasekaran steps up to the start line of the Tata Mumbai Marathon next Sunday, he won't be marking time alone. Nor will Mayank Kumar, co-founder of UpGrad and BorderPlus. Standing alongside them will be the men who push them to be the best runners they can be. India Inc has fallen in love with running, turning out in ever-growing numbers for long-distance races rather than at golf courses. Yet the men and women who run corporate India admit they couldn't go the extra mile without their personal coaches. So, who are the people keeping India Inc on its toes? "I've been coaching Chandra since he started running in 2009, when he was COO of TCS," says Deepak Londhe, co-founder of Mumbai-based running group Striders. In 2012, Chandrasekaran, then CEO of TCS, had said, "I run to finish. I don't chase a time." Fourteen years later, at age 62, he has a personal best for the full marathon (42km) of 4 hours 30 minutes - shaving off a colossal two hours. And that's where Londhe came in. In April 2024, Mayank Kumar was at the start line of the TCS World 10K Bengaluru. Till then, his longest race was the half marathon (21km). In June last year, Kumar ran 89.98km in 9 hours 46 minutes, as he finished the fabled Comrades ultra in South Africa. Kumar wasn't always athletically inclined; it was his coach, Sukanto Roy, who was key in his transformation into a recreational athlete. Londhe and Roy run alongside the bosses they train. "Chandra and I would meet in Worli and go running all over the city," recalls Londhe, who has paced Chandrasekaran in all the big marathons across the globe. "He is constantly crunching numbers and calculating his pace and finish times." Roy is frequently seen at the starting line of races alongside Kumar, V Vaidyanathan, IDFC First Bank CEO and managing director, and members of the extended Ambani family. It was Roy who dangled the carrot of a 9-hour 45-minute target in the final stretch of the Comrades ultramarathon, recalls Kumar. "You can either push someone by using a carrot or a stick. Roy uses the carrot," chuckles Kumar. "I was on the verge of giving up when he coaxed me. the last 3km were my fastest." When Roy paces someone, he instructs them never to stop for anything. He makes sure his clients get water, electrolytes, energy gels and nutrition on time. "They just need to focus on running and finishing," Roy says. Even while training, Roy runs shoulder to shoulder with his clients, clocking an average weekly mileage of 120km. While not all leaders need to be accompanied or paced, TCS CEO K Kirthivasan will need a pacer when he runs the half at the Tata Mumbai Marathon. "He is attempting the half for the first time and needs guidance," says Praful Uchil, the other co-founder of Striders and its director. But not all trainers run with the bosses. And not all business leaders employ a personal trainer. Uchil has trained several honchos, including Sanjeev Mantri, ICICI Lombard CEO and MD; and SK Mukherjee, ICICI Securities ex-CEO and MD, in group sessions in Powai. Uchil only runs with the group for interval training and shorter distances. Across Borivali and Kandivali, Kaushik Panchal runs five centres of Runners Academy. Panchal doesn't do any personal training and everyone has to train in a group. It was at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali that SML Mahindra COO, Ritesh Agrawal, and NTT Data Payment CEO, Rahul Jain, started training with Panchal. Despite travels and work commitments, business leaders are more disciplined than others, says Uchil. They work out wherever they are. "All we need to do is give them the workout and then check their Strava (a fitness tracking app)." No matter what time Chandrasekaran finishes work, he shows up for training the next morning. "He has texted me at 12:30am after landing in Mumbai and we have gone for a run 5 hours later," recalls Londhe. Uchil and Londhe have also trained the Edelweiss Group leadership team, including group co-founder, chairman and MD, Rashesh Shah, and others. Another huge plus is their commitment, says Panchal. "Our groups include people who work with these leaders and they are surprised at how consistent their bosses are," notes Panchal. "Ritesh hasn't stopped training despite the extreme cold in Chandigarh." For Roy, it's all about punctuality. "If Mayank says 3am, he is outside his gate at 3am. It's the same with Vaidyanathan. They respect my time and I respect theirs," says Roy. It's one thing to need a trainer, but how do India Inc bosses feel about taking instructions? Agrawal admits he hates it. But, he reasons, Panchal is not really doing that. "He's providing guidance as a coach should. At work, my job is not to issue orders but to guide my team. When I show up for my training sessions, I am a student; I am there to learn," says Agrawal. Sintex CEO Nilesh Mazumdar believes that to give instructions effectively, you need to learn how to follow them. "Leadership, as they say, is an action, not a position. You can perform well as a business leader only if you truly listen. With that mindset, following instructions from a coach is hardly a challenge. For me, it's simple: my coach knows far more than I do, and I respect her expertise, regardless of the age difference. she's probably just five years older than my daughter," says Mazumdar, referring to his Bengaluru-based coach, Deepa Nayak, of Runners 360. Mazumdar remembers when he was struggling with knee pain. Nayak diagnosed the problem as weak glutes. "She spent an hour patiently teaching me glute-strengthening exercises. Within a month, the pain had reduced. When you follow instructions from someone who has knowledge and your well-being at heart, you only stand to gain," says Mazumdar. Kumar is also clear about the value Roy adds: "In business, the customer is king. When it comes to running, the coach is king." The training plan, session details and instructions have to be precise. "They value and understand structure much better than others. They realise why we are doing a particular workout at a certain stage in the training cycle. They are very task-oriented, so much so that I have to remind Ritesh to focus on his sleep," elaborates Panchal. However, every now and then, along comes a budding leader with a chip on their shoulder. "They need to be reminded they are not in their office or boardroom," says Londhe. Another complaint is continuity. Invariably, travel and meetings disrupt all training plans. Roy is flexible, tweaking session timings as per availability. Uchil gives workouts whenever his clients can't make it. All trainers acknowledge the contribution of coach Savio D'Souza, who has trained at multiple organisations including Hindustan Unilever and runs the Savio's Stars running group. Tata Mumbai Marathon promoter Procam International's joint managing director Vivek Singh calls Savio a catalyst for change. "Savio is a rare mentor. He hasn't just trained runners, he's helped shape leaders across India Inc, teaching them discipline, resilience and humility. Many of the qualities we admire in strong leadership were first learnt by simply showing up, listening and trusting the process under his guidance," says Singh. "No CEO gets special treatment because everyone training with me comes to run. The only concession I make is I take into account their work load when deciding their training intensity," says D'Souza, who has trained leaders such as Gagan Banga, CEO and MD of Samman Capital (formerly India Bulls Housing Finance Ltd), Hemant Bakshi, former CEO of Unilever Indonesia and Sudhanshu Vats, former CEO of Viacom 18, among others. The intangible benefits of training India Inc is a two-way street. At times, during training sessions, the conversation turns to how to grow the trainer's business. After all, these are some of the world's finest business minds. Uchil and Londhe were working as government employees when they started training Chandrasekaran. Today, Striders is one of India's biggest running groups, with about 2,000 paying members and 125 employees. "We have learnt a lot about business, entrepreneurship, finance and investment. We have learned how to make money work for us instead of us working for money," smiles Uchil. Roy has also received much advice from all the leaders he's trained and paced, but not least of all, an opportunity to travel and see the world....