Balaram Krishna

1900. The year the last time an athlete representing India won a medal in Athletics at the Olympics.
Although one of the fastest-growing recreational sports, running hasn’t seen the inclusion of professionals in the mainstream like Kabaddi, Football or Badminton have in recent years.

Moving to Hyderabad from regions across the Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, these teenagers live together in the stadium complex, sharing gear, comparing training notes and everything in between.

Turning one of the stadium’s storage rooms into living space, beds are put together with mosquito nets over them. Signboards left from events at the stadium make for space-dividers and discarded office furniture for kitchen counters.

Storage for all things running, food and educational supplies is shared among everyone. Pursuing a secondary school and/or an undergraduate degree is just as important for the athletes to qualify for competitions and state-jobs later on.

Previously a middle-distance runner, Coach Srinivas is now employed (via an agency, on contract) by SATS under the pay-play scheme to train sub-junior (under 14 years of age) recreational athletes at the GMC Athletic Stadium.

A coach for 8 years now, Srinivas is not mandated to coach these junior-pros. He says that heart trumps talent to be the most important factor while agreeing to coach these young athletes who come on their own time and dime to train with him.

Although they compete in different distance categories, training together helps these junior athletes push and learn from each other’s career experiences, especially as they fall under older and younger age groups.

While the kids from urban areas are able to try their hand at various sports in schools before picking athletics, others choose the sport early on as a result of encouragement from their local PTs. Srinivas says that it is in those early stages that guidance is very crucial, in choosing/continuing with their sport before committing full time.

While athletes from the city commute to their training sessions, others live in the stadium, while they do their chores on the premises. Catching up on the cricket world cup here, they balance their education and life between the training sessions.

The stadium facilities that are in much need of repair make it difficult to work around for the athletes and the staff alike. Although they have to buy necessities, including water, living in the stadium saves them a considerable amount of money and time.

Prioritizing food expenses including basic groceries means the often-expensive nutritional supplements are out of reach. Deemed necessary, lack of this supplementation hampers their ability to recover from training sessions, hurting their progress.

While GPS enabled wearable technology is commonplace with recreational athletes for accurate training stats, distance runners like Ramesh rely on the older stopwatches. While they see a lot of value in the modern tools, they cannot afford to invest in them.

With a pair of shoes lasting just over a season, these athletes spend out of pocket on the gear they need, mostly with support from families. Stipends for performing athletes have been promised by the Government many times but to no avail.

The 8-lane synthetic track was built in 2002 for the inaugral Afro-Asian Games, hosted in Hyderabad. The track has been overdue for resurfacing for over 7 years now. Training on an aged track surface, if not careful, can lead to severe career-ending injuries.

Unstable racks and damaged plates make for the gymnasium, making it difficult to manage weight-training as a team.
This is especially pertinent as track athletes need quality training in the gym to improve on strength and condtioning consistently.

The facility sees the sprinters train twice a week, often struggling with the equipment and fearful of injuries from pushing harder. Lacking supporting coaches and trainers specific to an activity like weight training delays progress mapped out for the season.

Coaching the youngsters to become well-rounded individuals for life after sport is important too, says Srinivas, since the parents place their trust in him with the development of kids who are living away from home.

Struggling to keep the aged blocks (the starting push-off devices for sprinters), steady on the track, training partners stand on them to add stability as the sprinters take off. Not doing this could lead to severe accidental impacts.

Stressing on the importance of keeping the sport alive, Srinivas scouts local government schools for talent. Here, with one of his athletes, he is scheduling a trial session with the PT instructor from the Zilla Parishad Primary School, Gachibowli.

Satya, a 110m hurdler trains with 100m sprinters to improve his own speed and explosiveness. Previously a high jumper, he returned to the track as a hurdler after an ankle injury put him out for a season.

During a stretching routine that Srinivas was conducting before trials at the Raidurg Zilla Parishad School.
He hopes to nurture talent that comes out of these trials across different age groups.

Involving his senior athletes in the process helps Srinivas in training them to be better coaches, preparing them for life after their athletic careers. Most become fitness instructors, usually hired by urban recreational athletes.

Teammates consoling Ramu after he had injured his hamstring during a training session, minutes prior. Battling injuries, minor or major, is commonplace for these young athletes, primarily due to lack of necessary nutrition and recovery tools.

On the days of the coach’s absence, the senior athletes take over the training sessions, making sure the junior athletes meet their training goals. Rain or shine, this is especially so as their calendar competition season usually follows the monsoons.

Least participated, tough to train and tough to race, Steeplechase is a very high impact activity as it involves jumping onto an obstacle and into water, in addition to racing at a high pace. A typical 3000m race includes 28 barriers and 7 water jumps.

Trying to keep off-training moments light is important, says Srinivas. He makes sure the athletes get a game session atleast once a week, one that he joins himself, to lighten the often-taxing training regime.

The Curve: Part of the track that most sprinters deal with and train for specifically since it often makes or breaks their race, especially for a 200m sprint that Pranav is competing in here.

After leading the entire way and by a big margin, Mahesh dropped out due to an old calf injury that flared up during his steeplechase race. Year-long training might seem like a waste when important races like this do not go as planned, said Mahesh.
He resumed training the following morning.

Srinivas quipping about not getting the goal time he had set for Ritesh for the race, who had just won gold in the 2000m final at the state meet. He went on to hit that goal timing at a regional competition later in the season.

Parents of athletes from other parts of the state are unable to take an active role in the day-to-day of the training routine. Dinesh's father here was able to make it to the national juniors competition since the venue was much closer to their hometown.

Athletes resting in their shared space at the venue of competition as Ritesh and Ramu check the results of a teammate's race at the Junior National Championships, held by the Athletics Federation of India, the apex body for the sport in India.

Promises to improve infrastructure, finding and nurturing talent, regularising coaches, etc. have been announced by the Government multiple times. It would come a long way with the athletes and coaches looking for that consistent support.