PCR- Pretty Crazy Runners

This is my 20th blog! 2020 has multiple meanings but this 20th blog is a great milestone for me.I feel extremely grateful that I can express my thoughts, experiences and opinion to all of you. This blog is extremely close to my heart as it is about a very special group that I am so happy I am a part of. In my previous blog I had talked about the latest Anniversary Run- the Khoon Pasina Edition. This blog I am going to talk about the Peerancheruvu Runners and its journey from PBEL City runners to Peerancheruvu Runners and much more.

The motto of our running group is “Run, Spread the Spirit” and that is exactly what this group does. Spreading the spirit of running is an integral part of PCR. We always are trying to spread the message about running and how it can be taken up not just as a sport but as a way of a better life. One is obviously by talking to your friends and peers about it. However there was something more we needed to do. That is when the PCR anniversary runs started to celebrate us as a running group and to bring out more people into running.

I remember the First Anniversary Run that Peerancheruvu Runners had organised in 2014. There were about 50 people in the volunteering team and around 400 participants in that Run had turned up. That was 6 years ago.

It started as a small event to inspire people to take up running as a way to a healthier life which I am happy to say that it has done and still continues to do. From a small gathering of four hundred it has grown to a total of 2250 participants in the last three editions. The PCR group had been started by 5-6 people in November 2014 and has now grown to about 210 people and this number just keeps on increasing with new runners coming up. 

Everyone in the running group has taken us to new heights. We have won the Best Running group award by the Hyderabad Runners twice. Few of our runners have best volunteer award too.

In the 2018 edition of Pinkathon, we had 50+ women participate in the run. We have runners who have run events in different parts of the country as well as the world. We have quite a few ultra runners. However, the best thing for me is that we have a lot of women runners living a healthy life and they are the ones who are the most regular.

It has obviously helped to get more people in our society into running and now it not only has runners from our society but also runners from the entire Peerancheruvu area. This is how we from being a group with people from PBEL City have become a group with runners from 3-4 more communities along with PBEL like Giridhari, Vasathi Anandi & Richmond Villas and have now become Peerancheruvu Runners.

This run has helped inspire more people in all these above communities to get into running as this run has become very easily accessible as it is near their homes. It is also a small run so it is less intimidating  for the first timers.

However this growth wasn’t magic. This was done by the hardwork put in by the volunteers in the runs we organised.

Volunteering is a way to give back to society by serving others without expecting anything in return. Volunteering for anything is amazing but I will talk about volunteering in runs as that is where I have most experience.

I have gotten the opportunity to be present behind the scenes and to see the hard work they put into this run. It is amazing how selflessly they work on this run. I have seen my parents after a tiring day of work going for meetings which last 2-3 hours. Most of the time when they would come back home late at night by that time I would have already slept. 

The week before the run is when the work increases. Everything you order comes then. Everything needs to be arranged for the big day. The day before the run is usually the run we distribute the bibs(it is a sheet of paper with a unique number given to the runners which they have to pin to their shirts and it tells us that you have registered) and other things to the registered runners. The volunteers stay up late to arrange and do a final check and then get up early the next day (at around 4) to reach before the first runners arrive and to start off smoothly. Once the run starts, there are volunteers spread out every two kilometres handing out water, energy drinks and other energy rich food. If you are doing a longer distance of 21km to 32km then you will get fresh coconut water and bananas too. This has also become a “running” joke among the runners who participate in the anniversary run- that we pamper the runners way too much with food. And in these 6 years that is the only complaint we have gotten.

Volunteering seems to many as an easy task, however it is not. You need to give your 100% at all times and it can be draining. However, it is extremely rewarding when you see the runners smiling and enjoying the event. Few runners come up and thank you too and that motivates you to keep doing this.

That is the  beauty about Volunteering, you don’t expect anything in return that even a small expression of gratitude feels enough. No one is above everyone else, everyone is equallly important to the run. You have to do the work that is assigned to them. It doesn’t matter which job or position you hold in your professional life. No money involved so no one is fighting for a higher position. Everyone has one motive and that is to make all the runners happy and satisfied with the run.

We have achieved that in all our editions till now and I am sure that we will continue to do this in the future too. I couldn't be happier to be a part of a group with such a lovely group of people with an incredible passion for running. This year has been tough. However it has made me realise and be grateful for small things like this. I hope we keep to our motto alive and keep inspiring more and more people to take up running not as a sport but as a way to a better life.

Run safely and spread the spirit!