Even before the first birds announce the break of dawn, Kochi is already on the move. A growing tribe of runners traces the city’s many scenic stretches. Some in pairs, talking in half-breaths; others alone, eyes fixed on the glow of their watches; still others in packs, their laughter unsettling the night’s hush.
Their reasons are as varied as their strides. Some run for fitness, others for leisure; some to find companionship, others to see the city anew. Together they form a mosaic of motivations that has quietly transformed Kochi into a ‘running city’.
From Kakkanad to Fort Kochi, mornings are now rehearsals for something larger. With October comes Kerala’s marathon season: a cluster of races that stretches through December. Their growing number is both reflection and catalyst, feeding the habit and fuelling a running culture.
For Roshan Varghese, a 35-year-old businessman from Palarivattom, it began almost unceremoniously. “When I first considered running, the idea was simple: to reduce weight,” he says.
What started as a plan to shed kilos soon hardened into ritual. He rose at 4am, covered a few kilometres, and carried the momentum through the day. “I thought I would be drained, but instead I felt an abundance of energy. I finally had the adrenaline to finish off things at work that otherwise would have taken the entire day,” he says.
The weight came off, but that was almost incidental. “By then, the goal had shifted. It was no longer to lose weight, but to keep running. And to run longer and farther, I kept reducing weight,” Roshan adds.
Others describe the same alchemy, i.e. running as a simple habit that reshapes the architecture of the day. “Even 20 minutes of running clears my head and gives me a rhythm,” says Arunjith Unnikrishnan, assistant director of talent at EY Kochi. He began running during the Covid years to counter a sedentary life. Today, at 42, he is a two-time Ironman 70.3 finisher in Goa and Vietnam.
Similarly, for Paul Padinjarekara, a retired civil engineer from the Cochin Port Trust, running is as much about discipline as fitness. “It keeps me healthy, of course, but beyond that it gives me a sense of clarity. When you run, especially in the morning, you start your day with energy,” says the 70-year-old, who only began running after retirement and has since completed more than 170 marathons.
But in Kochi, few runners remain solitary for long. Two years of early-morning runs gave Roshan stamina and focus, but it was after joining Soles of Kochi that his stride lengthened. “The group has been instrumental in keeping me motivated. Since joining them in February, I haven’t missed a day. The distances have improved too. Now I run 10km and more, and soon I’ll be participating in marathons,” he says.
Soles of Kochi founder Ramesh Kanjilimadhom says this exactly is the collective’s goal. “We wanted to inculcate a culture of running in the city. To usher in a lifestyle change. And what better way to do that than by fostering a community,” he says.
That sense of community is what made Sharon Joseph, a psychologist who moved back from Bengaluru to Kochi, to join Dawnage, another fledgling running group in the city.
Morning runs saw friendships blossom. “It’s a good area to foster connections over something healthy,” says Sharaon. Dawnage’s rhythm, which includes routes across Kakkanad, Kundannoor, Pathadipalam, often followed by kayaking, pickleball or breakfast, gave her the social anchor she had been missing.
Several running groups now organise group activities beyond fitness — from coffee meets and music sessions to cultural celebrations and excursions. For Shreyan Ukil, a 24-year-old Federal Bank executive, this community was the real prize. “My main complaint with moving to this city was that I didn’t have proper avenues to socialise. And I don’t party much,” he says. “Dawnage solved my problem. I have got to make friends and also explore the place. The run to Kumbalangi in the light drizzle was special.” Collective energy and mutual motivation help. “When you run with others, you can’t slack off. If I know my friends are waiting at 5.30am, I will somehow make it,” he smiles.
Dawnage founder Nipun Viju Eappen says running groups fill the gap when it comes to healthy socialising in the city. “We are not just running together, we’re building communities,” he says.
A similar ethos guides Shankar Viswanathan and his wife Meenakshi, who lead the Phoenix Runners. “We do three to four runs a week, each with about 25 people. We used to conduct heritage marathons regularly. We now help facilitate other events in the city, especially the Spice Coast Marathon,” Shankar says.
Notably, the Spice Coast Marathon is an initiative of Soles of Kochi. It has, in the span of a decade, amassed a loyal runner base, from across the country and even the globe. “It is an annual celebration of the running lifestyle. A coming together of our community,” says Ramesh, Sole of Kochi.
If community is one face of Kochi’s running boom, ambition is another. Few stories capture that better than Benson C B’s. At 17, this Fort Kochi native ran with the wrong crowd, smoked and drank heavily, and spoke in a vulgar way that kept people at a distance. Even his parents had given up hope. Running, he says, saved him.
His first steps came almost by accident. “Walking home one evening, I saw a poster for a marathon. At the time I had just quit smoking, was fighting depression, and felt adrift. Something about the image of ordinary people running such impossible distances caught my attention. So I signed up,” he recalls.
The year was 2018, and his debut, in his own words, was “a disaster”. He collapsed, demoralised when a 65-year-old runner overtook him. But the failure lit a fuse. “I thought, when someone at that age can do it, why can’t I?” By 2019, Benson was finishing on podiums. In 2024, he won Kochi’s Spice Coast Marathon. This year, at 27, he qualified for Boston with a personal best of 2 hours 45 minutes.
Misguided passion, however, can be problematic. “Many people are randomly jumping into running routines, but there is often a lack of proper guidance,” says Alexander V S, founder of Bounce Gym in Panampilly Nagar.
“Running requires knee strength, leg strength, core stability, flexibility and, above all, endurance. People who don’t pay attention to such things can suffer injuries,” he elaborates.
Bounce’s running group was created to counter exactly this. With tailored training, Alexander sorts runners by distance and ability, corrects technique and oversees rehabilitation.
His proudest moments are not the fast finishes but the slow returns. “Even those aged 70-plus, heart patients and stroke survivors… they recover and walk 2.5km, they walk and finish. That’s the real success of our running team,” he smiles.
One thing is clear. A collective phenomenon is shaping how the city wakes and how it connects. For every finish line crossed in Kochi this season, there will be a dozen untold beginnings. Running, after all, is never just about running.