On June 7, the world celebrates World Running Day. The goal is to encourage people of all ages and abilities to get moving and ultimately get hooked on the wonderful activity of running. This time, Lounge spoke to a cross-section of Indian runners to learn about the impact the sport has had on them.

“Running has completely transformed my life,” says Vrinda Bhandari, 35, a lawyer and mother of two young children, who has been running since 2010. After giving birth to each of the children, Bhandari’s way of to test whether or not he had regained his fitness was to run a half marathon. Bhandari, who lives in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, says that as well as helping her stay fit, running has been great for her mental health given the long hours her job regularly demands. “We have a fantastic running community that is very social, which has also turned my hard workouts into fun days,” says Ella Bhandari.

Anuradha Dutt, 50, from Kolkata, has also been running since 2010. As a special educator, Dutt started running because she was curious about the sport – she wanted to find out why her husband liked it so much. He not only found the answer from her, but also got hooked on it. She feels that running from her has made her more disciplined and extremely fit.

And this fitness has given him a lot of confidence. “I used to be a sensitive and emotional person. Any discussion or disagreement with loved ones made me very sad. Over the years, running has made me more logical and has taught me to put distance between myself and the situation. My morning runs distract me and the negative thoughts pass like nothing. I don’t dwell on things too much anymore,” says Dutt.

Sport plays a similar role for Gaayathri Maediratta, 46, from Bengaluru, who has been running since 2012. “Running keeps me focused on the here and now. Some days I break the habit, some days I run to find meaning, and some days I run to discover a new me,” she says. Maediratta is a communications professional and she says running from it has brought her much joy and many new friends over the years: her sport serves as her personal “up” moment. Just running through the streets of Bangalore gives her an escape from daily stress and recharges her mind and body. “It has helped me discover a sense of balance and harmony that permeates my entire day, fostering a greater sense of fulfillment and satisfaction,” says Maediratta.

For New Delhi-based celebrity trainer Gagan Arora, 43, running is something he has enjoyed since he was a child. His first distance running event was a 7km run at the Delhi Half Marathon in 2008. “The introduction of running events like marathons made running interesting for many. I was a fitness coach and started training people for distance running in 2008,” he says. Arora says that running has made the sport more democratic and now people want to train to run at least once a year. That keeps them focused on their training and lifestyle all year long.

“Many illnesses are caused by a sedentary lifestyle and the gym doesn’t bring the community support and happiness like any group run does,” says Arora, who has been training people to run marathons and ultras for 15 years. “With the availability of performance devices like Garmin Forerunner watches, the health and performance of urban athletes is much easier to monitor and manage,” she says.

Pune’s communications manager, Murli Pillai, 40, from Pune, has been in the role since 2013. Pillai started out small and slow, but has steadily racked up mileage and speed over the past decade. He has changed cities and jobs, but his love of running has never changed. Running, he says, is an important part of his life and takes up most of his time after work. “Running has instilled in me a discipline that helps me in other aspects of life. I come from a family with a history of diabetes and running has helped me keep it at bay. It has also had an impact on my social life. I have made friends all over the world and from all walks of life, which would not have been possible if it wasn’t for running,” she says. Running has also taught him an important life lesson: nothing is impossible if you plan well and work hard to make it happen.

Mumbai-based businessman Vikas Singh, 39, says he aims to run about 50km per week when training. For Singh, who has been running since 2000, this weekly goal has been enough to run marathons and has given him the energy to run his startup, which focuses on cardiovascular fitness.

“The long runs on Sunday clearly build resilience in me and prepare me for the week ahead. I do hard workouts before a high-value meeting because that takes my mind off work for a short period of time,” adds Singh. Running has also significantly helped his entire family. “My dad (65) and mom (61) do brisk walks almost every day and still don’t have any medication, support or sleeping situations,” he says.

Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and co-author of The Shivfit Waya book on functional fitness.