The Bhag Club in Delhi turns one inspiring people to run for fun
Leading them were two college friends, Krishbir Singh and Jyotiraditya Thakur, who founded The Bhag Club (TBC) in June 2024with an objective to promote an athletic mindset among the people of Delhi NCR.
'Post pandemic we noticed how peoples' social lives were negatively affected,' says Jyotiraditya. Krishbir adds there has been a lack of both healthy habits and a sense of athleticism among the majority.
Both of them felt community running would help to break the mental and social barriers. They wanted people to run for pleasure and whenever they feel like. 'Running needs only motivation and a pair of good shoes unlike other sports that require investment,' says Jyotiraditya.
The idea was good but to get things going was not easy. A lot depended on how they marketed the concept. 'We had to think of a strategy that would appeal to the young and make them feel it is good and cool to run,' Krishbir says.
Juhi Majumdar, a UPSC aspirant, was a first-time participant at the Sunday run. 'I am into fitness, I play volleyball and lift weights but never took to running,' she says. 'It was a good experience and I made new friends too,' she adds.
Software engineer Ekansh Batra, who develops mobile games, says running with the TBC has helped him inculcate a fitness regime. 'I have a desk job and joined the run for the first time in January this year; ever since I have been a regular,' he says.
Ekansh says he lost 16 kilograms in the last six months and is now able to do HYROX, an indoor fitness competition that combines running with functional workouts. 'Running with The Bhag Club has increased my confidence, stamina and skills in other sports such as football,' he says.
Vidushi Kaushik, a recent graduate of OP Jindal Global University, joined the TBC five months ago. 'I started off slow, but I recently completed a 10 kilometre-run at my own pace. It pushes me to do better; that is why I keep returning,' she says.
It was Trusha's third run with the TBC and the Plaksha University student says she enjoys pushing herself.
'In the coming months, we want to focus on more beginner-friendly programmes, be it 10K accelerator or Run your First 5K,' says Jyotiraditya. We want to scale up and get as many people active as possible, adds Krishbir.
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The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
The Bhag Club in Delhi turns one inspiring people to run for fun
Last Sunday, a large group of college students and young adults gathered at Chanakyapuri in Delhi and voluntarily put on their running shoes to run the perimeter of Nehru Park and test their stamina and energy levels. It was neither a competitive race nor was there any pressure on them. People joined for fun, to up their fitness levels or to meet and build a community of like-minded individuals who like to run. Leading them were two college friends, Krishbir Singh and Jyotiraditya Thakur, who founded The Bhag Club (TBC) in June 2024with an objective to promote an athletic mindset among the people of Delhi NCR. 'Post pandemic we noticed how peoples' social lives were negatively affected,' says Jyotiraditya. Krishbir adds there has been a lack of both healthy habits and a sense of athleticism among the majority. Both of them felt community running would help to break the mental and social barriers. They wanted people to run for pleasure and whenever they feel like. 'Running needs only motivation and a pair of good shoes unlike other sports that require investment,' says Jyotiraditya. The idea was good but to get things going was not easy. A lot depended on how they marketed the concept. 'We had to think of a strategy that would appeal to the young and make them feel it is good and cool to run,' Krishbir says. Juhi Majumdar, a UPSC aspirant, was a first-time participant at the Sunday run. 'I am into fitness, I play volleyball and lift weights but never took to running,' she says. 'It was a good experience and I made new friends too,' she adds. Software engineer Ekansh Batra, who develops mobile games, says running with the TBC has helped him inculcate a fitness regime. 'I have a desk job and joined the run for the first time in January this year; ever since I have been a regular,' he says. Ekansh says he lost 16 kilograms in the last six months and is now able to do HYROX, an indoor fitness competition that combines running with functional workouts. 'Running with The Bhag Club has increased my confidence, stamina and skills in other sports such as football,' he says. Vidushi Kaushik, a recent graduate of OP Jindal Global University, joined the TBC five months ago. 'I started off slow, but I recently completed a 10 kilometre-run at my own pace. It pushes me to do better; that is why I keep returning,' she says. It was Trusha's third run with the TBC and the Plaksha University student says she enjoys pushing herself. 'In the coming months, we want to focus on more beginner-friendly programmes, be it 10K accelerator or Run your First 5K,' says Jyotiraditya. We want to scale up and get as many people active as possible, adds Krishbir.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Go beast or go home: Can you handle competitive gymming?
Run for one kilometre. Ski Nordic-style for the next. Then, push a 100kg sled. Run some more. Row. Then, haul 30kg weights from A to B. Run again. Lunge with 10kg. Finally, throw a 5kg ball at a wall (and catch it) 100 times. Fitness races are brutal, but they're for everyone, says trainer Kunal Rajput. No, it's not a deleted scene from a Dwayne Johnson movie. It's Hyrox, a fitness competition that's been storming through gyms. Think of it as the matcha latte of workouts; the Dubai Chocolate of muscle-building. Hyrox (a mash-up of 'hybrid' and 'rockstar') seems a little masochistic. But as more and more people train like athletes these days, regular gymming has flexed upwards from Zumba to Pilates to CrossFit. More than 1,000 fans showed up for the Mumbai Hyrox debut in May. 'It's cool, and kind of a social currency right now,' says Kunal Rajput, founder of Breathe Studio Mumbai. He participated in the May event, and prepared others for it too. 'People admire those who do it because it is extremely hard to show up and train for something like this, and that validation feels good.' Gymming has always been fitness's middle child — overlooked, underhyped, in the shadow of its flashier siblings. Runners get marathons. Cyclists get cyclothons. Triathletes get, well, triathlons. There are personal bests, medals, and weepy Instagrammable finish lines. Meanwhile, gym bros and girlies flip tyres, and do burpees in a Sisyphean loop. Fitness races are hoping to change that. Game on Exercise-based challenges have been around for almost a decade in Europe. But in the last two years, events such as the CrossFit Open, Deadly Dozen, Superhuman Games, Hyrox and Nuclear Fit have become global events. India's catching up. Last year saw the first season of the Yoddha Race (with events similar to Hyrox). This year, there's been the Cult Unbound Championship in April, STRYDX at the Ultra Arena Games in February, and another edition of Devils Circuit, a race-meets-obstacle-course format. 'The wall balls, in which you throw a 4kg ball in the air, 50 times, killed me,' says Shruthi Suresh, 24. It's a trend that fits perfectly with the internet's current obsessions: #GirlGains, 75 Hard challenges, and protein powders that taste like dessert. It's gamified gymming from a routine to a competitive sport. Shruthi Suresh, 24, a community manager at PedalStart (a platform for startup founders) in Bengaluru tried signing up for The Yoddha Race. 'Tickets for the solo category were all sold out,' she says. 'But there were still a few spots left for the mixed doubles.' She took a screenshot and sent it to her buddies. 'I ended up participating with my friend, Yadhu MP, who was 10 years older.' Suresh is a dancer and athlete who works out daily. She trained for three weeks but it wasn't enough. 'The wall balls, in which you throw a 4kg ball eight feet in the air, 50 times, killed me,' she says. 'But just being there was incredible. Everyone was cheering each other on. No one gave up, even if they were slow. And not a single person stopped mid-way and said, 'I can't do this.' Everyone finished.' And despite the age gap slowing them down slightly, Suresh says that they finished in an impressive one-and-a-half hours. The events are marketed as being for everyone, or at least anyone over 16 with a fitness background. 'The movements are strength-based but not overly technical. There's no time cap for Hyrox. You could walk the whole 8km if you had to. Just finishing it is a big deal, and that in itself is empowering,' says Rajput. Participants are encouraged to show up with a partner or their 'squad.' But even if you come solo, there's no shortage of people to bond with. Some events also have cash prizes of up to ₹25 lakh. Participants train rigorously to win leaderboard spots, trophies and cash prizes of up to ₹25 lakh. Better together Zeba Zaidi launched Devils Circuit, with 15 obstacles that range from tough (climbing a 20 foot-rope, swinging off a steel bar) to relatively less so (runs and jumps). 'We structure the course in a way that everybody, irrespective of gender, fitness level or age can have a good time even as they're falling in water, slipping down a slide, or getting slathered in mud,' she says. While not everyone can complete every challenge, participants end up doing more than they thought they could, and spur each other on. Young people love it. Most of them are ditching Saturday-night clubbing for Sunday sunrise runs, anyway. They're into coffee raves and take ice baths. 'Even Coachella, where people went to get drunk, had wellness parties this year,' Zaidi says. So, Zaidi makes sure Devils Circuit ends on a literal high. The final obstacle, Brain Freeze, gets participants to climb 20 feet, then slide into a pit filled with crushed ice. 'It wakes you up. After that, you just want to party,' she says. That's why there's also a DJ at the finish line. The events are a great bonding moment for fitness enthusiasts. And, of course, the 'look what I overcame' arc looks good on Insta. It's perfect for Rocky-style training montages, sunrise run photos, ice plunge gifs, slo-mo burpees, medal close-ups — that totally trumps the humble gym mirror selfie. Riding the wave Organisers know they're riding a moment. Competitive fitness fits well with how we view our bodies today. It's no longer just about looking ripped, says Rajput. 'It's about performance. How fast you can run, how strong you are, how quickly you complete a workout.' These races are hard, but not too hard, and that's the sweet spot. Most events now partner with gyms and coaches to prep participants months in advance. At Breathe studio, group training sessions start at ₹800 per session and can go up to ₹1,300. Hyrox sponsor Puma makes nitrogen-infused foam shoes specifically for the competition, light enough to help you run faster, but with enough grip to power through a sled push. Plus, there's merch such as gym bags, tees, shorts and bandanas, which looks even better on Reels. From HT Brunch, July 26, 2025 Follow us on
Mint
3 days ago
- Mint
Why is every fitness fanatic in love with Hyrox?
Less than a decade ago anyone active or interested in fitness couldn't go a single day without hearing, reading or seeing posts about CrossFit. After all the first rule of CrossFit was, 'always talk about CrossFit." Today, one hardly sees people talk or post much about CrossFit. One of the biggest probable reasons for that is a new fitness trend that has exploded globally and is steadily climbing the popularity charts in the fitness world: Hyrox. More than half a million people participated in about 80 Hyrox races globally in the 2024-25 season, and Delhi just hosted India's second Hyrox race on Saturday. The event attracted 2,600 participants from different parts of India and the rest of the world. That is a sharp rise of about 1,000 participants from the inaugural Hyrox race that was held in Mumbai back in May when 1,650 took part. WHAT MAKES HYROX TICK? Hyrox covers all aspects of fitness and that's what makes it attractive, says Mamta Saraogi, a 26-year-old entrepreneur from Kolkata who was at both the Mumbai and Delhi events and also completed one Hyrox in Singapore in between the two India races. 'I love working on each and every element of fitness from cardio to weight lifting to functional movements and Hyrox covers all these aspects," says Saraogi, who turned to exercise as a way to heal and come out of a dark place in life about six years ago. Hyrox, which describes itself as the World Series of Fitness Racing, involves eight 1km runs and eight different workouts. The aim is to do it all in the quickest time possible. People can participate as individuals, in teams of two, including mixed doubles, and in relay as teams of four. The race format remains the same no matter where you sign up. Every individual and team does the same exercises, performs the same number of reps and covers the same distance. Start with a 1km run. Then 1,000m on the ski machine. Run a kilometre again and then 50m sled push (152kg for men, 102kg for women). Run again and then pull a 103 kg sled (78 kg for women) for 50m. The fourth kilometre is followed by 80m of burpee broad jumps. The next run ends with rowing 1,000m. After another kilometre of running, do 200m of farmer's carry with a 24kg (16kg for women) kettlebell in each hand. Do 100m lunges with a 20kg (10kg for women) sandbag over your shoulders after another kilometre of running. The eighth and final kilometre of the race leads to 100 wall ball shots. While elite athletes finish a Hyrox in under an hour, regular participants usually take closer to two hours – a sub-90 minute finish is considered an impressive outing. Post-pandemic, the social element of exercise has become very important leading to people all over the world signing up for run clubs, group fitness classes, yoga retreats and more. Hyrox scores here as on race day the organisers dial up the social element several notches with loud music, hundreds of people competing together and ensuring that the venue has ample spaces to let participants and supporters hang out and interact with each other. Meeting like-minded people and mutual encouragement is what makes Hyrox attractive to a lot of people. Like Saraogi, Prashanth Ponnappa, 36, co-founder of Troop Fitness in Bengaluru and a pilates instructor, took part in the Mumbai and Delhi Hyrox races and says, 'Hyrox is fun. It's social, high energy and really cool. A lot of people are doing the same thing together at the same time. Seeing others around you doing it makes you push yourself, and an element of healthy competition also comes in. And as Hyrox also has team events, you can see people encouraging and supporting each other. It's all very positive vibes." CROSSFIT GOT THE ICK The rise of Hyrox coincides with an increase in the number of 'hybrid athletes," which a popular meme correctly describes as 'someone who is an average runner and below par at strength and function training but insists on doing both to stay fit". In a way, this is an apt description of Hyrox as well, which according to Ponappa, is not as technical as CrossFit. Trishna Agarwala, 42, a psychologist from Bengaluru, who participated in the Hyrox Pro in Mumbai doesn't mince words when she says CrossFit takes ages to master as its movements are high skill, need a solid aerobic capacity, and can really hurt if you do them wrong. 'Hyrox is time-consuming for sure but the movements involved are more forgiving so a competitor can dial it up or down as per their will. CrossFit takes ages to master and is far less forgiving," she explains. Saraogi adds it's this high entry bar that makes advanced skills a necessity to stick with CrossFit that's one of several reasons for its waning popularity. 'One of the most common movements in CrossFit is handstand walks and handstand push-ups… these are way too difficult for most people, even fit people," she notes. The fact that the movements involved in a Hyrox are simple give many people the belief that it is easy and manageable and that's why you see many runners flocking to Hyrox races. Despite the simpler exercises, Hyrox is gruelling and all those who underestimate it end up getting their socks knocked off. CrossFit has a social element in all its boxes too but it's annual CrossFit competition—the CrossFit Open—is virtual for the most part. Only a few hundred CrossFit enthusiasts who make it to the CrossFit Open finals get to experience what each and every Hyrox participant enjoys on race day. Another reason why Hyrox is winning over CrossFit is branding. 'Hyrox's branding is very attractive and it works while CrossFit doesn't have that anymore," explains Saraogi. Additionally, a lot of brands such as Puma have tied up with Hyrox ensuring it has its own world of merchandise, accessories and equipment, says Ponnappa, adding that he saw a lot more competitors wearing Hyrox-branded gear at the Delhi event compared to Mumbai. While Hyrox has made all the right kind of noise – its founders have appeared on news shows globally and have publicly declared their ambition of making Hyrox an Olympic sport – CrossFit has struggled in recent times. The organisation has had internal problems, its public image has taken a beating following the death of a participant at CrossFit Games in Dallas last year, several former CrossFit Games winners have switched to Hyrox and the investment firm that owns CrossFit has put it up for sale. Several people who used to swear by CrossFit, myself included, have fallen out of love with it because it is injury-prone owing to its focus on lifting heavier, high reps and extremely high intensity. Finally, another thing that is working for Hyrox, but not for CrossFit, is social media. CrossFit mostly inspires memes nowadays and is attacked by almost all the exercises — Olympic lifting, gymnastics, calisthenics and cardio — that come together in CrossFit. 'There is a lot of content about Hyrox on all kinds of social media and it is being noticed. There are a lot of influencers creating Hyrox content even while participating in an event," says Agarwala confessing that the last bit can get irritating. Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.
