MultiFit’s functional fitness race for women drew participants across Solo, Duo and Corporate categories at Balewadi Stadium
Women are often told they are too loud, too ambitious, too emotional, too much. On Saturday at Balewadi Stadium, 600 of them showed up to prove that being “too much” is exactly the point.
SheRox, organised by MultiFit, was India’s first and largest functional fitness race for women, open to women of all ages. Actor Mandira Bedi was the chief guest. Athletes, gym regulars, first-timers and office colleagues took part, entering as individuals, as pairs and as teams of six across the Solo, Duo and Corporate categories.
What they had in common was the course, and the reason they were there: to find out what they could do, on their own terms.
The circuit
The Solo course combined 5 km of running with four stations. Athletes began with a 2 km run, then pushed and pulled a 90 kg sled for 30 metres each way. A 120 m farmer’s carry with a 5 kg plate in each hand came next, followed by a 1 km run.
The second half was harder on the legs. Participants flipped a 60 kg tyre 30 times, covered 60 metres of burpee broad jumps and finished with a 2 km run.
Solo: a tight top three
Manali Moreshwar Ratnoji won the overall Solo race in 42:01 in the 18 to 25 category. Avantika Bisht, from the same category, was second in 42:56. Mahla Jafarinaeimi finished third in 43:48 and won the 34 to 41 division. Less than two minutes separated the three.
Age was no barrier to a fast finish. Sayuri Dalvi won the 42 to 49 division in 47:04 and placed fifth overall. Shivani won the 26 to 33 division in 49:22. In the 50+ category, Ratna Khurana finished first in 1:08:02, ahead of Manjula Benal (1:10:07) and Nitu Jadhav (1:12:09).
Duo: a five-minute margin
Ananya Yadav and Samyukta Kala, in the 26 to 33 category, won the Duo race in 46:04. Vaishnavi Kamthe and Swati Gavde took second in 51:19 and won the 34 to 41 division. Megha Patil and Edwina Freddy were third in 53:48.
Corporate: decided by 23 seconds
In the Corporate category, run in teams of six, Team 605 won in 43:01. The team included Madhavi Bhardwaj, Prerna, Yashika Jaiswal, Ankita and Ketki. Team 601 (Palak Singh, Priyaldeep Kaur, Anusha, Maithili, Muskan Memon and Nakshatra Potdar) followed 23 seconds later. Team 602 (Shruti Naik, Khushi, Siddhi Darekar, Muskan, Soma Parvin and Gayatri Das) took third in 45:07.
Why SheRox
Deepti Sharma, Co-Founder and Director of MultiFit, said the idea came from a gap she wanted to close. “Women are often told what their bodies can’t do. We wanted a race where they find out for themselves what they can. SheRox was built for the woman who has never entered a race as much as for the one who trains every day.”
For Mayara Neeraj Sharma, Director of MultiFit, the day was about the people who showed up. “What stayed with me was the energy on the field. Women cheered for people they had never met. That is what we want MultiFit to be about, and SheRox showed what it looks like when 600 women show up for each other.”
Every race needs a starting voice, and SheRox had a well-known one. Chief guest Mandira Bedi, a respected fitness advocate and one of the first women to host cricket on Indian television, flagged off the race and then cheered the participants from the front lines, encouraging, motivating and celebrating the women taking on the course. Her energy was infectious, and for many of them it became the extra push to keep going. At the end of the day she presented the prizes, and sent every woman home with something to aim for next.
Glucon-D Recharge was the hydration partner and Zandu the recovery partner. The race was also supported by Robust Regime, Max Protein, Fast Relief, RushHrs, PWR, Ban Sabai, Enrich and Cafe Arabia.
The race that mattered more than the result
Sai, 58, is not a gym person and had no prior experience. She entered both the Solo and Duo categories at SheRox, running the Duo with her daughter to keep her motivated.
“Completing it, having fun and enjoying it mattered more than winning,” she said. “It is never late to start fitness, and I look forward to achieving a milestone.”
SheRox did not ask women to be less of anything. At Balewadi Stadium, 600 of them took on the same course, from the first sled push to the last burpee broad jump, as individuals, in pairs and in teams of six. The labels they had been handed, too loud, too ambitious, too emotional, too much, had no place on a course measured in kilometres, kilograms and seconds. What counted was who showed up and what they did once they got there. MultiFit calls the women who took part SheRox warriors, and calls the race a movement. With all of its revenue going towards girl-child education, the day’s effort reaches beyond the stadium, too.
