The PaceMakers is a running group of spirited long distance (from 10K to Ultra Marathon) runners of all abilities – ranging from novice to experienced, who coach under the leadership and guidance of Coach Pani – an ex-IAF athlete with many meritorious achievements to his credit in competitive races across various distances.

The objective of PaceMakers is to improve performance and avoid sports injury through the application of various Principles of Training like The Overload Principle, Specificity, Periodization, Reversibility etc. Planned Performance Training (PPT) seeks to achieve high improvement in performance and is structured so that Peak Performance occurs at predetermined moments within the competitive season. A Structured Training Plan is developed for each athlete, based on their current performance, fitness and individual aspirations. The program is balanced between Volume & Intensity and is gradually increased to peak at the right time before an event.

In 2012 a group of runners from Bangalore embarked on the journey of running 12 Marathons in 12 Months (12M12M). Towards the end of their goal, something didn’t feel right. As fatigue and at times injuries, stood between them and their fantastic achievement, they felt they needed something more. Support, awe and encouragement had already connected them to many other runners and some of their conversations with fellow runners ended up in a coffee shop with a certain ‘Coach Pani’. While only a few of the 12M12M runners came on board, the PaceMakers was born.

At first about half a dozen amateur runners, most with corporate jobs and in their 30s and 40s, signed up to change their running lives through a structured training program. Their challenging work schedules, family commitments and fitness levels allowed for a training program with 3 weekly runs and their first goal was to focus on one of Bangalore’s most popular races – the TCS 10K. Their Personal Best (PB) timings in the 2012 race was just the beginning of greater things that would follow for the members of the PaceMakers group.

Half Marathons was a natural progression and here too, their performance was impressive. Finally, they started training for the Full Marathon and the goal was the prestigious Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM), now TATA Mumbai Marathon (TMM) in Jan 2013. The 10 Km & Half Marathon training had already developed the required intensity and the Full Marathon training program focused on the endurance of the PaceMakers.

The SCMM 2013 told the same amazing story with the PaceMakers outstanding performances and many runners clocking personal best timings. The highlight was a previously 4+ hour marathoner in the PaceMakers group finishing at a sub 3.30 timing. Within a year, the PaceMakers Group had earned the reputation of a well-disciplined, focused and committed group, respected by various running communities across the country. Today PaceMakers is a group of over 100 active members some of who have opted for online coaching. And with Coach Pani, Thomas Bobby Philip and Syed Atif Umar having qualified for the Boston Marathon, we are still going places!

At PaceMakers, we believe there is a right way to train for a long distance racing event. It starts with having a clear goal, finding the right partner(s) to train with, following a structured training plan and exercises and above all enjoying camaraderie that makes us great runners.

The PaceMakers train at Lalbabh (West Gate) from 0500Hrs to 0730Hrs every Tuesday & Thursday. The Saturday Long Run workouts are usually at the Cubbon Park (central Bangalore) and Kanteerava Stadium from 0500Hrs to 0830Hrs . Typically, the training schedule for Tuesdays is Interval Training and Thursdays are reserved for Tempo run, Uphill run or Fartlek runs. Apart from this, runners are advised to follow Cross Training and strengthening workouts independently. All workouts start with a 20 minute warm up run, followed by 20 minutes of dynamic drills and end with a 10 minute cool down and a 30 minute static stretching & conditioning exercise session. Goals and timings aside, PaceMakers are committed to train with the purpose of avoiding running related injuries through structured & scientific training by following the right principles of training.

3 days online (zoom) strengthening sessions would be conducted between 6 am to 7:30 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.