Training
The long run, in an Indian summer
Marathon training in April means thirty kilometres on roads where every public tap is dry. The long run, not race day, is when a road runner finally needs to carry.
Ask a road runner whether they need a hydration vest and most will say no — and on race morning, they are right. A city marathon hands you water every couple of kilometres. You carry nothing, and you are fine.
Training is the other story. The thirty- and thirty-five-kilometre long runs that actually build a marathon happen at dawn on ordinary roads, in April and May, when the heat is already a problem by kilometre ten and the one tap you were counting on has been dry for a year. That is the run that breaks people. Not the race.
Race day hands you water every two kilometres. Your training does not.
This is the run the vest is for. Two flasks on the chest, a phone, a few gels, nothing swinging. You stop rationing water and start holding pace. Race day takes care of itself — the long run is where the marathon is won, and where, for once, a road runner is glad to be carrying.
Written by
Nikhil Menon
Road marathoner · Mumbai
Continue reading
How to choose a running hydration vest — an India buyer's guide
When to carry, how to size, and what it actually costs in India — from a workshop that will tell you when you don't need one.
ReadTata Mumbai Marathon 2027 — the registration guide
TMM 2027 is confirmed for 17 January. Registration was still unannounced in July 2026 — here is what is verified, what usually happens, and how not to miss the window.
Read