From correspondents in Maharashtra, India, 08:15 PM IST

Talwalkars, a leading name in the country in the field of health and fitness, has joined hands with Procam International, promoters of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, to become the Official Training partner for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.

Bolstering the efforts of Mumbaikars towards becoming more accomplished distance runners, Talwalkars, with 100 of their own trainers and 60 external trainers, in association with Procam International, organized a three-day Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2008 Training Workshop at the IMA Hall, Juhu from October 11 to 13, 2007. After the workshop, 13 from the 100 were certified as Master Trainers and 4 were certified as stars.

Renowned distance running expert Ian Ladbrooke, along with Zak Kihara, an elite athlete from Kenya, conducted the workshop for the trainers nominated by Talwalkars. These trainers will in turn move out to different areas of Mumbai and Thane, offering scientific and organized training to every running enthusiast who harbours hopes of challenging one's self to run in and complete the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.

Having been in the fitness industry for 75 years, Talwalkars is well equipped with world class fitness equipments both strength & cardio treadmills, tread climbers, ellipticals, spin-cycles in order to provide the required training.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Prashant Talwalkar, Managing Director, Talwalkars said, “The undisputable fact today is that Talwalkars is a leader of sorts in the fitness industry. As an official fitness trainer for the StanChart marathon, we are not only broadening our area of expertise but inching close towards our vision of making fitness a religion for every individual.”

Elucidating the need for training for participants of the Standard Chartered Marathon he added, “Participants enrolling into our training programme can feel assured of reaching the finishing line and bask in a sense of achievement which I am sure has been the exclusive privilege of few trained marathon runners until now!”

Prashant Talwalkar also used the occasion to announce 10-year free memberships to the first three male and female Indian finishers in the full marathon & half marathon races of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.

Vivek B. Singh, Jt. Managing Director of Procam International said, “There couldn’t be a more appropriate alliance than the partnership between the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and Talwalkars. The city has already accepted the event as their very own and this partnership now brings to its citizens professional and scientific training to help each and every participant achieve their goal.”

The workshop dealt with various aspects of distance running like the principles of endurance training and cross training; diet and nutrition; injury prevention and treatment; running kit; health issues and training schedules.

Talwalkars, through their trainers, will be offering training packages to corporate establishments, residential societies and running enthusiasts to get them fit and running before the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2008.

A 75 days training schedule, formulated by Ian Ladbrooke, will be followed by the Master Trainers, who will supervise the training sessions. These sessions will be conducted from the 13 Talwalkar Fitness Centres in Mumbai and Thane. The training sessions are designed to include both indoor as well as outdoor training sessions. In a week, one session will be held inside the gym and two will be held outdoors.

Ladbrooke’s team also trained one head Dietician, one Doctor and one Physiotherapist.

Enlisted are the Talwalkars centres where the indoor training will take place under the guidance of the Master Trainer and other certified trainers:

1. Thane 1
2. Thane 2
3. Chembur
4. Mulund
5. Bandra
6. Mahim
7. Mumbai Central
8. Vashi
9. Andheri
10. Goregaon
11. Juhu
12. Wadala
13. Warden Rd.

The outdoor training sessions will be conducted at the ground nearest to the Talwalkars centers. Training will start from November 1st and will continue till the date of the Marathon. Talwalkars has also set up a helpline - 67258585 and a website marathon.training@talwalkars.net for the event.

Source: Press Release Distribution via India PRwire