“I was a regular finance professional, working five days a week and recreation meant going out in the weekend with family to eat out,” says Dhananjay Yellurkar.

But all that changed when he was told that the heavy feeling in his chest was from five blocks in his heart, and surgery was required, recounts 49-year-old Yellurkar, of those “emotionally disturbing” times. There were questions of self-doubt, “will I go to work again?”

Mistaking the heaviness for a regular pain, he recalls, his daughter had put balm on his back for relief. With no family history of heart problems, he says, “I was caught unawares.” The chest pain continued, a stress test was advised and in May 2009, he underwent surgery.

Today, after more than three years since the surgery, Yellurkar is preparing to participate in his sixth marathon. At the Mumbai marathon this Sunday, he will run a full 42 km, as part of a 100-strong contingent of brave-heart marathoners from the Asian Heart Institute (AHI).

Yellurkar, who has run marathons in New York, Berlin and Paris, says, that his first exposure to a marathon was in Mumbai in January 2010, about six months after his surgery!

“I became obsessed with proving to myself,” he says. Feeling physically fitter than before, he says, eating-out is low on his priority now, and his wife his “biggest cheer-leader!” To drive home the point, he adds, his running time has improved from 5 hours 56 minutes in New York to 5 hours 8 minutes in Paris.

There cannot be a more telling statement than to have people with heart ailments run the marathon, says Tilak Suvarna, interventional cardiologist on AHI’s team monitoring the runners.

Some have never run before, others may have undergone a bypass, angioplasty or may need of treatment, but they are put through initial tests checking the heart’s conditions before being cleared to run, he explains.

For airline pilot Sanjiv Bhalla, who had no symptoms — a routine test, a couple of years ago, showed up eight major blocks. “The doctor asked me, how are you alive,” he recalls good-humouredly.

Speed up, sensibly

With surgery done, the “new plumbing” got 57-year-old Bhalla ready to run the half-marathon (21 km). Besides the irregular hours and eating habits, he had also been a smoker. Now there is no vada pav or pav bhaji , and the eggs have no yolks, he jokes. But to compensate erratic hours, he ensures a 10 km run once in 10 days.

Another half-marathoner, 64-year old-Shyam Wadhwani, had undergone a bypass five years ago. His mantra now is keep off fried food and sugar, and keep weight under control. Aashish Contractor, AHI head of preventive cardiology and rehabilitation, says, unlike 10 years ago, when heart-patients were told to slow-down, now they are encouraged to stay active. “Don’t slow down, speed up,” he says, adding however, it should be done sensibly.

The key takeaways from the runners are leading a physically active life helps keep heart disease at bay, and if you do indeed have a heart ailment, it is not the end of the road, says AHI Managing Director Ramakanth Panda. The 58-year-old Panda runs the dream-run (seven km) with his team, every year. And this Sunday will be no different.

>jyothi.datta@thehindu.co.in

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