The Women Creating a New Running Culture in India

More and more women are taking to the streets—running on pavements, along promenades, under stadium lights, and reclaiming space and power—together

When Garima Dhamija runs, she doesn’t just chase distance or pace—she’s craving space for herself, and for dialogue. “For women in India, running is extremely liberating," says the 51-year-old marathoner and coach. “Just getting some ‘me time,’ which isn’t common, that’s where it starts. And then a sense of achievement follows. That’s validating.” Based in Gurugram, outside of Delhi, Dhamija discovered running at the age of 40 while grappling with depression and menopause. Now, she’s clocked over 100 half-marathons and 10 full ones, including a Boston qualification, where she placed among the fastest recreational runners in her age group.

On 10 May 2025, Dhamija—along with her 25-year-old daughter, Niharika—was among the 3,000-plus women who participated in the Mumbai chapter of Nike After Dark Tour, an opportunity for thousands of women runners who took to the city’s streets at night. According to Dhamija, “Running in the dark is just not normal in India. There are a couple of small night events where I live where we can go and run safely. But other than that, I can’t imagine it; not even walking. It’s a sense of not being able to do something that should be normal.”

While the After Dark race holds the distinction of being India’s largest women’s 10K to date, it points to a much larger movement. Across India, women are lacing up to reclaim both their bodies and their streets. From sunrise jogs to evening runs, the movement is about more than just fitness — it’s about freedom, self-determination and camaraderie.

Finding strength in numbers

For Merlyn Matchavel, a Sunday run sets the tone for a busy week, making her feel calmer and more focused at work. The 35-year-old Mumbai-based breast surgical oncologist started running a little over a year ago. “After years of medical school, I knew I needed to get back into fitness,” she says. “I started with morning walks and would see runners… honestly, it felt intimidating. I wondered, ‘Could I ever do that?’” Her first session with Sisters in Sweat, India’s largest women-only sport and wellness community, left her breathless. “I could barely run a minute without wanting to stop,” she says. “Some days, it’s difficult to push myself, but running with a group of women has instilled immense discipline and consistency. It’s empowering too.” So much so that Matchavel is ready to take on far more than one minute—she’s preparing for her first marathon in Berlin this September.

While Matchavel says the prospect of training for 26.2 miles can be daunting, simply getting a post-run coffee or breakfast with her fellow runners is reward enough for putting in the hard work. “There’s also the element of accountability—if you’ve told your friend that you will run with her the next morning, you cannot let her down; you have to wake up.”

While running is often seen as an individual sport, the support system is anything but—whether you’re training in the familiarity of friends or the company of total strangers. Dhamija describes women she first met while running who are now close friends, bonding over banter and breakdowns. “I think a natural, unspoken bond is formed when you run with another woman,” she says. “You can talk about anything—it might be very personal or private and the other woman will just understand. I’ve had so many conversations about menopause—still a hushed-up topic—while running with women who are complete strangers. Yes, you can talk about superficial things, but you can also talk about what’s really bothering you.”

The benefits of running are then both physiological and emotional. “You see a lot of running failures, despite putting in the work,” continues Dhamija, who’s currently balancing caregiving for her ageing father with a full-time job as a leadership coach and co-founder of an HR advisory firm. “How do you hold these failures with grace? There’s that sense of working hard and then surrendering the outcome—that’s my biggest learning from running, apart from patience.”

Along with depth of insight and a newfound sense of community, running also lets one view their city through a fresh lens, like mapping a psychogeography—sight, mind, feet in sync—something 30-year-old Mishti Khatri, a Mumbai-based marathon trainer and Nike Running coach, resonates with. While the first one or two kilometres are always painful for Khatri, who began running to overcome her childhood fear of it, she soon finds her rhythm. “It always seemed impossible before. But now, running is like meditation in motion for me. It is a very blissful space—I shut the world out,” she says. “Halfway into my run the sun comes up. I feel I get to experience an otherwise teeming city in a different light. Sometimes if I’m driving past my running route, I think to myself, ‘Damn, I actually ran this distance.’ Because of running, I feel more connected to my city.” 

Currently completing a PhD in endurance performance, the menstrual cycle, and nitrates—with the goal of contributing to scientific research exclusively focused on women athletes in India—Khatri was coaching participants for the After Dark Tour for the last 10 weeks. The training sessions started with 40 runners and grew, by word of mouth, to over 400, with over 60 per cent of participants identifying as first-time runners.

Expanding the future of running for women in India

Running on the streets of Indian cities can come with risk, especially for women. For Dhamija, the real change will unfold when women don’t have to fear stepping outside alone, and she’s doing her part to create the change she wants to see: “Some years ago,” Dhamija recalls, “me and a few women got together and did something called the ‘Shed-It Run,’ where basically you remove your T-shirt and run in a sports bra, which was not a common thing in India at the time. When the organizers came to me and asked if I would join, I didn’t blink an eye. It was only when I spoke to my male friends who are runners, they were very worried, and not just about our safety. That bothered me. And that’s when I knew change was needed.

Yet, optimism laces every lap. In Mumbai, young girls are taking to running, forming their own running clubs and documenting every sweaty stride on social media. Many of them showed up in droves for the Mumbai edition of the Nike After Dark Tour. The event saw women from different generations running on the streets together on a muggy yet exhilarating night. “Running is a great way to meet new, like-minded people. I like the stricter, regimented sessions, but once in a while I also enjoy the energy the younger generation is bringing,” says Khatri.  

While more women in urban India—across age groups and backgrounds—are on the roads to reclaim space, agency and identity, Dhamija notes the hurdles that persist: lack of safe public spaces, cultural stigma, caregiving responsibilities, and limited representation of women in coaching or leadership roles. She believes hyperlocal communities, with familiar faces and shared intent, can shift the culture. “In Haryana, for example, women taking up sports isn’t new—just look at the women in wrestling,” she says. “Grassroots programmes and even brands can help normalise running in the same way.” 

Visibility is only the start. The future of running in India will depend on whether it can become a truly inclusive movement—one that welcomes women not just as participants, but as decision-makers, coaches, and architects of change.

One such changemaker? Nike Run Coach Diljeet Taylor, who has trained over 100 All-Americans and serves as the Nike After Dark Tour’s Head Coach, having designed its global training programme. Born in California to Indian immigrant parents, Taylor entered elementary school speaking only Punjabi. It was when she began running races—and winning, even beating the boys—that she finally came into her own. “I grew up as a young girl who never saw Indian women in sport. As a matter of fact, it was discouraged,” she says. “I felt like I didn’t have a true sense of belonging in sport as an Indian woman.” 

Now based in Utah, where she coaches Brigham Young University’s Division-1 women’s Cross Country and Track and Field teams, Taylor traveled 48 hours to be in Mumbai for the After Dark Tour race. “This is a full-circle moment for me—one that I’m beyond proud to be a part of,” she says. In addition to her official After Dark Tour duties, Taylor found time to have breakfast on race day with Dhamija, Matchavel, and Khatri, whom she chatted with on video calls individually in the weeks prior, and presented each of them with a butterfly charm necklace as a symbol of the metamorphosis running can engender. Taylor knows what women experience upon crossing the finish line is more than just victory. “There is a sense of gratitude for what they were able to do—for showing up and completing what they signed up for. Most people think runners’ high is the euphoria of attaining a certain distance or pace. But beyond euphoria, it’s that sense of pride you have in yourself,” she shares.

To that end, Dhamija concludes, “If done right, recreational running can evolve into a deeply inclusive and transformative movement for women in India.” As for the naysayers? Matchavel has some advice: “I have learnt to ignore and simply mute them, both literally and figuratively. It’s a quiet win.” 

There was nothing quiet about the After Dark Tour 10K race, which electrified the streets of Mumbai with a cacophony of cheers and the pounding of sneakers on the pavement, making clear that Indian women are passionate about running—for themselves and each other. And they’re showing zero signs of slowing down.

Portraits by Prarthna Singh | This feature is co-published with Nike

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