Ever since he won the half marathon race at the 2005 Lipton International Marathon, Madras Engineer Group and Centre’s P M Shanavas has been making rapid strides in the road race scene in the country.
He went on to win the Udupi half marathon last year and finished third in both the All-India Charan Singh meet held in Meerut as well as the Thane half-marathon.
Last week, the 28-year-old hawaldar, who has competed in 24 National-level meets till date, completed a double in the K A Nettakallappa road race by winning the Shimoga leg after having triumphed in the Bangalore leg two weeks earlier.
Shanavas has been known to be a slow starter and he believes that works to his advantage. “In long distance running, you have to pick up the speed gradually unlike in sprint where you have to concentrate on speed from the word go. Since I didn’t have the speed, I opted for long distance running. In both the road races held (Bangalore and Shimoga), I was trailing initially and it was only at the halfway mark that I grabbed the lead. I am a slow starter who gradually picks up the speed.”
While thanking Sappers’ coach Baby, under whom he has been training for the past seven years, Shanavas makes it a point to thank his first coach E C Royson for nurturing the athlete in him. “It was he who spotted an athlete in me. I was studying in Class VI at St Joseph’s School in Pavaratti in my home town in Thrissur where he was the PE teacher. He instilled the competitive spirit in me with meticulous training. I trained under him for four years which really brought the best in me,” said Shanavas who was part of the Karnataka contingent that finished second (4 km) in the team championship in the Federation Cup Cross-Country race held in Ramanagaram earlier this year.
Shanavas believes joining MEG in 2000 proved to be the turning point in his career. “Before joining MEG, I had 13 first places and six records in my name in different meets in Kerala. Ever since joining MEG, I have got a lot more exposure as I have been able to run more national and international events.The facilities that I get here are exceptional. With most of the trainers being former internationals, they know what our requirements are, whether it is the diet or sports kit. I would specially like to thank Sports Officer Subramanyam for this.”
While picking up the Lipton International Marathon victory, which had almost 240 contestants in the fray, as the high point of his career so far, Shavanavas also cherishes the third-place finish in last year’s Thane half-marathon.
Shanavas, who is the first from his family to venture into athletics, has no role models in the field, but has a good friend in international C Hamza. “We have been good friends since our childhood and he always encourages me.”
As he heads to Ooty for the long-distance runners’ camp commencing in the first week of July, Shanavas has his priorities cut out. “I would like to compete in the half-marathon event for another two years before venturing into full marathon. A medal at the Asian level in half-marathon is what I would like to have before getting into the big league. You need good fitness and endurance level to run the full marathon. That can not be attained overnight, but only by constant hardwork. I hope I do get the necessary wherewithal to compete in full marathon soon”.