Mumbai, Jan. 4 -- Come January, thousands of people across India will be getting into their running shoes, perfecting their pace, getting together for practice runs in the morning, perhaps exchanging notes on their performance, sharing Strava screenshots of their completed runs, all to line up in the wee hours for one of the tens of major marathons India's major cities will host this month and the next.

Distance running-from the humble 3K and 5K for beginners to the humbling half- and full-marathons-has slowly become a national obsession as getting fit becomes aspirational. Nearly all of India's major cities are host to at least one major marathon with an impressive title sponsor, while smaller cities and towns too begin hosting local ra...