An obstacle-course run and festival in Gurugram, with mud, fire and obstacles named after things every Indian knows. The idea came to me after I ran an obstacle course race in the United States.
Desi Warrior called itself “India’s Own World Class Obstacle Run”: a course of more than 5 km and 20 obstacles, with a festival around it.
- My role
- Co-founder, one of three, with Samar Shivdasani and Sharmilee Sagar. The concept was mine.
- Operated by
- Adrenaline Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
- Events
- Battlefield Gurgaon: 22 March 2015, 11 October 2015 and 16 October 2016
- Format
- Obstacle course · festival arena · kids’ course · corporate teams
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The Warrior Arena festival stage -
Runners at Battlefield Gurgaon
The course and the festival
The obstacles carried Indian names and jokes: Matka Mile, Agni, Horn Ok Please, Holi Water, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Mowgli, Dubki Maar and Brrrfi among them. The sign-off was Live · Play · Conquer.
Around the course sat the Warrior Arena, with live music, food, a CrossFit zone and partner stalls, plus a shorter Chotta Desi Warrior course for children and a programme for corporate teams. Hindustan Times reported nearly 1,500 people at the October 2015 run; the October 2016 run sold out.
On the course
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Agni: the fire jump -
Matka Mile -
Mowgli: the rope swings -
Horn Ok Please -
Holi Water -
A mud crawl on the course
Photographs and logo: Desi Warrior, 2014–2016. Its photography partners were Pic2Go and Snow Masters.
Partners
Partners included Thums Up, Fruit Shoot for the children’s course and AktivOrtho for sports medicine. Underdoggs and Mrs Kaur’s Bakery & Cafe were food and drink partners, and the launch press meet in 2015 was held at Underdoggs in Vasant Kunj.
About this collection
This collection documents the original Desi Warrior events held in 2015 and 2016.
More beyond the work
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Fitness & movement
Training, running, the outdoors and the habits around them, from my reels.
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Create Inspiration
The podcast and channel I started: long conversations about inspiration, recovery and building a life.
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Reflections
My own notes on mindset, habits and building a life by design, as I first published them.
