This is an inspirational fitness story of Sumeet Mohan, …an Engineer working for the City Of Phoenix.
Sumeet Mohan came to America from India to do his Masters. His story is like many of ours here, got married and had kids. He had always been active, but as he approached the big 4..0, his father reminded him to beware of the “fatty 40s”, he says. And that did it for him. In his own words, “to watch the weight and the waistline”, he took to a strict fitness regime that often involved waking up 3:00 in the morning to do walk/ run/ bike before the world woke up. That was in 2008.
Since then, Sumeet has participated in over sixty Charity events, like-
1. Half- Marathons (13.1 miles walk/run)
2. Full- Marathons (26.2 miles walk/run)
3. Bicycling Century Rides (about 100 miles bike rides depending on routes.)
Sumeet says that biking is really his thing, having participated in over 45 Century rides ranging from 74 miles to 134 miles routes in various different places like Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff, San Diego, Flagstaff to Grand Canyon, etc. He even won the ‘Fastest Male on a Mountain Bike’ trophy in the 74 miles event in Tucson.
As for the Half-Marathon, Sumeet has participated in over 15 of these, but says, it’s really to give company to his equally fit wife, Dr Rupal Mohan (who we’ll also cover in this segment soon). “It’s actually really to carry her load, ” he jokes.
Sumeet also actively participates in the competitive events organized by his company. For the last two years, he participated and won first place in the Annual CSFD City Hall Challenge, where the options are to either climb (i) 1 lap = 19 floors one time or (ii) as many laps as you like, in 1 hour. Sumeet won in the category, Most Stairs Climbed (male) where he did 12 laps .
So what is his motivation? To keep good health, stay fit and keep his blood pressure under control. As he points out, Hypertension, called the ‘Silent Killer’ (because it shows no sympton) is a very real problem amongst Asian Americans. Another motivation is setting an example for his two sons, 11 and 8, who have already participated in several 5K walk/ run with their parents at this young age. As he rightly says, “because kids will do what they see you do.”