Mumbai, Jul 19 (IANS): "Mirzya" famed Saiyami Kher and TV actress Pooja Gor have made running part of their lives and plan to take up the next challenge of running a half-marathon.

"I challenged myself to maintain consistency with a target of running of 10 kilometres which I would like to do in 60 minutes and a half-marathon. My main focus is Mumbai Half-Marathon right now," Saiyami told IANS.

Pooja, who rose to fame with TV shows like "Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya" and "Savdhaan India", says her tryst with fitness started some three years back.

"Wanting to be healthy and fit was my goal. And for that, I experimented with a lot of activities. But joining an activity or going to the gym and being consistent was a challenge because of my working hours," she said.

"I realised that I needed something that was possible to do, at the least amount of time that I could spare from my routine as compromising on health was not an option. I needed something to increase my lung capacity. Soon a friend introduced me to running," she told IANS.

Gor initially thought running as something that was an activity for professional athletes.

"But I thought, let me give it a try. After a few sessions of early morning runs with adidas Runners, I understood that I had found my activity. An activity that would fit my routine perfectly as running can be done anywhere, anytime you get," she said.

Keeping in mind how passionate Indians have become about running, a runners exchange programme is being conducted by adidas Running India in which runners are travelling to other cities for experiences with the aim to excite, inspire and empower the running community to get out and explore.