The Joy of Running1

“Sir, my wife and I are very keen to join Joy of Running. We are middle aged, diabetic and
overweight. We have been suggested regular physical exercise by our doctors, but despite our
best intentions, we have not been able to remain regular. I have seen my friend Ashok who trains
with Joy of Running. We have seen how his health has improved after he started to train. More
importantly, he says he is now addicted to his fitness regime and he enjoys every bit of being part
of Joy of Running. Unfortunately, every time we have tried, we have received the message that
there are no more seats available. Sir, we sincerely hope that this time you will not disappoint
us.”

Emails such as these were increasingly becoming common for Srinivas these days. While Joy of Running,
the organization that Srini, as he was popularly called, founded in Bangalore three years ago could only
accommodate 200 runners, its demand exceeded more than thousand. Even though such high demand
was a testimony to the fact that Srini was doing something good and impacting the lives of people in a
positive manner, he felt a tinge of sadness every time he had to refuse someone. It was impossible to
grow, given the current structure of Joy of Running, because it was becoming difficult even to coordinate
a group of 200 runners and find suitable running locations for them. Should he then split the organization,
as suggested by some coaches, into five zones and thus create a franchisee model? Or should he appoint
full time coaches so that multiple batches can be run during the day as well as during the week?

Three years ago, Srini founded Joy of Running with the intension of coaching people for long distance
running. Srini was a passionate runner since his childhood and had a strong urge to promote awareness
about health and fitness. He was worried that people all around him were increasingly adopting unhealthy
lifestyles and felt that with some coaching most of them could be encouraged to run, become fit and
lead a healthy lifestyle. In a cosmopolitan city like Bangalore, there was a growing awareness about fitness
and lots of long distance running events were being organized all over India. Bangalore also had a lot of
young people with significant disposable income. They often enrolled in gymnasiums with the intension
of becoming fit, but found it difficult to sustain their efforts. Moreover, gymnasiums were commercially
oriented, with focus on increasing revenue rather than making their members fit and healthy.

Srini realized that in order to make people sustain their efforts in remaining fit despite the daily challenges
that they faced in personal and professional lives, it was necessary to build a community of runners and
thus create an opportunity for socialization and mutual support. To avoid dropouts, he needed to ensure
that runners improved their speed and distances only gradually and thus avoid getting injured. Finally, he
needed to provide them with small wins and a sense of achievement. This, he decided, will be achieved
by participating in some organized runs, getting finishers’ medals and commemorative t-shirts, all of which
would be adequately publicized through social media. Overall, Joy of Running will create a fun filled

1
This case has been written by Sourav Mukherji, Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India,
for the purpose of teaching. The character and events in this case are all imaginary. Any usage or reproduction of
this case should be not done without explicit permission from the author.
environment around running and fitness that people will look forward to making a part of their lives and
identities and every effort of running would be appreciated, if not celebrated.

Srini started by coaching a few close friends, who were occasional runners, for an upcoming half marathon
event. After six months of training, all of them could finish the half marathon, which was more than double
the distance that they had run six months ago. All of them felt that the fees that they paid to Srini was
worth the benefit. Moreover, they enjoyed the experience, felt good about their health and got hooked
on to running. As the group practiced their drills and runs in parks under Srini’s watchful eyes, they got
noticed by others. Soon Joy of Running started to attract more people and the group grew to about 50.

Srini realized that he needed more coaches to help him, since it was difficult for him to provide attention
to 50 runners. He was not in favour of appointing full time coaches since they would not have work for
the entire day. Joy of Running only coached recreational runners who had day jobs. Hence he decided to
find coaches from runners who have been with him during the past one year. They were familiar with his
philosophy of training. He decided to pay them some compensation so that they act as professionals.
During the next three years, Joy of Running grew to about 200 in size. Srini appointed about 10 coaches
from the runners. He also tied up with a few doctors and physiotherapists who advised the runners when
needed. Even among the coaches specialization started to emerge. Some of them became more
knowledgeable in nutrition, some in strength training while others helped Srini with logistics such as route
marking, arrangement for food and water during the runs and ensuring safety of runners. A few of them
focused on automating several processes such as group formation, marking attendance and monitoring
runner’s logs. There were others who ensured that the group was environmentally friendly by carpooling
as well as using articles that were not damaging the environment such as usage of steel cups for drinking
water rather than paper or plastic cups.

Demand to get enrolled with Joy of Running grew rapidly. To find running routes for a group size of 200
was itself a challenge in a city like Bangalore that was bursting at the seams. Thus scaling this mode of
operation seemed impossible. Due to traffic congestions, travelling was increasingly becoming difficult
and hence there was demand that the group be split geographically. It would enable runners from far off
places to join the group. The option was to allocate dedicated coaches to each of these groups. However,
Srini felt that it will disrupt the community feeling that existed within the group. There was demand that
such groups be created in other Indian cities where running was becoming popular and Srini could act as
their mentor, creating similar communities there. There was also the suggestion that Srini, who till then
was the only full time employee of Joy of Running, should recruit other full time coaches and office
bearers. This would enable Joy of Running to scale, run multiple shifts of coaching as well as
professionalize some of its activities. Resources could be generated by organizing distance running events
in Bangalore, which seemed a natural extension of their activities. While several running events were
being organized in Bangalore, they left a lot to be desired because they were very commercially oriented
and did not care much about runners’ welfare. Moreover, since Joy of Running was unable to meet the
demand, several others coaching groups sprouted. But not many of them had capable coaches and
seemed to be created only to tap into the commercial opportunity, rather than promoting fitness as
primary goal. These groups did not follow a “high touch” model like Joy of Running and therefore could
offer their services at half the prices that Srini charged his runners.
As Srini put on his running gear to get ready for a long run with his protégés, the pros and cons of scaling
clouded his mind. He looked forward to the run, hoping that it would clear his head a bit and provide him
with some answer.

Based on your reading of the case, answer the following questions:

How should Srini grow Joy of Running? Can he meet the growing demand without changing the basic
nature of the organization? Identify the options and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. How is
the organization going to change based on the chosen options for growth?