India's major road races

The shape of the Indian race calendar

It is dictated by weather, and it is short. October through February is when mass-participation road racing is possible across most of the country: the monsoon has cleared, the heat has dropped, and morning temperatures in the big cities are survivable for four hours of running. That compression is why the calendar is crowded — the Delhi Half in October, Ahmedabad in November, Kolkata and Pune in December, Mumbai and Chennai in January, Vadodara and Auroville in February.

The exceptions prove the rule. Bengaluru can hold a major 10K in May because its climate is unlike anywhere else in urban India. Hyderabad runs a marathon in August by accepting monsoon humidity in exchange for cooler air. Ladakh runs in September because at 3,500 metres the problem was never heat.

If you are planning a season, that geography is the plan: build through the monsoon, race from October, and treat March to June as base-building months run before dawn. The training plans are written in weeks rather than dates for exactly that reason — count backwards from the race you actually enter.