Meet multifaceted Daniel Vaz- Head Coach Nike Run Club, trainer, marathoner and Aerospace Engineer

 

35kms - Khadakwasla

In India, so many people study hard, achieve amazing heights in school and college and make a huge effort to make all their financial dreams come true. Very often these studious people work so hard academically that their focus is just that. Studies and careers. Not Mr. Daniel Vaz though. Having done his B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering from I.I.T Mumbai he's currently still working at 63 as the C.E.O of a company that specialises in climate control in process industries. This is just his work! What he does outside of it is equally if not more interesting. 

Health and Fitness has always been an important part of Daniel's life. He was a footballer for most of his life and so one could consider him generally very fit. But life gave him a new direction when one of his friends asked him to accompany him to participate in a marathon back in 1996. This was really uncharted territory for most civilians back then. Most of the participants in that Pune International Marathon were elite runners from the defense forces. Daniel and his friend received vests to track their time for a nominal fee. When they reached the halfway mark, they were deemed too slow by the organisers and asked to leave the competition. Daniel remembers not liking what he experienced at that halfway point and left determined to better his speed.

In those pre-internet years, Daniel found a book written by a runner named Bruce Tulloh on distance running. He used the book as his guide to start training regularly. This training became a part of his daily life while work and home were also a priority. In 2002, the same friend asked Daniel to participate with him again. This time it would be a recreational marathon in Goa organised by the Goa Salgaonkar Sports Club. He had seen the ad in the Times of India newspaper. They called the organiser and registered for the race which was to be run from Benaulim beach to Vasco M Corporation. They were two among only 27 runners who were to run the 42 kms. From the runners who participated, only 12 completed the race. Daniel was the runner in the 12th spot. He was asked by the ambulance accompanying the runners to give up somewhere along the way as they were informed that the 11 runners in front of him had already nearly finished the race. Daniel asked them to go to the finish line and not wait for him and continued to run. He had friends cheering him on, who would give him water when required and he just focused on finishing the race. At an amazing 3h 55mins Daniel crossed the finish line to a thundering applause thanks to the fact that the winners of the race were being awarded their medals at that exact moment.

Coach- Nike India

These two races were key to Daniel's hunger to understand his body and its capacities during a long distance run. His training continued with vigour for the next couple of years. India was now seeing the beginning of modern marathon runs with the Mumbai Marathon's first edition in 2004. Daniel continued to participate in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathons every year. Now his name figures amongst the Mumbai Marathon Legends. In 2019, he received a permanent BIB number. He chose 810 which were the first three digits of his I.I.T membership number. Daniel has run 46 full marathons which include several famous overseas marathons. Travelling to participate in a marathon abroad became part of his family's vacation plans. Some of the overseas races he did till date are Berlin, Wurzburg, London, Lausanne in Switzerland, Budapest, Istanbul and the Lochness marathon in Iverness, Scotland.

Addressing Nike runners

Berlin marathon - 2017

Budapest marathon - 2019

London marathon - 2024

Around 2007, Daniel started offering long distance training advice by participating in seminars  in the domain of Recreational Running to employees of different companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, Colgate Palmolive, Standard Chartered and Chase Manhattan. He was also asked to train cadets  in the Goa Navy Physical Training School.  From 2008 onwards, he has been the Head Coach for the Nike Run Club. 

In the same vein, Daniel emphasizes that only last month, Nike organised a special  'After Dark' run in Mumbai and it was a Women's only edition. He worked for them as the Race Director on this occasion. 

He also backs his knowledge on running long distances with a solid certification that brings his experience on terrain and scientific accreditation together. He has a C.S.C.S certification (Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist) from the N.S.C.A (National Strength & Conditioning Association, U.S.A). He has had the honour of being Race Director for the Mangalore Triathlon, Mangalore Beach Festival's Half and Full Marathon.

Race Director Mumbai Ultra 12hrs

There is another interesting race where he is Race Director since 2019, the 12 hour Mumbai Ultra. In this race that is held on the 15th of August every year, participants run from the Veer Savarkar Smarak in Shivaji Park to Worli which counts as one loop. They run for 12 hours and try to make as many loops as they can in that duration. The winner is the one who completes the time with the maximum number of loops.

Health Coach, Nivea 2022 - 23

Daniel also worked as Health coach to Nivea when they launched deodorant for marathoners in 2022-23.

Mr. Vaz is also a writer for Fit Page India, a website where he has contributed more than 150 articles. The site covers everything under the Sun about running. He has advice about Strength Training, Running, GPS watches, the new technology Sweat Patches that checks the hydration level in the runner's body during long distances etc. Daniel also offers online training to several aspiring Marathon and Ultra Marathon runners who use his program to train for races that range from 42-50kms to 100kms or 100miles (160kms) across the world. Some of these races are the Ladakh Full Marathon and the Khardungla 72kms which is at very high altitude, 11000 feet and above. Other races include the Border 100 which is an Ultra that is held in the desert in Rajasthan. There are also runners training for the Comrades 90kms run held in South Africa.

Podium at Bangalore Ultra 2010

Daniel trains and motivates runners live when he runs with his running group, Road Burners in and around the Kandivali - Malad areas.

It's hard to believe that a man who does so many things for leisure works at such a high post in a Company. He doesn't seem to want to slow down despite having endured all sorts of running-related injuries. He just works on getting better and better at something that brings him immense satisfaction and joy. I'm super happy to have spoken to someone who has seen and helped India in getting fitter first hand and is actively contributing to the overall health of everyone around him. We can all learn what stamina, endurance, grit, determination, failure and success means when we look at the way Daniel has lived his life, from dreaming to doing to achieving. Kudos!

Daniel can be contacted on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dan_zico/ or FB https://www.facebook.com/danzico