Bijender Vats
Bijender is currently working at a US pharma multinational MSD India as Director – Human Resources, India Region, based out of Mumbai. An alumnus of IIM Kolkata, he is passionate about giving back to the society the pearls of wisdom that he has garnered in his professional journey. He serves as a visiting faculty at some of the top B Schools in the country & is on the advisory council of some of the premier universities.
While Bijender was carving out his career, he realized that his health was not at its best & that’s when he took up running in late 2015! His story is interesting considering the fact that he made that rare transition from a diabetic to non-diabetic & has inspired people to take the cause of health and wellness. In running community, he is seen as a role model for encouraging the cause of Diversity & Inclusion & he has been actively involved in volunteering causes like “Girl Child Education” etc.
In the last 5 years he has run 79 running events including half marathons, full marathons & stadium runs. From a non-runner to a runner to now a pacer his journey has been quite eventful because even in running he is known as one of the most reliable Pacers. He says Pacing is his way of giving back to the running community as it helps him support several runners in achieving their goals.
Bijender had paced earlier in TMM & In 2022 edition Bijender has the responsibility of pacing the 2:50 bus where he will run a positive split (1st half of run marginally faster than 2nd half) & please feel free to join him for a smooth finish.
Bijender was rated as the “Most Valued pacer” by Mumbai Road Runners.
Apart from TMM, Bijender has paced all the last 5 editions of VDHM (earlier called ADHM). His pacing journey started in 2016 with 2:50 bus followed by 2:40 bus in 2017, 2:30 bus in 2018 & 2:20 bus in 2019.
His favourite quote to enthuse runners to reach the finish line is, ‘when your legs get tired, run with your heart”. You can follow Bijender on,
| Km | Pace (Min / Km) | Time Elapsed (In HH:MM:SS) | Comments |
| 1 | 7.00 | 00:07:00 | |
| 2 | 7.00 | 00:14:00 | |
| 3 | 7.00 | 00:21:00 | |
| 4 | 7.00 | 00:28:00 | |
| 5 | 7.00 | 00:35:00 | Includes water break, 30 Sec |
| 6 | 7.30 | 00:42:30 | |
| 7 | 7.30 | 00:50:00 | |
| 8 | 7.30 | 00:57:30 | |
| 9 | 7.30 | 1:05:00 | Group Picture |
| 10 | 8.00 | 1:13:00 | Includes water break, 30 Sec |
| 11 | 8.00 | 1:21:00 | |
| 12 | 8.00 | 1:29:00 | |
| 13 | 8.00 | 1:37:00 | |
| 14 | 10.00 | 1:47:00 | Peddar Road Incline |
| 15 | 8.30 | 1:55:30 | Includes water break, 30 Sec |
| 16 | 8.30 | 2:04:00 | |
| 17 | 9.00 | 2:13:00 | |
| 18 | 9.00 | 2:22:00 | |
| 19 | 9.00 | 2:31:00 | |
| 20 | 9.00 | 2:40:00 | |
| 21.1 | 10.00 | 2:50:00 | Last 200 metres is really narrow |
