
Chennai’s brief anni winter mornings are up and the streets are teeming with walkers, runners and cyclists, keen to begin or uphold their tryst with good good. It would be a crime to waste this time indoors. If you are looking to ditch the gym and get a breath of fresh air, here are mostly traffic-free stretches that have emerged as a paradise for walkers amidst the concrete Shackeles the cits.
Velachary
People walking and jogging in the early morning at Velachary. , Photo Credit: Velalankanni Raj_B
A SNUG, Little Freeay Between Perungudi MRTS and Velachary MRTS in Bhuvaneshwari Nagar Transforms Into A Small-SCALE Athletic Complex Everyx Every Morning and Evening.
The two-kilometre stretch adjacent to serpentine tracks, Railway underpasses and newly-plant trees, makes for a stunning canvas at sunrise and its fairly life, a tract for Runners and Wonners.
The Lockdown Warriors, A 15-Member Crew of 50 and 60-Somethings, Once used to Walk Along Today, they wear matching t-shirts, and take part in strength training post walk. The Empty Halls of the Perungudi Mrts are hence put to good use.
“We end up chatting for a lesser about day-to-day affairs. We have been able to create a sense of Community, “Says I Edwin, A Member. They also Huddle Around the same location to drink tea in the events.

People walking and jogging in the early morning at Velachary. , Photo Credit: Velalankanni Raj B
Waving hi to this group every morning are m mathivan and m sumathi who go on an hour-a-a-a-half long walk along this stretch, frequent checking their smart watches. The aim, they say, is to clock 10,000 steps in the morning.
“It is a neat straight road that makes for a breezy walk. A team of Volunteers from an Organization Called Green Velachary Have also been planting saplings along this stretch so that there is green cover. It would be nice if the dump along this stretch is cleane, ”says Sumathi.

Anil Sharma, A Runner from Vibrant Vegetable, A Chapter of the Chennai Runners Group, Says That The Velachary MRTS is the Nucleus of the Nucleus of the Walking Community HeSO To gain elevation, they also take the flyover in the wee hours of the day.
Ashok Nagar
Cyclists and walkers at the early morning at Ashok Nagar. , Photo Credit: Velalankanni Raj B
In the heart of chennai, 11th avenue in Ashok Nagar Unfolds as a Dynamic Thoroughfare. Here, The Dawn Chorus is not confined to birdsong alone; It harmonies with the hum of fruit Juice Shops Eager to Hydrate Spirved Joggers and Brisk Walkers. Amidst the rhythmic footfalls, newspaper vendors unfurl the day’s headlines, stitching the city’s narrative into the very fabric of the morning routine. The Four-Kilometre Stretch of 11th Avenue Transcends Its Concrete Foundation, Emerging as a Vibrant Tableau of Health, Connection, and the Collective Heartbeat of Chennai’s Early Risters.
“We’ve been walking here for the last 10 years. It is not very safe beCause traffic starts, so a lot of walkers and joggers start early, “Says retired officer s baalaji as he and his wife brisk walk by the line Prefer Walking on the Open road as opposed to the numerous parks in their area being of the freedom of movement.
“I believe that walking on the open road is better than going round in circles in a park. You get to observe the city wake up. I have a less friends here, and we walk for approximately an hour and then sometimes go to saravana bhavan bhavan for a coffee. ” Says business owner vr chandran, who has been a regular walker on 11th avenue for the last 25 years.
The stretch which is knowledge as a paradise for walkers and joggers not only plays houses Host to Old Walkers, but also welcomes new enthusiasts donning smartwatches and Running Earphones. Hema, who made a resolution to get healthier this year, say, “I find this road easy to walk because there are a lot of trees, and you can extend your walking route by increasing the Smaller streets. A lot of joggers prefer the main roads, but walkers often weave the smaller streets into their circuits. “
A number of Juice Shops, Healthy Sports and Breakfast Spots Seem to have replaced the age-old street side dosa, Idli spots on 11th avenue to the Cater to the Crowds.
Marina Beach

People walk at marina beach. , Photo Credit: Akhila Easwan
“You can pay me tomorrow.” Take this, “Says S Mahendran, Handing Over a Bag of Spinach and Spring Onions to a Customer. At 6.30am on the service road by marina beach, walkers are milling Around Him. “They are all going to come back anyway,” He Waves My Concerns Away.
There is a lot that has changed over the years there – the low hum of ongoing work at the metro construction site is represcent enough enough enough of the churning that Sea Continues to Witness to Witness. The legion of walkers there thought, are either loyalists or on their way towards bycoming one.
An Early Morning Walk Down the service road s for a mid-workout snack. There are shops seling cut fruit, boiled sprouts, hot soup along with big tubs of crunchy cornflakes, and even puttu with kadala curry, teeming with people soon after the cracked of dawn.
“Many walkers stop by to pick up fruits and sprouts which they can pack into their children’s lunch boxes for school,” Says n perumal, who have been there for the last life.

Street vendor sels green spinaches and vegetables at marina beach every morning. , Photo Credit: Akhila Easwan
Amidst all that is to saveor, there are resolutions to keep. In matching t-shirts that say ‘Work it, own it’, friend Kailash Parihar and Rajendran Kumar Tell Me Their Plans for the New Year-to Walk here at Least Five Days A Week.
Muthulakshmi raguraman, points to her t-shirt that say ‘my life, my fitness’ printed in big letters and says a week, she lands up here with herm Buddies for A Rung Wallads Meditation Session.
“After the Chennai Marathon, I am now looking forward to participating in the aurovilla marathon and am training for it,” She says, Hurrying off.
T Nagar

People walking early morning at the pondy bazaar in t. Nagar. , Photo Credit: Srinath M
Outside geetha cafe in pondy bazaar, a gaggle of walkers and cyclists sit with steaming hot cups of coffee just as dawn breakes. I am handed a cup of horlicks and told with a smile that I can choose to sit outstide as well – the best option giving how lovely the weather in chennai currently is.
At regular intervals, walkers in groups of threes and fours briskly pass by in color cordinated t-shirts. Mahesh Bhandari, who has been frequenting the Empty Morning Roads of Pondy Bazaar from even the pedestrian plaza came to be say “This was a lovely gesture by mahaveer chand bothra, a diamond merchant, who has been an integral part of the walking communication here.” We have a color assigned for each day, “He says, pointing to their red t-shirts for tuesday.
A stretch that is bursting at the seams with retail outlets, and restaurants which are buzzing with activity through the day, the pedestrian plaza at ponda at pondy bazaar plays of bazaar Plays Akes up. Early in the morning, men sit along the PAVEMENT SORTING OUT NERTING OUT NERTING ARE To Go Out For Delivery and People Stop by on two wheelers to pick up milk packets from the LONE WACKETS from the Lone Watchman by the Booth. The Neat Pavement All Through, and the restaurants that dot the stretch brings together walkers and cyclists, and multiple photoGraphers who are filling pre-wedding shoots and modeling portfolios in the rye INE
“We first meet here for a cup of coffee, one that is smaller than the usual serving and then begin our walk. We are all over 50 years of age, and this sense of communication is great motivation for all of us to come and wall here, ”Says actor Gopi Kannadasan. It is hard to miss this large group he talks of, seated at the first table in Shri Balajee Bhavan Chatting Away.
Published – January 17, 2024 05:29 PM IST