Sujaa Raghunath
Coach
"Endurance running is much like life. What you get from it depends on what you put into it and you learn a lot about yourself along the way."
Sujaa (aka Priya) is an RRCA-certified long-distance running coach who joined RHWB as a runner in Season 3 and as a coach in Season 6. She lives in Westford, Massachusetts, with her family and their hunky “puppy” Max. Sujaa is a coffee connoisseur, enjoys a variety of musical genres, is an avid traveler, a hiking enthusiast, and a movie buff. She thrives on a good challenge—whether it’s badminton, board games, poker, or trivia.
During her school days, Sujaa led an active athletic life, but after developing asthma in her teens, sports took a back seat until much later. After having her two boys and well into her 30s, she rediscovered her love for sports through badminton, turning it into a regular lunchtime routine with a coworker that lasted about seven years.
When her badminton group eventually dissolved, Sujaa found a new passion in hiking. Alongside her husband Raghu and their children, Vishal and Rithvik, she spent many summer and fall weekends exploring the beautiful hiking trails in neighboring New Hampshire, with some summer holidays dedicated to multi-day treks.
Sujaa has completed over 50 unique hikes, mostly in the U.S., including the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim. Her more prominent international hikes include Mount Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp (EBC), and the Annapurna Circuit Trek—all organized by her high school classmate, Coach Bala, who is deeply passionate about mountaineering.
In 2019, Sujaa took up distance running to get fit for the EBC hike, finding a 5K to be a formidable challenge at the time. However, with Coach Bala's encouragement, she joined his half marathon training program in January 2020, and since then, there has been no looking back.
Under RHWB training with Coach Bala since Season 3, Sujaa has completed several half marathons and five full marathons. Initially, most of these were virtual races due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she finally experienced live racing in 2022. That year, she achieved a half marathon PR in April at the Newport Road Race in Rhode Island and a marathon PR in October at the Abbott World Major Chicago Marathon. Most recently, she completed the New York City Marathon in November 2023.
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