By INDIA New England News Staff
SHARON, Mass.–For most of his life, running was a closed door.
Growing up in rural Andhra Pradesh near Guntur, India, Srini Maddineni dreaded running. Whenever he tried, his body reacted in ways he couldn’t explain. Excessive sweating, dizziness, and near-blackout episodes convinced him that running simply wasn’t built into his future.
Doctors offered few answers. One cardiologist suggested that neural pathways to the heart muscles might be misfiring. The proposed solutions—a risky procedure or medication—didn’t feel right. Instead, Maddineni accepted what seemed obvious.
He stopped running.
For more than four decades, the idea of becoming a runner felt impossible.
Today, the Sharon, Massachusetts resident has completed two of the world’s most iconic races—the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2, 2025, and the Boston Marathon on April 20, 2026. He has chronicled the experience in his newly published book, Zero to 26.2: Becoming a Marathoner, with all proceeds benefiting Achilles International, a nonprofit that helps athletes with disabilities participate in endurance sports.
“A simple wish to run one mile became a path that reached far beyond running,” Maddineni writes. “The marathon was not only a physical achievement. It was an unfolding of resilience, health, and gratitude.”
The journey began in January 2024.
Approaching his sixtieth birthday, Maddineni was looking for a way to complement his strength-training routine with cardiovascular exercise. He set what seemed like a modest goal: run one mile on a treadmill without stopping.
“It wasn’t easy,” he recalled. “My calves complained. My heart raced. I took breaks every two minutes.”
But gradually, the breaks became shorter.
Then one day in March 2024, he completed his first uninterrupted mile.
“The joy was childlike, electric,” he writes. “It wasn’t just a mile. It was breaking through a barrier that had followed me my entire life.”
That milestone sparked a much bigger transformation.
Without a coach, Maddineni immersed himself in learning about endurance training, recovery, and health optimization. A DEXA scan revealed that while he appeared healthy on the outside, his cardiovascular fitness was below average and his visceral fat levels were higher than recommended.
“From that point, every run carried a deeper meaning,” he said. “I wasn’t just chasing miles. I was fighting for my future self.”
By August, he completed his first 10K. Soon afterward came a half-marathon and increasingly longer training runs. During a business trip to Paris, he carved out time to run 13.1 miles along the Seine. Monthly mileage climbed beyond 100 miles.
Then came an opportunity that changed everything.
Maddineni was accepted into the 2025 New York City Marathon through sponsorship. Months of disciplined training followed, including interval workouts, tempo runs, and long-distance weekend efforts.
On race day, he crossed the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and navigated all five boroughs of New York City, fueled by determination, careful preparation, and the support of family and friends.
One of his most memorable moments came around mile 16.
“I heard my family’s voices before I could spot them,” he recalled.
Near the finish, his son joined him in Central Park. Together they shared the final stretch of a journey that had begun with a single mile on a treadmill less than two years earlier.
For many runners, crossing the finish line in New York would have been enough.
For Maddineni, it reopened a dream he had almost forgotten.
Years earlier, during a business trip to India in 2022, he found himself attending a meeting in Mumbai when participants were asked a simple question: If you could do one thing in life, what would it be?
Without thinking, he answered.
“Someday, I would like to run the Boston Marathon.”
The response surprised even him.
“What was I thinking?” he later recalled. “I couldn’t run a single mile without stopping.”
The dream faded from memory—until after New York.
When an opportunity arose to run the Boston Marathon through the same sponsorship channel, he immediately accepted.
Boston would present a different challenge.
Training took place during a harsh New England winter. January runs moved indoors to the treadmill before gradually transitioning outdoors. Distances increased steadily from 10 kilometers to 13 miles, then 15, 18, and eventually 20-mile training runs.
When friends asked if he was ready for Boston, his answer remained consistent.
“As ready as I can be,” he told them. “You put in the necessary effort, and then you trust the training to carry you to the finish line.”
For Maddineni, Boston carried a special significance.
Having lived in Massachusetts for more than 30 years, he viewed the race as more than another marathon.
“Boston is more than a race for me,” he said. “It has been my home for over three decades. Stepping onto this course is a privilege.”
He also dedicated the race to a close friend battling serious health challenges.
“Over the course of this journey, I have learned that while motivation gets you to the starting line, meaning is what carries you across the finish,” he writes. “Doing something beyond yourself provides direction when the physical energy fades.”
That philosophy also inspired his decision to donate all proceeds from Zero to 26.2 to Achilles International, an organization that helps athletes with disabilities discover the transformative power of endurance sports.
Along his marathon journey, Maddineni was deeply moved by athletes overcoming challenges far greater than his own.
“Blind athletes tethered to guides moved me deeply,” he said. “Where there is will, there is a way.”
Today, Maddineni describes his transformation as a journey from “fragile” to “anti-fragile”—a concept that has shaped not only his athletic pursuits but also his leadership philosophy.
A global technology executive and Chief Information Officer, he has spent decades leading organizational transformation. Yet perhaps his most meaningful transformation happened outside the boardroom.
Running, he says, opened the door to writing.
His book explores far more than marathon training. It examines resilience, aging, health, leadership, gratitude, and the possibility of reinvention at any stage of life.
Looking ahead, Maddineni plans to continue running, complete a marathon annually, participate in local races across Massachusetts, and continue writing about the intersection of endurance, health, leadership, and personal growth.
His message is one that resonates far beyond the running community.
The limits we accept today may not be the limits that define us tomorrow.
For a man who once believed he could never run a mile, finishing Boston proved that sometimes life’s most meaningful journeys begin with a dream that seems impossible.
Zero to 26.2: Becoming a Marathoner is available on Amazon. All proceeds are donated to Achilles International, a nonprofit organization that helps athletes with disabilities participate in endurance events and achieve their athletic goals.
Maddineni is a Sharon, Massachusetts resident, global technology executive, endurance athlete, and contemplative writer. Raised in Andhra Pradesh, India, he has lived in Massachusetts for more than three decades. He writes about endurance, leadership, health, and personal transformation.
