mumbai half marathon 2008
This was a great half marathon for me- but more of that later. I woke up at 4.30 am to the sound of my mobile - waking me up. I got up feeling excited and a bit nervous to me. nervous becoz I wanted to run much faster than the previous year. and this is how marathon closely parallels life; try to be better and better than your previous day or work or whatever. I did a bit of yoga exercises to feel good and run well, had some bananas and went to railway station to go to Azad maidan; sunday morning, the road was dark, weather absolutely fabulous- a perfect climate for runners; I must make the most of it.
Reached the maidan and boy was it crowded! lots of bustle and noise - guys stretching, some doing small runs and some eating :) I went to the food court to check for some runner friends, didnt find any and promptly went to the holding area (the place where all runners wait before the run starts); it was very crowded, slightly lesser than the peak Virar train :) I went as close to the starting point as possible and waited. At 6.44, the curtain opened and we all walked, nay ran close to the starting point - near VT (now CST) station. Soon the race started and in the beginning it was difficult to run; soon the serious runners overtook others and there was enough space to run. There was lots of cheering, sound of radio and the constant din of "Run Mumbai Run". Soon we passed fort and were on our way to marine drive. the run was cool and wonderful; I kept a pace of 5 minutes per kilometer till i reached 6 kms after which the speed started reducing. The cheering crowd was quite encouraging though seemed subdued compared to the previous year. Soon we were close to Walkeshwar road and the sun had risen by them throwing a red hue to the participants. We took the road to the bottom of Peddar road quite steep.. there was a pair of a young old women who clapped for every person they saw; i saw them continue to clapping when i returned :) Amazing woman with terrific enthusiasm for about 1.5 hours at least that i know . We then went up the Peddar road - wow quite a strain on the legs and the cheering row applauded and encouraged. It was wonderful to see so many runners putting their best effort. Descended the peddar - the volunteers at water stations were terrific - ever ready with plain water or electrol for us thirsty runners; the Asian gals and guys were very helpful with spray in case the knees or hamstring hurt.. We went past Haji Ali - it was getting warmer and went along the seaside and past mela restaurant; the halfway mark - not really, the halfway mark was just a wee distance away. Interesting to see was a person barefoot running energetically before me. We passed the halfway mark and went past water stall. We were not only encouraged by the supporting crowd, the volunteers but also the runners who constantly encouraged one another. The return to VT run though slower was without any problem and we back onto marine drive. I was amazed to see a bunch of people with their back to the runners - of course playing cricket (what else!) and moved on at a slower speed with a bit of pain (was that cramp - my right foot!) but the energetic crowd and runner encouraged me and so did the cheering team, the scout boys and the constant clapping. I went past quite a few runners and when i was 500 metres away, I saw that there were very few people ahead of me and I ran even faster to finish at my career best time of 1 hour 55 minutes (10 whole minutes better than last year) not only that, I felt even physically good - no pain!! The welcome at the end was great with the much welcome refreshment given to all the participants. The refund and certificate process was not good - but who cared ? I felt great finishing half marathon within 2 hours!!
Reached the maidan and boy was it crowded! lots of bustle and noise - guys stretching, some doing small runs and some eating :) I went to the food court to check for some runner friends, didnt find any and promptly went to the holding area (the place where all runners wait before the run starts); it was very crowded, slightly lesser than the peak Virar train :) I went as close to the starting point as possible and waited. At 6.44, the curtain opened and we all walked, nay ran close to the starting point - near VT (now CST) station. Soon the race started and in the beginning it was difficult to run; soon the serious runners overtook others and there was enough space to run. There was lots of cheering, sound of radio and the constant din of "Run Mumbai Run". Soon we passed fort and were on our way to marine drive. the run was cool and wonderful; I kept a pace of 5 minutes per kilometer till i reached 6 kms after which the speed started reducing. The cheering crowd was quite encouraging though seemed subdued compared to the previous year. Soon we were close to Walkeshwar road and the sun had risen by them throwing a red hue to the participants. We took the road to the bottom of Peddar road quite steep.. there was a pair of a young old women who clapped for every person they saw; i saw them continue to clapping when i returned :) Amazing woman with terrific enthusiasm for about 1.5 hours at least that i know . We then went up the Peddar road - wow quite a strain on the legs and the cheering row applauded and encouraged. It was wonderful to see so many runners putting their best effort. Descended the peddar - the volunteers at water stations were terrific - ever ready with plain water or electrol for us thirsty runners; the Asian gals and guys were very helpful with spray in case the knees or hamstring hurt.. We went past Haji Ali - it was getting warmer and went along the seaside and past mela restaurant; the halfway mark - not really, the halfway mark was just a wee distance away. Interesting to see was a person barefoot running energetically before me. We passed the halfway mark and went past water stall. We were not only encouraged by the supporting crowd, the volunteers but also the runners who constantly encouraged one another. The return to VT run though slower was without any problem and we back onto marine drive. I was amazed to see a bunch of people with their back to the runners - of course playing cricket (what else!) and moved on at a slower speed with a bit of pain (was that cramp - my right foot!) but the energetic crowd and runner encouraged me and so did the cheering team, the scout boys and the constant clapping. I went past quite a few runners and when i was 500 metres away, I saw that there were very few people ahead of me and I ran even faster to finish at my career best time of 1 hour 55 minutes (10 whole minutes better than last year) not only that, I felt even physically good - no pain!! The welcome at the end was great with the much welcome refreshment given to all the participants. The refund and certificate process was not good - but who cared ? I felt great finishing half marathon within 2 hours!!
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