First Marathon.. Gr8 Experience..

Yes.. I did the marathon.

6.15 AM, 16 Jan 2011, CST station Mumbai, The gun triggered to start the race. I took my first step out of thousands. I followed the strategy of running slow in the beginning so as to conserve energy. I followed the crowd slowly raising the pace. At oberoi turn I got to see the Arabian sea first time in my life. (Yes, first time i visited west coast).A light shadow of mine was cheering me under the light of dawn. Few of Half marathon friends cheered me who were running in the opposite way. I was little overcautious and taking too many water breaks. I met a new friend Shantanu on the way, from RFL Bangalore, who supported me all the way. We competed and complemented all along.

All was going well until I hit the Bandra-worli sealink at around 22nd Km. I found it so scary which, otherwise, must be beautiful. The sun god was showering his/her blessings straight on head. Then, I realized that i dropped the cap somewhere on the way. A long shadow of mine was making faces at me. My woes started from 25th Km itself which generally starts from 30 Km mark. I resorted to ‘Run and Walk’ method and continuously hydrating myself. All the elite runners flashed like a bullet overtaking us. At around 28th Km mark, I made my mind to run again and was able to run 3 Km. I finished the sealink and entered the residential part of city where I found solace with little breeze and a slight downhill. I took the help of a water sponge here and cooled myself. This gave me some relief to run another Kilometer atleast. I completed my first 35th Km here and that gave me the confidence that i would finish the run. From there, the heat turned more severe and I was doing more of walk than run. So many Mumbaikars, especially children, came out to cheer us and offered fruits, biscuits. Whenever I saw someone cheering I ran few meters and again forced to walk as the reality was hitting hard. Slowly I dragged my feet until 42.2 Kilometer mark amidst the cheers of my running friends. I was happy that I could stay happy all along without loosing hope. The finish time as per my garmin is 4 hrs 50 mins. The unfavourable weather made the run less enjoyable but tested our perseverence levels to a good extent. The last 2 hrs of the run was an intense experience. After the run I pulled out some energy to do some stretches. Then we all drove to the famous Leopold cafe and treated ourselves with a draught beer!!

I owe alot of thanks to Hyderabad runners without whom I would have taken a long time to realize my wish to do marathon. There are somany people who constanly inspired me to go for it. I also would like to thank Dr. Ashis Roy who was the initial inspiration for me to do a marathon. Thanks for giving few good moments to cherish.

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