Run... run... run!!!!

Add a tune to this and stretch it a bit, some percussion and lo.. you have a cool sounding song… this was the theme song of the Hyderabad half/ full marathon event on Saturday, an event that I had the privilege of participating in .. and finishing! Perhaps, the defining words are participating and finishing because the time taken to complete wasn’t anything to write home about… 152 mins for the 21km stretch! What was really refreshing was the experience of being part of something so radically different from routine life.

Wind back to two weeks before the event.. Aug 2^nd, when I got to know that there is gonna be a event like this. Full of enthusiasm, I registered for the event along with two cousins (one cousin finally made it to the event and one dropped out royally J ) and my dad ( was the last minute inclusion, coz they did allow on-the-spot registrations). So, I had the benefit of a little bit of training.. let’s face it though… 2 weeks isn’t good enough time to train for a half marathon! At the end of it though, credit to my dad and cousin who did finish the run in very respectable and acceptable time.

Raceday: The five red lights illuminate and off they go… and we are go on the picturesque street circuit of Hyderabad. I will promote some Andhra Pradesh Tourism at this point, showing you glimpses of all places that I ‘shot’ past. First up was the greenery filled KBR Park on Banjara Hills (known for flowers!!) … that was the starting point!

The circuit was undulating terrain, and challenging, initially. Vivek (my cousin) kept up with me until the 1 km mark and then decided to back off (two pit stop strategy, I guess!) 1 km to 2 km was a little hard work coz the body was still warming up and it was that in-between feeling of not so hot not so cold, so ur muscles weren’t up to full working capacity. The 2km mark had the first water break.. time to pick up a water bottle and go on. A little ‘catching ur breath’ later, it was time to get back to pace. 2km to 4 km was actually peak performance. A glimpse at the stop watch.. 24 mins into the run at the end of 4 km. (again, the idea was finishing the race, not lap records!). two sugar cubes popped in at the 4km water stop and the run was reduced to a nice little calorie burning jog (and shaking an arm and a limb!!) The early morning was breathtaking. We were passing through the new Hyderabad. The Hyderabad that is still associated with Chandrababu Naidu… The Hyderabad of hopes, dreams, aspirations.. (and I was full of perspiration, now at the 6km mark).. This is where the magnificient Hitec City passed by, followed quickly by Shilparamam, the arts and crafts village. And then it was back again to glass buildings with the enormous Raheja Mindspace IT Park in sight.

One of the best moments of the run was when the traffic cops along the way, were actually applauding generously and cheering you along. It was inspiring. No iron hand to stop u. (Remember, I was neither wearing a helmet nor had fastened any seat belt!) .

The miles were going by and progress was getting a little slower with the 2km water points getting a little more elusive and far few in between!! But it was time to soldier on… We had crossed the IT district and were heading into the Gachibowli village.. and this is where the contrast strikes u. One moment, we were on wide, well-marked roads with glass buildings all around and the next moment, it was narrow, bylanes (which are, surprisingly, well-laid!!) with the village panchayat tree and post office.

It was now 13km since the run had begun and I was now counting down to the minutes and seconds that will would take me to the 21km finish line.This was a point in time where your body was on the verge of giving up… The mind then coaxed u, cajoled u and inspired u to go ahead and achieve ‘glory’ for the sake of “peace and prosperity of the nation”. The mind gave u sparks of inspiration and reminds u what all u were going to achieve if you finished the run ( u will be a superman in the eyes of the world… u will be the one guru people will look up to literally, while u are sitting up there on the platform!!)

13 km to 18km was some indifferent performance which took up roughly 40 minutes of the time. Ah.. 18km completed… and there was another monument in site (The grand gachibowli athletics complex) We had to wind around the road that led away from the complex and then do a full about turn and come back onto the road heading straight into the complex

Into the complex, and the 20km milestone in sight, the final 100 metres of the run was actually inside the athletics complex on the real race track. Awesome!!! This was when, finally, the sense of accomplishment started sinking in.. 2 hrs and 32 mins for the run.. 8 water stops along every 2km of the run, 4 sugar cubes, 2 glasses of electral water… but more than that it was the thrill of finishing the run when the body was giving up and the mind started taking over (This somehow reminds me of Honda’s hybrid Civic – where the electric motor takes over from the petrol engine to conserve fuel). No wonder, Ron Howard called it “The Beautiful Mind”! J

But there’s so much to improve. My completion time was a far cry from the winner’s 73 min. Bridging this gap is going to require tremendous practice and dedication and most importantly, another opportunity. If there is one more, I am ensuring that I am grabbing it and running again.

PS: The organizers of the event, Hyderabad 10k foundation, did not put a single step wrong and everything worked flawlessly. Kudos to them!!