There is something called Runner's high and it was quite some time that I hadn't indulged in the aforementioned. And ergo, I was just browsing through sites which list the marathons happening across the country and to my surprise there was one on this coming Sunday, that too in Dehradun. Wow, God has been listening lately, I pondered. But then I had no one to do it with (the race, I mean!) as my running mate was training hard at NPA. I posted the event on our IAS group and as expected there wasn't much response to it. Running two rounds of the ground in the morning PT is regarded as devilish leave alone the idea of 21 Km. But then I knew certain people who have been frequenting the treadmills of the Gym. The first prey was Fouzia and from there on it was all like a fission reaction.
Of course, there were strong apprehensions as to how it would be possible to train for it with merely four days in hand. I wasn't sure too but one thing I know now by experience is that it is more of a mental game than physical. And if enough confidence can be generated in them, that would take them through. Since we had all run moderate distances in the Foundation Course, I thought it would be okay to push the first practice run to 10 km. And the fact that Mussoorie is such a perfect place for long distance running only helped. The ambient weather is just an icing on the cake. After that successful first run it was time to push it further to 15 Km and we went to the beautiful and hitherto unexplored site of the Camel back road. Post that we had 48 hours before the final race, the perfect time to unwind the sprains.
Now having participated in such events held in Metro cities, my expectations from the organizers were way over the line perhaps for a city like Dehradun. When we reached to collect the timing bibs on the eve of the event, the event team was totally flabbergasted by the demanding participants. And having paid a slightly overpriced fee, the participants deserve that arrogance of having denied the basic things. After a filling meal at the Pacific, we reached our place of stay which was unfortunately on the outskirts of the city and no scope of any conveyance loomed large upon us. With Murphy's Law in action, the bookings we made cancelled on us at 4 am in the morning with no solution at sight. One idea was to jog to the venue which was about 6 Km as a warm up for the marathon. I didn't even dare to discuss this with anyone at the prospect of being murdered right away. Thanks to a trusted local cab driver who came to the rescue.
When we reached the venue, the place was flooded with professionals showing off with all kinds of gadgets and running gears. Seeing all this, Uppal turned to me and said, "Dude, next time I want a list of all those fancy stuff, I would like to run with all that pompous". Yes yes, among all of them, we were looking like BPL marathon runners - Technologically challenged overweight under confidant wannabes. There was this one guy with all kinds of flashlights on his dress perhaps wanting to be seen as the most "Enlightened" one. There were some groups of foreigners high on spirits and other stuff as well. Quite an amusing gathering.
We thought it would be a good idea to make buddy pairs among ourselves so that the other can keep motivating and that worked out pretty well at the end. The race started and since it was still dark, I followed that "Enlightened" guy. The track surprisingly turned out to be almost similar to that of the Mussoorie Marathon with all kinds of ups and downs. It was indeed a beautiful stretch exploring the virgin lands of Dehradun. For the first time I saw some visually challenged people also participating and completing the run. There was this specially able person with a blade covering up for one of his legs. Take a bow to all such people, who in spite of these predicaments, amaze us and inspire us by their zeal and determination.
After reaching the finish line, I eagerly awaited my friends. And there they were, one after the other, pouring in, as if it was nothing. I was so proud to see them all finish. It was their first one and I know for sure that there would be many to follow. In so little a time, you all have achieved a great feat indeed. Congratulations to all of you and special mention to Shilpa who even made it to the top three in the Women's Category. Way to go guys!
Of course, there were strong apprehensions as to how it would be possible to train for it with merely four days in hand. I wasn't sure too but one thing I know now by experience is that it is more of a mental game than physical. And if enough confidence can be generated in them, that would take them through. Since we had all run moderate distances in the Foundation Course, I thought it would be okay to push the first practice run to 10 km. And the fact that Mussoorie is such a perfect place for long distance running only helped. The ambient weather is just an icing on the cake. After that successful first run it was time to push it further to 15 Km and we went to the beautiful and hitherto unexplored site of the Camel back road. Post that we had 48 hours before the final race, the perfect time to unwind the sprains.
Now having participated in such events held in Metro cities, my expectations from the organizers were way over the line perhaps for a city like Dehradun. When we reached to collect the timing bibs on the eve of the event, the event team was totally flabbergasted by the demanding participants. And having paid a slightly overpriced fee, the participants deserve that arrogance of having denied the basic things. After a filling meal at the Pacific, we reached our place of stay which was unfortunately on the outskirts of the city and no scope of any conveyance loomed large upon us. With Murphy's Law in action, the bookings we made cancelled on us at 4 am in the morning with no solution at sight. One idea was to jog to the venue which was about 6 Km as a warm up for the marathon. I didn't even dare to discuss this with anyone at the prospect of being murdered right away. Thanks to a trusted local cab driver who came to the rescue.
When we reached the venue, the place was flooded with professionals showing off with all kinds of gadgets and running gears. Seeing all this, Uppal turned to me and said, "Dude, next time I want a list of all those fancy stuff, I would like to run with all that pompous". Yes yes, among all of them, we were looking like BPL marathon runners - Technologically challenged overweight under confidant wannabes. There was this one guy with all kinds of flashlights on his dress perhaps wanting to be seen as the most "Enlightened" one. There were some groups of foreigners high on spirits and other stuff as well. Quite an amusing gathering.
We thought it would be a good idea to make buddy pairs among ourselves so that the other can keep motivating and that worked out pretty well at the end. The race started and since it was still dark, I followed that "Enlightened" guy. The track surprisingly turned out to be almost similar to that of the Mussoorie Marathon with all kinds of ups and downs. It was indeed a beautiful stretch exploring the virgin lands of Dehradun. For the first time I saw some visually challenged people also participating and completing the run. There was this specially able person with a blade covering up for one of his legs. Take a bow to all such people, who in spite of these predicaments, amaze us and inspire us by their zeal and determination.
After reaching the finish line, I eagerly awaited my friends. And there they were, one after the other, pouring in, as if it was nothing. I was so proud to see them all finish. It was their first one and I know for sure that there would be many to follow. In so little a time, you all have achieved a great feat indeed. Congratulations to all of you and special mention to Shilpa who even made it to the top three in the Women's Category. Way to go guys!
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| Megh Nidhi, Vinay Gowda, Fouzia, Aditya Uppal, Anunaya, Madhvi, Arwind Chauhan Neelabh Saxena and Shilpa Sharma Yours truly and Prashanth Chiluka |
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