Experience It!

2008 had its share of To-do-before-I-die ideas. We had the Bucket-List and then its desi version in Dasvidanya. Not really sure how many of us have a similar kind of a list. But, if you have one or will have one in the future, I have a suggestion to make.

At least, once in your lifetime, go and run the Mumbai Marathon.

One would obviously ask what’s so special about it, well here it goes.

The first and the most obvious reason would be that you get to see the “Stars” from Mumbai up-close. There is a catch here though; it works well only for Dream Runners (the 7-km run). If you want to catch the big fish instead (read Ambani) you might have to push yourself a bit and run the Half-Marathon (21 kms).

Well, all this would surely make anyone’s day, but if you want an experience of a lifetime, then, go, run the marathon.
Why Mumbai Marathon specifically? , because it’s the biggest one in India and provides a memorable route to run (and also because that’s the only one I have run ;))

The day started of with a too-early-to-be-up local train ride to CST (previously VT) station. The spirit of Mumbai was evident from such an early hour itself, half the compartment was filled with runners (all trying to be just-in-time for the start) with their bibs on them stating what targets they had set themselves. Most of them were trying to complete their targets for the first time and their nervousness could be read easily from their faces.

(Travelling early morning with the compartment full of runners)
We reached the enclosure and the lines for security checks were a grim reminder of what had struck the city a few weeks before. We started at about 7AM, about 40 minutes before the professional runners start.

The energy was just unbelievable, there was loud music, loud cheers, loud shouts, everything that was happening was loud and brimming with energy, the sound of footsteps made me realize the power of a charging herd, everybody were tearing away from the start line and flying away. Then we reached a turn and lo and behold we were running on the famous Queen’s Necklace- the Marine Drive. Running with the sea alongside is a sublime experience. You have people in the thousands moving along on one side and then on the other side is the morning sea – serene in beauty and unperturbed by the high activity alongside. There were bands along the embankments and a middle aged runner who was dancing on the road to the bhangra and later went on to complete his Half. And then in the crowd I saw a shirt, there were a lot of shirts around pledging their support to their charities, shirts with motivational slogans, shirts with humorous writing, some were personal messages and some of them were declaring that we wouldn’t cower down to terrorism , but the shirt I saw was different, it said.

“Dr.Roy
Born 1932”

It was fantastic, that someone of his age could actually run a long distance; I saw the senior citizen tag on his bib, so he was most probably running the senior citizens run of 8 kms. Just awesome!!

My friend Kela who was running 21 acted as a pace-maker and I tagged along and just as he was about to turn back on the return leg, who should come alongside but the eventual winners! , they had covered the 11 kms after starting about 45 mins after us, WOW!

After the turn-back for the Half-Marathon runners, the crowd suddenly vanished and all who were visible were spread out in a thin line along the road. And it was here the real journey started, with me alone and very sweaty.

Tried to keep up the speed with people who were passing me, also had to placate myself when I saw the pro’s finishing their 28 kms when I was struggling at 18. The heat was starting to tell and the knees were pleading, 19 ..20 ….21 and now for the first time I was stepping into unknown territory that of running another 21kms after finishing one round already. Slowed down the speed considerably as another 21 seemed a long way and the energy levels were very low. The pep-up at this point was when I reached the turn around point at about 23 kms at the Bandra reclamation (made famous by the Amitabh Bachchan ad for Lead India).It felt good that I had reached the extreme point of the race and there were people here in groups cheering the runners along.

But the excitement was short-lived as my legs started to protest the unprecedented and continuous torture they were being subjected to and the belly was also trying to make its presence felt. Had a few ml of orange juice in the morning, so I was depending on my last night’s dinner to fuel my run. Unfortunately, the calorific value of my dinner fell short of the requirements by a long way. I was feeling light; all the fat around my tummy had just melted away in a few hours.
[The weight loss advertisements that we see promise loss in a few weeks or so. I have found a new technique, let the dogs loose at your clients after promising them results in one day and that too doing it in the natural way!!:) , no machines, no chemicals involved, hehehe!!]

I noticed a guy running along with a small girl probably of 10 years, I did not have the words or the energy to say anything, a nice hi-five did the job of acknowledgement. There were people along the way who were offering biscuits to runners and I was very much tempted to jump into a shop for some instant energy giving chocolates or a restaurant for some quick breakfast, but I reminded myself that in the true spirit of the Marathon I wouldn’t consume anything that was not provided by the organizers or shared by the runners. [Later I had half an energy-bar shared by a runner, it didn’t help much, but the incident made me feel good about the camaraderie between runners.]
I slowly trudged along weary and tired, people just kept passing by me and my spirit was fading along with them. I just reminded myself that all I had to do was to count from 1 to 42 as simple as that [had to wait till I completed a kilometer every time to increment the number though].

Then as I was returning back, it was an amazing sight the streets were lined with kids. For them it must have felt like a carnival , a couple of them tried to pace me up too, one guy was kind enough to remind us that he being just 4-5 years old was able to run faster while we able bodied men were running so slow , to which Balu commented “IF ONLY THEY KNEW…”

I met Balu at around 26-27 kms, he was nursing an injury to his right leg and so was very much off his natural pace. I recognized him as a RFL member from his shirt and we pretty much tagged along from there.
The company and the chatting took the mind off from worrying about the pain or the distance, but the time we were taking to finish was always being marked. We had left all pretences of running and were walking along as fast as we could, having set a target of about 10-11 mins for every kilometer. I wanted to reach the line before 1 pm and have my run timed.

So, along the route we discussed how and why we started running and Balu was running his 2nd marathon after debuting in Hyderabad in August. I remember watching the Bourneville advertisement on the hoarding and commenting that ‘Well, we have proved ourselves worthy for a life-time supply today’. As we continued on our trot, we were passing by the race-course I guess, when I heard a familiar breathing, I could distinguish it because of the effort that was being put into it and who should pass by? But Dr. Roy, who I assumed was running 8 kms, was over-taking me at 35 kms; I was dumb-struck when Balu shared some information to alleviate this absurdity of a situation. Dr.Roy or specifically Dr. Ashish Roy is considered a legend among runners in India and he was running his [hold your breath] 77th Marathon that day. I decided then and there that all I want from my life would be to run a Marathon on my 75th birthday.

I saw a lot of awe-inspiring sights that day; one runner was just back after a heart-attack, one suffering from spondylitis ran with a neck support and his back must have been hurting like hell. But Dr.Roy takes the cake.

At around 37 kms, I left Balu as I wanted to try and make a last ditch effort to finish before 1pm. I ran along for about a kilometer or two and could do it no more, I had to cover 3 kms in 15 mins and my tank had been empty for a long time. I decided to just take it easy and walk to the finish line. But it wasn’t the end of surprises that day. As I walked along the Marine-Drive road, found a regular chap was walking alongside me; I was getting stares from the people on the road as the event had long been wrapped up and the traffic let on to the roads, and there I was walking in my shorts at noon!.

The guy asked me for the time, and we just started talking about the run. He was excited about the event and then he said that he had got up in the morning and saw people running in front of his house. His curiosity took over him and he started walking to find out where all of them were running to. His house is in Bandra and so he had trudged along in just his chappals for around 17 kms and would finish 19 kms with me!!! And that’s why I love Mumbai and its Marathon, the spirit generated is just infectious.
I told him about the whole process of getting registered and he was downcast when he realized that he had to pay for it , but when I told him about the goodie bag , there was a broad smile on his face.

And time passed and finally I reached the finish line, there was no huge cheering or music, but just Kela and his friend waiting for me. They had finished their Halfs around 9:30 and had spent time around the area to receive me at the finish line. Drank a bottle of juice and it just felt good, 42 kms were behind me and my mind had driven my body all through it!!!
We all went along for a nice lunch and a had a deserving nap for a few hours afterwards and then went visiting some friends. Next day I was back to routine.
(Happy to take a sip with the finish line behind me!)
It was a very satisfying experience, one which I intend to use this as a strength in times of need. Never ever had I witnessed and felt so much in so short a time. I had not prepared an iota for this run and had to struggle through it, next time I intend to complete it in less than 5 hours. For the record, I completed my first Marathon in 6 hrs and 10-15 mins.