Marathon Mania : A Goal Too Far

Man... What an ordeal !!!!!! The event was Sunfeast Bangalore 10k Marathon into its 3rd edition but my first in it. Had registered for the Open 10k run since I wanted to test the limits of my body in present conditions. Even though i was training for this event (as well as the Roopkund expedition I am to undertake in another 15 days) the maximum time and enthusiasm I found for the training was just once in a week except for the last week leading to this event when I was able to squeeze 2 runs in a week. During the last run leading to the race had clocked 9.5kms in 56 mins. So was pretty confident on completing the race.

Couple of days prior to the race went to the Expo at the Kanteerva Indoor Stadium to collect the Bib and the timing chip which has to be attached to the shoes and which gives precision to the last millisecond :P.

Got up pretty early. Left for the venue with my brother who was to take part in the 5.7km "Majja Run".

The holding area for the Open 10K was pretty huge with thousands of runners housed in between. The World 10K professional runners just then entered the stadium and there was a huge roar from the audience. The Pro's made some laps within the stadium track and finished the 10K distance. The winner from Kenya had clocked close to 27 mins 54 secs ... woaahhhh..... :P... after that it was the turn of the women pro athletes. After some laps they were let out of the stadium.

Then at 8.10 am they started allowing the Open 10K runners into the track. Nearly 6950 registered runners for the race and they were allowing them using only a small opening through which only couple of participants can pass through.. This resulted in huge clogging and by the time i reached the starting point it was 8.15 even though the event had started exactly at 8.10 am. Even then i thought it didnt matter as anyone would assume that a timing will start from the time the participant has started from the starting point.... but that was not to be the case.

[Starting off with full josh :P]

After the starting point the initial run was pretty painful with participants clogging the roads with some resorting to walking just 100 metres from the start point :P. Anyway the first 4 kms of run was pretty irritating with me not able to maintain a constant momentum and pretty much at many times have to just go with the speed with which the mob was moving. By this time the sun was out and it had started to take a toll on the participants. Once we entered the Cubbon road the tree cover was at its bare minimum and running started to get exhausting. l stopped at 2 places for some 10 secs when the going started to get very tough to catch my breath.

[Somewhere in between]

[In front of Vidhana Soudha]

Anyway after reaching the end of cubbon road we were able to get the much needed breathing space to run at our momentum. From Cubbon road we moved towards the Vidhan Soudha, Cubbon road and finally back to the Kanteerva indoor stadium. When I entered the 75 metres, my stop-watch started the 59th min ... so pretty determined to cover the 10K within the 1hr mark I ran as fast as my aching body could run at that moment. Finally finished the entire marathon in 59 mins and 14 second according to my stop watch. Also felt my running distance was around 11k becoz all those zig-zag running :P.

[Do or Die Final Sprint :D]

After the race felt a great relief and happiness of having completed my first Marathon and that too within the psychological barrier of 1 hr. When i was moving towards the refreshment centre was having a tough time balancing my body due to tired legs :P.

The next day when the official times were announced had got one good shock. My official run time was increased to 1 hr 4 min 21 secs..... WTF !!!! these organizers had taken my start time as 8.10 even when I started at 8.15. Whats the point of the bloody chip if such imprecision is obtained in the race timing...... the timing in which for each second we had fought with our sweat and blood..... Overall standing is 1147 and Nike had promised free T-shirts for the first 1500 finishers...... So pretty expectant of getting the souvenir T-shirt , but got to see when will I finally lay my hands on it.

Run Summary

Total Distance : 10,000 m
Time Taken : 59 mins 57 secs
Official Timing --->

Over All Rank	Bib	Name	Category Rank	Split @ 1.7K	Split @ 2.5K	Split @ 4.65K	Split @ 5.65K	Split @ 9K	Finish Time / Chip Time
915	3807	NITHIN ULIYAR	750	00:11:29	00:15:53	00:27:53	00:33:55	00:54:19	01:04:22 / 00:59:57

Update : The organizers have rectified the timings and I got the free Nike T-shirt :).