chennai marathon

the race day came very smoothly on me.(31august)

i woke up a little before the alarm went off....hit the loo...and started my stretching....was very happy that i was fresh....i knew only the heat will be against me from doing a 2.30 mints half today.

left home after a last minute loo visit.i was carrying a 500 ml of elecrol,4 alpenlibe,50 ml honey.only thing i was a bit on the dilemma was when it came to the shoes....i chose to go with Ascis kayano 13...againt the new Asics 2130 ....MAY  BE i shouldnt have on retrospection.

i was  at the venue at around 5.50 am....it was just a 15 mints walk from home any way...

i saw that the crowd was going to be big.....soon it was much much bigger than i thought....around 4000 plus i think....i stretched a little....saw venky...spoke  for a while...had a short limbering up run for 300mts....and then i waited ,k.k was carrying a chennai runners bib and pinned it on my back and others were there ram,tiger,ramani,rajesh,shahid gave  me a gel pack,shahul and i stretched down on the pavement   ...they did not flagoff at 6.30.....instead there was a oath taking....and speech from kanimozhi,and mr.gill....whats this i thought....finally the flagoff at 6.40 am.....the start was good....rajesh asked me...hey planning a sub 2 hours??...i said i was hoping to do a 2.30...but i know after 8 a.m it will be too hot...so a 3 hours is what i may do....!!!!

it was getting stuffy by the time i was near vivekananda house....at the gandhi statue it was very very hot....picked up a water bottle from a volunteer and took a bit of honey....and continued....by the time i was at santhome church...mind games started....i was very unsure how it will be at besant nagar beach....i kept going till foreshore estate and then i slowed further and started walking.i saw the possible winners returning...they were running hard...man these guys were good and young i thought....

.didnt like the alpinelibe...threw it...took a sip of the electrol bottle and went on.....when i crossed the 8 k mark ....i was saying ok,at 10k stop and take auto back...this heat will kill for sure....i still kept going....after the adyar bridge ......i saw another CR runners....cursed the weather ...but he didnt respond...i picked up speed and started to run....kept slowly..had 2 more water breaks....saw mohan was coming back.... balaji,tiger,ramani were returning back.....cheered and waved.....i went on....i was not going to stop till i get to the half way mark.....i was getting low on electrolytes.....then i opened the gel pack at the besant nagar beach...it was 8.am....started going on it at a very small gulps every 2 or 2.5 k distance......made it back to theosophical society road.....many runners who ran never knew or had no no practise of long distance running.....i was feeling angry at the idea of why they should try.....i was also cursing myself for taking this half marathon....instead i should have run a 7k...i would atleast have a place i thought....

kept moving slowly.....never stopped till i came near ayyapan temple....there i asked for some ice as my left calf was getting stiff.....the paramedics were kind but they didnt have any ice...but gave me some chilled water pack....i used it...found no releif....so went back to fast walk till ICICI bank,then i started to dig in to a water pot....took 2 good cups finished the gel....and started to run again......was doing this run walk routine till foreshore estate...by now i was confident of finishing within 3 hours....i ran on the other side which was shady...till santhome church..finished all my electrol and honey from my belt pouch..

.i again tried for some ice....but no they didnt have....by now the sirens of the ambulances were going on frequently.....i thought man....some guy is real bad....i didnt expect any one will die...but one did..!!!....i kept going till A.I.R  building and was expecting to see a finish line.....but no...i was to witness sheer chaos....if shahul has not met me near gandhi statue,at the queen mary's....i was still unsure where to stop.....then i stopped my watch...3.05 hours...ok...i finished...i walked a little but i wanted shade......and the only place was a medical help shamiana.....slowly walked there took a water bottle from a doc and sat down to relax......there no certs to receive...no timings...bad show...i thought

 it was a bad experience as a runner died  during the last leg of this race.....but this was a far better in terms of water availablity than all the previous marathons here...

i think the above photo of me was taken near the besant nagar beach on the return after a10k or so it seems......man it was very hot in this stretch......