A thought came to me that may be
years later when I look at my Running CV
it will read “3FMs and Multiple HMs ,
10ks , 5ks…..) , when I is was at 33 Kms
and still 09 kms away from the glory I decided enough is enough and wanted to
quit from FMs . Like the movie “Aparajit” in which the split personality
strikes on the hero vikram ….. even the
split personality in me was convincing me to quit FMs ….. but the
evening has its own affect , 03 pegs of
Rum and a post SCMM party on the same day , where in the families of our runner
club buddies from mulund with whom I train , attended and they were all in awe
of us . Families came for us and made us feel hero….. 01 more peg of rum
and the real personality took over …… I will learn from my mistakes and enjoy
my next SCMM with the sole purpose of enjoyment but with even harder training .
At around 23 kms near mahim
, street dwellers were just waking
around 0800 am and were wondering what was going around ….. , the normal folks
who enjoyed Sundays were there on the road cheering for us …. What a proud moment for us runners as we are
amongst the 0.00003% of the population who runs ….. high fiving the kids were a wonderful high in
itself.
Year 2013 was a good year in
terms of running and training for me . On the solid foundation of training and
two practise runs of 35 kms and few 30kms , where I had clocked
easy 4hrs for 35kms , I was sure of
clocking less than 5hrs 15 mins and the coach had drawn a ambitious plan of
4.55 and normal plan of 5.05 for me .
Like all serious amateur runners
, I too did my all pre race preparation with proper hydration , salt intake ,
carbo loading and “no beer” week . Was hoping to prove that I too can run fast
and good .
Along with my running buddies from mulund (which includes the great Satish
Gujran) we started for the start line and sooner or later we were in the
holding area . High fiving and snapping with runner friends is one of the best
moments of SCMM. I saw Rahul Verghese with 5.30 bus and said hello to him as I
had run last 02 editions with Rahul and he made sure I completed in 5.30 .
However , I bid bye to 5.30 bus and proclaimed that I am trying for 4.40 ….
they high fived me and I was on the
start line in enclosure C …. the race started ,at 01 kms was a head of 5hrs bus , at 2kms was
ahead , I was feeling strong , ok bring on ….. was strong till 17kms and much
ahead of the bus and exactly as per the pace plan for 4.55 . In the meanwhile I
crossed so many of my friends who were doing HMs , high fived , shouted there
names , cheered them ….. ok cometh Bandra Worli Sealink ….on it , yes , yes , yes a niggle on
the lower back …. Wow bandra worli sealink …. Goggles down for the
photographers ….. still ahead of 5hrs bus ….. yes , half way through 21kms ….feeling
good …. Planned 25kms was in 3hrs and was on time . Then the winds raced , the
red carpets were laid and the whirl winds was to be blown …..oh my God ….. the
bunch of Kenyan, eithopian runners were on the prowl ….. they crossed me close
to siddhi vinayak . Last year they crossed me at Mahim ….. so this year I was
2kms ahead . We believe in adage ‘Athithi Devo Bhavo “ and hence allowed them to take over .
30 kms in planned 3hrs 35 mins and 12 kms more , I was damn sure of
completing the remaining kms in 1hrs 30
mins and thus sub 5 hrs . Body is amazing thing u never know how it behaves .
Yes , it striked me , the cramps , the most dreaded one for runners across and
I cramped at stomach and lower back . There on it was like ‘Mera Janajaa uthtaa
gaya aur mein dekhta raha…..log aate rahe hain aur mein dekhta raha”. I
couldn’t walk even , here goes the 5hrs bus with a friend from Hyderabad leading it and off horizon they went . I
walked faster and at around 35kms ….. Rahul and Suresh along with their 5.30 bus over took me …. I shed a silent tear ….
Felt sorry for my coach and friend Sanjay , we had dreamt a strong finish for
me . I walked silently , no high fiving any body , head down and feeling helpless
. Love the Mumbai crowd they were on the roads cheering us . A uncle told me ,
boy , u shud be proud of u , guts and glory . Well my Garmin konked off at
31kms , thereafter I was purely on the markers and I was no more bothered about
the timing . At 37 kms I met Ramraj Pai and he urged me to run and walk few kms
…. But I bid him good bye too and requested him to go ahead . I was aiming for
a 5.55 finish . But a runner just prompted us that if we don’t do in 5.35 we
will not get qualified for SCMM 15 . My
heart raced , I ran , I ran, miracle , I ran faster , faster …. Perhaps in the
5hrs 30 plus timing I was the only one running so crazily ….. I ran last 4 kms
at the speed of close to 6.15 and stepped on the line of Glory time reading
5hrs 33 mins ….. tired , dusted but emerged winner ( still don’t know how I managed to run the last
kms faster ) . How may can boast of completing a 42kms . My wife was waiting
for me and we had a great time at starbucks ….I missed meeting my runner
friends , as I was disappointed with timings and hence wanted to get away ……
But Bruce one of the most
respected runners in the running community instilled a belief in me …..”I am a Winner”
…..Any body who dared to run is a winner ….. I will be back with much more
training and belief …..thank you running fraternity from Mumbai , Navi Mumbai ,
Thane and all across india for such love and motivation ….. I will be back
………………….. Thanks to my friends from Club Marathon Mulund .... thanks for all the motivation and thanks to various coaches , above all Sanjay Shinde , a friend and a guide ....
