Run like hell!
One of my fellow runners, vinod has this on his page: "No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child!". Vinod has run 4 marathons and a bunch of half marathons. What makes it more important is that every time he has run he raised money for a good cause.
Sanjeev and anita have been raising money to build a permanent home for the inmates of the seva chakkra orphanage from March 2003. The amount needed was $80,000. With this marathon they hope to raise $10,600 to reach the target they set out for...
Do I need any more inspiration to get out of my couch and make a small difference ?
The day before
An almost broken leg....Yes, thats what my imagination told me about my leg the day before the marathon :). We had a sumptous dinner at 'coach' vinod's place. Our family of runners gathered to load ourselves with those extra carbs with varieties of pasta, sambar rice, fried rice, bananas and of course my now famous 'palghat' pasta :). We went through the stages in the race. Thats when vinod told us that 'cramps' might be something that we could possibly face and handed each of us with packets of a mixture consisting of 'humchur' (please don't ask me what that means..my hindi is as bad as rajinikanth's :)..but, it tastes like hajmola candies) and salt. We wished each other luck and I told everyone I saw to sleep well. Yes, you need to get a lot of sleep before a marathon. The idea was to sleep by 8:30 p.m and wake up by 4:30 a.m. But, it didn't happen for me :( ...It seriously was like preparing for an exam. I went to bed by 9:15 p.m..but, I think I probably took another 3 hrs to actually fall asleep!
The start
4:30 a.m the alarm went off...I woke up for a really tiring day. Got dressed up..wore my favourite "I will stand out" neon yellow Asha T-shirt :). Got my mp3 player on..and got into raman's car. Raman, by the way is our devoted Asha volunteer who woke up at 4:30 a.m to drop us and to co-ordinate the cheering effort. We reached the start line like an hour or more before...As soon as we stepped out it started pouring!!..I got really drenched like a few others...My cotton socks got pretty wet..and more so when we searched for trash bags to protect us from more rain during the run. It took me like 10 mins to reach the start line once the gun went off!..you can imagine the crowd..there were an estimated 7000 ppl running the marathon and another 3000-4000 running the half marathon.
Miles 0-6
First stop..the portable potties..o.k..it rained and I had the urge....Lost like 5-6 mins in the queue for that. If not for that I surely would have broken the world record :). Started warming up..I kept warming up and was all smiles... kept smiling at everyone like I was on some high..dunno why I was so happy :)...Guess, it was the culmination of a dream that started in a small room at U.T.
Miles 6-13.1
I had a 'goo' (an energy gel packet that gives immediate calories to burn..) at mile 4 and one at mile 8. I was doing pretty good actually!! was running between the 4:45 and the 4:30 groups ( There are pacers in the run who carry boards ...if you stick to them you would finish the marathon at the time on the board). Mile 9, I saw our first cheering group..a group of ppl from AID(Gauri,kavitha,priya,anitha and sandhya)...hey got a goo packet too !!...Mile 11, o.k ..did you really think it would be so easy for me :)...Got a real bad itch/burn in my foot..didn't understand what it was....Mile 11.5, it got worse...started troubling me in my run....Mile 12, Stopped for a drinks and goo break..removed my shoes and socks to find out what it was.....my socks were really wet!!...the skin on the sides of my foot were kind of peeling..I wiped my legs and wore the wet socks again and started again.....Mile 13, getting pretty bad....looked at my foot..good news...now it has developed into boils!!...I meet Sanjeev..pose for my photographs and started again :)...Mile 13.1, Saw a lot of half marathon finishers!....very happy ppl indeed....'cos they finished :(....I have another half to go....but, the finishers encouraged me and prodded me to keep going. ...Ya, I did..but, removed my wet socks ...was causing too much trouble and I had to apply a lot of vaseline before slipping my bare feet into the shoes.
Miles 13-20
Slower...slower...Walked the uphills...had vaseline and goo breaks two more times...Saw one more of our cheering squad (AMD friends chandar, giri, rajiv and karthik(mabbu) :)..)while on mile 17 saw kunal on 18 (was a loop)..he asked me to catch up..ya, right!..like I could have ...after a few minutes..saw amol (was probably a vibha runner..got to know his name later)...he was limping badly....I asked him what it was..and looked like he had cramps...gave my packet of salt to use :)...did a lot of walking in this stretch....started singing..Yes! dunno why..but, I started singing out...pretty loud too...must be b'cos of what ppl call a 'runner's high' !.....Saw a few more of our cheering group and their enthusiastic cries did really help a lot!....
At mile 20, I could see the finish line! (thats how the course was...ya, was pretty tempting to take a short cut :)...)..The cheering at this point really helped a lot!!..There was sid and shoba...ram and his wife, AMD gang, raman and nishit...The cheering made my day brighter...I was walking at that point..but, got a recharge and started running again :) ...
Miles 20-END!
There is slow, then slower and dead slow!!.....I again walked a lot...took the most time for this last stretch....was actually planning what I should do at the finish line...break into a dance...stop just before the finish and run backwards..or do a 'Curtly ambrose' style 'flying bird'.....Had a few more vaseline&goo breaks...helped three other guys with cramps....seemed pretty normal by now...so normal that..when my calves tightened up...I took a lump of salt in my mouth..and it eased.....By mail 23...my shins started paining pretty bad...and the thoughts of a hot bath and rest distracted me.....but, the expectation of reaching the finish line just overtook all other emotions!!....Mile 26...just 0.2 miles to go....I don't know why...but, I just started sprinting like crazy as soon as the finish line was on sight....my arms spread out and yes...I was doing the 'Flying bird'!!.....Made it..at 5 hrs 28 seconds!!
Couldn't walk properly for the next one week!!.....Why am I giving you guys such a detailed explanation...b'cos I want to create so much sympathy that I fleece you for sure :).....
Seriously, I don't believe in that...If you are comfortable donating, you would do it...not for the silly reason that I finished a marathon...but, because you want to help the underprivileged and you believe in the cause. I bugged you with all this..because by the time you are reading these few lines in the end..you would at least be sure that I am serious about this....The whole point of the marathon and everything connected with it is in the next few lines....
A contribution from your end will make sure that....There will be a lot of happy kids at the Seva Chakkara orphanage, more self-reliant confident women walking out of the banyan, more kids getting excellent mental health care at srishti, better school facilities for the kids at ASS, more self reliant women at BJSA, a better lab at Raja Shivaji vidyalaya and more women rebuilding their lives at odanadi. Not to forget the other many projects we would be reviewing and supporting in the future. The marathon program is a major turning point in Asha austin's growth map..It has been possible because of all our efforts....When we start supporting all those projects...crossing the finish line wouldn't seem all that important anymore :) ...