Happy and grateful to have crossed the finish line at Mumbai for the 18th time on 18th Jan 2026 . It marked my return to marathon running after a gap of 23 months something that I was very keen to do - many including A recommended pushing it by another year.. I missed my target A (4:45) by a long margin and also target B(4:57). Nevertheless, proud and elated to finish in just under 5:05. Specially considering that , as late as July/August 2025, the rhythm of my runs was terrible making them quite unenjoyable and a chore. Anything beyond 10K felt challenging. Dr. G ,whom I consulted at the end of July in desperation, directed me to work with R (A's ex- yoga instructor). Started working with R in the 1st week of August and the impact on my running rhythm became visible by August end. The HM at Bangalore on 21st September plus the visibly improving single leg calf raise on the left side gave me the confidence to increase the long run distance and enabled me to clock four 30K+ runs in November and December.
The anxiety and nervousness in the lead up to the event grew due to the news of sudden negative turn of B's health in Hyderabad. After dillydallying on thursday, we cancelled the holiday in Maharashtra and replanned the travel on Friday. When we left for the airport at 830am on Sat the news from Hyderabad was not very good. As always the airport was teeming with runners heading to Mumbai. Chatted quite a bit with N till he boarded his flight. Also spoke to a couple fo young runners from Whitefield while waiting to board the Indigo flight.
Reached around 12:15 and took a cab to Cafe Mysore in Kings circle Sion. Enjoyed catching up with DD(who had collected my bib thereby helping me avoid the mad crowds at the expo on a Saturday afternoon), DM, V and M over a meals lunch though the food was a bit on the spicier side for me( The Kesri helped me here).
Got dropped at Ramee Guestline, Dadar by V around 3:30. Turned out that the Whitefield running gang was staying in the same hotel. The TMM legends were given two bibs one for the front with the rfid tag and another at the back - so that they could recognise each other on the route and also be recognised by other runners as legends. However, as there were insufficient no of safety pins I decided not to wear the bib at the back. While getting set for the morning I realised I had forgotten to carry either a cap or a bandana - dont remember the last time I raced without either.
Walked across to Dadar station around 6 to checkout the train schedule to VT in the morning - there was some confusion whether it was ridiculously early at 2:40 or at 3:40. Went searching for bananas - surprisingly the market did not have veg and fruit seelers. Fortunately located a banana seller and bought 2 of the big bananas. Bumped into Ramesh and Sneha of the Whitefield running group when walking back to the restaurant at the hotel and gatecrashed to join them for dinner. The dal kichdi was very tasty and not too spicy. It was nice to see so many young runners several of them debutting their HM or FM at Mumbai. Was back in the room by 8:15. Talked to Ra and then to A, Ri and Su before lying down around 930 with an alarm for 215am (should have kept it for 230). Had an ok sleep. Got ready and left the hotel at 3:15 and was in the platform 5m later. The train arrived a little after 3:45am packed with runners so there was room for standing only. Several runers gawked at the '17 and running ' tagline on the bib specially a couple of debutants. Reached CST by 4:10 and after using the washroom walked across to Azad maidan and got in very smoothly ten minutes later. Moved towards the holding area around 4:40 after bit of warming up and using the port a potty. There was quite a bit of pushing and shoving at the entry which was common for Waves C and D. While waiting there too many negative thoughts went thru my mind probably driven by lesser sleep than usual and the situation in Hyderabad. I felt quite apprehensive of how it would go beyond 32K or so. Unlike in the past years did not have to wait once we walked towards the start area. Waves A&B had taken off and we could start our race a little after 5:08. With possibly bulk of the runners in wave C&D and large no of finishers around the 5hr mark (see this analysis) I felt surrounded by crowds of runners throughout the race - more so in the 1st Km. Nevertheless, ran Km 1 in 6:30 which turned out to be among the fastest Km.
As per the official timing splits below I ran between 6:30 and 6:40 pace to reach 10Km in under 66 mins. Surprisingly, I did not feel like running up the Peddar road and walked a bit in Km 11 - I have never ever walked this early in a marathon. And then came the challenge of the gradual climb on the coastal road. Still managed to do the 1st half in 2:21 and get to Km 22 around 2:26 at an average of 6:42/Km. (I realised I should'nt have tinkered with the Garmin lap alert settings - should have left it at lap pace rather than change it to average pace).
Though the pace slowed considerably from Km 25 I hit 31K in a little after 3:30 - pretty much as per plan . At this point something around 4:50 finish still looked feasible. However, after that I expereinced cramps like never before. First the right quads and then the left quads and then the left hamstrings. Felt discomfort in one or more these for the remaining distance with the severe phases forcing me to walk . Consequently, the remaining Kms were slower than 6:55 pace with several over 7:30 and even going up to 9:11 on the Peddar road flyover. By now even a sub 5 looked challenging so I was in no state mentally to push against the physical comfort and walked quite a bit even after the flyover - through marine drive and the home stretch to CST crossign the finish line in 5:04:10 (My Garmin showed the distance as 42.69Kms as did that of most runners).
Total walk time of nearly 29 mins (almost 10% of the total time) was way higher than I had anticipated. Unable to pin point it to any single factor - weather was good, was hydrating constantly and had 3 energy gels (Km 11, 24 and 34) . May need to rethink this and plan to consume a couple more in future races. Probably, I was not as mentally strong and positive as I should have been. One of the handful of races that I ran with my phone but did not take any photos. Abandoned hearing 'The economist' podcast as it was too noisy. Heard a few songs on Amazon music when it stopped abruptly. So I just removed the headphone and put it into my pocket. Overall, the race experience was great with cheering and supportive spectators along most of the route. Always fun to observe other runners - the various T-shirts, brands of shoes, causes they are running for etc.
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| At around 41st Km - PC NSP |
The medals were handed out in the finish area itself rather than inside Azad maidan. By the time I entered the maidan it was hot and crowded. Collected the refreshments, stretched a bit, had the 3m MTR poha and then walked to CST. Did not get to meet any known runner in the finish area . Nor did I see anyone enroute - I did chat with a few random runners though. Got a fast local and was back in the hotel room around noon tired but reasonably satisfied. Hope to continue to build strength and return with a sub 5 hr finish in 2027!!
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