Strides of Hope 2011

It is now nearly two weeks since I had the the  privilege of being able to do my bit in the 2nd edition of Strides of Hope held from 21st to 23rd Jan. Despite being unemployed since the beginning of the year I have not been able to make the time to update the blog  as regularly as I would like to(Besides - there is a long overdue project to revamp the blog and creat a version 2.0 - hopefully will be able to get to it sometime this year!). The event this year was much bigger than last year as seen by the summary stats below:

Total number of participants: 624

Total distance run: 5677.6 Km
Total distance walked: 577.5 Km
Total distance Cycled: 5529 Km
Total overall logged distance: 12255.1 Km
Cities  reached out to: Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Austin and New Jersey

The above is in comparison to over 350 runners and over 3000 Kms in the 1st edition of the event in 2010. The event is slated to grow tremendously both in terms of number of particpants and coverage of cities in the years to come. More details are available in the post event report and press release on the SOH website.

My goal this year was to do 5-6 Kms at the flag-off on Friday, run as much as possible starting Saturday night with the goal of exceeding my last year's 81Km and possibly do 120Km+ and also be at the finale in Madhavan Park on Sunday afternoon. I failed miserably in  my overall goal  - nevertheless I had a great time and felt satisfied to have participated and made a small contribution to this unique event.

On Friday 21st Jan afternoon I reached the Home Guards group in Ulsoor by about 4:45PM for the flag-off. There were a number of Runners High folks as well as other runners and cyclists gathering there for the flag off. Everyone was very enthusiastic - the high energy levels were palpable. Nikhil of RFL arrived with all the stuff required for aid stations. Radha Ganesan was interviewing and filming a few participants  - see photo below.

Radha and crew interviewing some of the participants before flag-off

The event was kicked-off just before 530PM with the runners running out of the Home Guards ground into the Ulsoor lake ground and the cyclists heading towards Hebbal flyover , enroute to Hyderabad, soon thereafter.  I ran two loops covering 6.34Km in about 49 minutes with Santosh, Sam and Jacob Bhoopalan. Several other runners joined in. While I was tempted to run longer I decided against it in order to conserve my energy for Saturday night.

I pretty much rested most of Saturday and had a 'semiya-upma' dinner around 745PM. By 8PM I had packed my bags(with extra clothese, shoes, energy bars, bsicuits etc) and was ready. On Saturday, 22nd  Nari picked me up just before 9PM and in a few minutes we reached the Goldman-Sachs parking lot at EGL where the aid station was being setup by a few volunteers. There were also a few runners waiting there. Around 930PM Santosh, Chandra, Preeti and others arrived. Nari and I started our run around 940PM. We ran the first two loops of 9Km each at an average pace of around 7:45 per Km. There were a couple of dark stretches on the route and it helped that I was carrying a small torch. Though I had thoroughly enjoyed running  this stretch at night last year I found it a little more challenging and a bit boring this year.  During these two loops there were about 10-12 runners/walkers on the route including Santosh, Sunand etc. As we were returning to complete our 2nd loop Honda-San joined us. The three of us (ie Honda-San, Nari and myself) did the next 3 loops pretty much together. From the 2nd half of the 4rth loop (from about 32Kms or so) we started following a run/walk pattern.  I am sure Nari and I slowed Honda-San quite a bit but he stuck with us. By the 3rd loop our eyes got used to the darkness and since htere was also reasonably good moonlight we did not really need the torch. The weather was great -in fact a bit on the chillier side as the night wore on. Also during the course of those 3 loops all of us passed a lot of gas (symphony of f*rts!)- intially I felt a bit embarassed and tried to suppress it but later I just let it go as Nari can testify! Farting while running is quite normal - ofcourse it depends on on the food and the timing of the meal before a run - Here is an interesting post on this subject with a bunch of links.

Between each loop we stopped for a few minutes at the aid station to drink and eat a bit - biscuits, chocolates etc. At the end of our 5th loop Honda-San stopped running- he said he would be abck after a couple of hours of rest. I am amazed at how runners are able to do two long runs with a short break of a few hours in-between. Santosh did this as well. Before coming to EGL at 930PM he had taken a few hours break to get some sleep. At EGL also he took a couple of hours break and started running quite strongly thereafter. Towards the end of the 5th loop my back started hurting and I had to slow down considerably - we crossed the marathon distance in just under  6 hours. We started the 6th loop after a slightly longer break  - I changed my socks while Nari changed his attire. In this loopthe back pain increased considerably and I also started to tire mentally. The mind started to say maybe I should not push myself too hard and risk a long term back issue. I have never had an issue with my back during a run and so it was quite worrisome. The pain did not seem to stay in one place- it seemed to traverse across the back. At the end of the 6th loop(54+Kms) I knew  that I would not be able to continue too long. The legs hurt for sure but it was not too bad. However, the back pain was quite disconcerting.  Preeti also advised that it was better not to take a chance with the back. I decided that the 7th loop was going to be my last one. Nari was determined to do an 8th one- I would have loved to give him company but this was one of those days where I lost the battle both mentally and physically. During the return leg of the 7th loop we met tens of familiar RFL runners. This one took a good 1hr 45 minutes to complete and I stopped at the end of it with my Garmin showing 63.4Km in 9hrs 41 minutes!! I felt disappointed that I was short of my goal but at that time I did not think it realistically possible to do two more loops to cross 81Km!! I did not hang around at EGL for too long - I left for home soon after and lay down on the floor. At the end of 90 minutes of sound sleep my back felt better. The legs also recovered in a few hours and a twinge of regret crept in my mind - maybe I could have pushed on and stayed the course a little longer :).  I was able to do 81Kms last year exactly one week after running the Auroville marathon. However, I found it much more difficult this year one week after a fast Mumbai marathon. I guess this is because the body takes much longer to recover after a fast run while recovery is faster and better after a slower run(intend to research and post on this some time in the future). Doing 100Km+ will have to wait till next year now :)

I slept like a log for over 3 hours  after an early lunch and thereafter felt too lethargic to go to Madhavan park for the finale!! While the soreness in the back lingered on for a few days I was able to comfortably do a 8Km run on Wednesday 26th Jan.  Hats off to Santosh Padmanabhan for doing over 230Kms in 38hrs - his passion and commitment to running and helping under-privieged children through Asha is really amazing!! Several others ran/walked over 100Kms during the event : Jagadish, Sunand and of course Honda-San. Not to forget the 5 cyclists who rode to Hyderabad and back clocking  3007Kms in 48 hours with Samim Rizvi alone doing 1237Kms - again an amazing feat of endurance and commitment!!

81Km run/walk as part of Strides of Hope

After the finish at Madhavan Park - 21st February 2010

I fell well short of my original, ambitous goal of being on my feet for 24 hours -  after over 13.5 hours of being on my feet my stomach and legs  were hurting bad and when I paused to consider whether I should go on or not at about 5:30am on 21st morning at EGL, both the body and mind chickened out. Later that afternoon as I comfortably ran the 2Km from Lalbagh to Madhavan park for the finale of Strides of Hope I felt a bit low that I had not pushed myself more and done one or two loops as part of the RFL run that morning and hit 100Km or at least 90Km. Now a few days after the event I have got over this and am satisified that I was able to achieve my longest ever run and along the way contribute my bit to this unique event  and help spread awareness about running and the wonderful work being done by Asha for under-privileged children.

Being a passionate running evangelist and also an ardent supporter of helping under-privileged children through my involvement with Dream A Dream it took me just a few minutes to decide to run/walk as much as possible  in the Strides of Hope.   A light cold and fever a few days before the event did not deter me at all. Since I was not targeting any particular pace I did not feel nervous as I usually do when leading up to a race. On Friday 19th night , I along with my wife, dropped in at EGL around 10:45 PM to check how things were going. There were quite a few runners and volunteers there. I met Sunand Sampath and Murtaza who had undertaken to walk the entire 48 hrs. I felt quite excited about the whole event. Nevertheless, I managed a good 7 and a half hours sleep on Friday night.

On 20th afternoon I reached Cubbon Park a little before 3:30PM.  Santosh who had been on his feet for nearly 24 hours had hurt his ankle and was resting. I along with Sam Reddy started a slow run to Ulsoor lake around 3:40PM. Within a few minutes we felt quite warm and started looking for water to buy which we got on Infantry road near Safina Plaza. The traffic along the route was high so the run was not much fun. However, Sam and I were meeting for the first time so we chatted all the way and covered the distance of about 6Kms in 45 minutes or so to reach the Home Guards parking lot opposite the Ulsoor lake.

With Santosh and Shanavas at Ulsoor Feb 20th evening

 I then ran the 3.3Km loop inside Ulsoor Lake for a little over 3 hours in the company of various runners at  different points in time.   This included Sam, Shanavas, a 15 year old (10K/35mts runner) called Puttaraj, Pratibha, Chandra, Gautam and of course Santosh. Sam who has moved back to Bangalore after living in South Africa has completed Comrades an impressive 11 times!Santosh's parents also walked a few rounds. I was running in the ground inside the lake for the first time- it seemed a fairly good place to run. There were quite a few walkers and runners there and also people including a few couples  generally hanging around. Running here was a bit tough after sunset due to lack of lights. Gautum and I did a couple of loops with torches. I maintained a steady pace of between 7:30 and 8:15 per Km and did a total of little over 29Km when we ended the run at the lake and took a break for dinner. The aid station there was well stocked with water melon, oranges, bananas, electral, coconut water, lemon juice and biscuits etc. During this period I finished a Power Bar energy bar. Santosh had stopped due to ankle pain about an hour earlier. Sunand and Murtaza were walking strongly and steadily. Also Jagadish and Sindhu completed their amazing 12 hour walk during this period.

We all had dinner in the parking lot of Home guardsI ate  a couple of paranthas, Pulodarai and banana chips and curd rice with pickles. The food was quite awesome and I probably ended up eating a bit more than I should have. While  eating I kept my Garmin for charging. After dinner I changed my shirt and socks and then along with  Vinod and Anjana  started our run to EGL. We were accompanied by Biju on the cycle and Gautam and Anjana's husband in their cars. We literally felt like VIPs/celebrities. Of course the traffic enroute was quite bad - specially around the Ulsoor lake and old Madras Road. We covered the 6 Kms in 50 minutes and entered the parking lot of Goldman Sachs in EGL to loud claps. It felt good and energising.

There were quite a few volunteers and runners at EGL. I ended up doing  a total of 5 loops of 9.2Km each. In every loop there were 7 or 8 runners with me and at least one cyclist . There were familiar faces like Manoj Bhat, Ambar and Amit Joshi. Plus I met and chatted up with a number of fantastic runners for the first time: Vikram Kamath, Manish, Deepak, Prakash etc. The aid station at EGL was well stocked through out the night and the volunteers and other runners there were extremely enthusiastic and helpful. Their cheering and clapping each time we left and each time we returned was a huge motivator. The route here was very familair to me as I run here during the weekdays as part of my regular training.Running here at night was a bit different but I did not find it much tougher. There was one part of the route that was dug up and quite difficult to navigate in the dark and there were also other parts of the route that were pitch dark - the torches that some of us were carrying were very useful. I tried to do a run/walk routine : 25 minutes of running with 5 minutes of walking. In the second loop I crossed my previous longest distance ie 52Km and entered uncharted territory. It felt a little cooler after midnight so for the 3rd loop onwards I changed to a full-sleeve shirt . Till the end of second loop (approx 53Km)I felt quite comfortable. However, towards  the second half  of third loop my stomach began to ache  -probably the effect of  running immediately after dinner - something that I was not used to. I used the rest room at Goldman Sachs - but that did not seem to help. For the 4rth loop I left my Garmin for charging. In this and the next loop I was part of some wonderful conversation with Manish and Prakash on various subjects. The amazing thing about Manish is that he was able to walk very comfortably at a steady pace of about 7Km/hr and he also ensured that I did not speed up. By the end of 4rth loop my stomach discomfort had increased significantly and of course my feet and legs were were also hurting. I sensed the beginning of an ITB issue. Preeti helped me stretch a bit and after a brief break I set off on my 5th loop. However, I could now feel  my resolve for going on diminishing quite rapidly.  It was both a physical and mental battle. Most of the 5th loop I ended up walking with Manish. I did very little running during this loop. On the return leg,  as the day was breaking, we started seeing some early morning walkers along the way. At the end of this loop I took off my shoes and socks and examined my feet. There were no blisters - however the feet were hurting quite badly. And my stomach felt extremely gassy. I pondered for several minutes whether to go on or not. During this period I also checked and rechecked with Rajeev, Preeti etc whether there were sufficient runners to carry on run through the 48 hours period. They had prepared a roster of runners to ensure this. After about 15 minutes or so of ' should I' or ' Should I not' I opted out though I did not feel great about it. At just about  6 am I left for home in Prakash's car - enroute we saw a bunch of RFL runners starting their run .

Lalbagh to Madhavan Park 21st Feb afternoon

I had to rush to the bathroom as soon as I reached home. I felt quite drained out and after eating a few biscuits slept solid for over 3 hours. I woke up feeling quite allright and a few hours later  landed up at Lalbagh with Amit Joshi for the finale of the event. A large bunch of us started a slow jog from Lalbagh to Madhavan park at 330PM. Though most of us were quite exhausted and it was a very warm afternoon the energy, excitement and enthusiasm of the group was very high. At Madhavan Park we(by now there were probably over 50 of us)  did a few loops on the track and counted down the last few seconds to loud shouts, cheers and Hi-5s bringing down the curtains on a unique event that was planned and executed very well. Happily for the running community in Bangalore this is now planned to be an annual event. I lost about 4 pounds during the run - of course I gained that back within 24 hours.  Though there were still a few aches and pains and my cold got a bit worse, I recovered almost completely in a couple of days.

I got over the disappointement of  stopping after 81Km quickly and felt good that I was able to   run a good 30KM more than I have ever done before in life and that too without specifically training for it. And doing this 1 week after Auroville marathon meant that I had done 42K+ on back to back weekends clocking a mileage of over 130Kms in a space of 8 days! Also, for the first time I ran through the night - I did not find that different from day time running probably due to the wonderful company I had.  Doing run/walk at one's own pace without having to worry about timing was a wonderful finale to the long distance running season- thanks to Santosh and Strides of Hope for making this happen. A unique thing about this event is that at no point in time was I alone - I always had company. Participating in this event has reinforced my confidence that I can scale between doing fast full marathons and running slow ultras comfrotably and enjoy doing both!