More on Auroville 2010..mostly pictures

As mentioned in my previous post I did not come across any runner in Auroville who did not enjoy the experience. One of the areas of improvement is the limited portion of  pasta dinner the night before the race. The lack of Km markers in the last stretch of the route was another thing. And the third thing is the women's dorm. Apparently it was quite uncomfortable and not very hygenic.The only other point that comes to mind is the red mud soaked socks and shoes.

Due to the relatively slow pace that I did in the race(50 seconds per Km slower than the pace at SCMM 2010) I recovered quite quickly and did a couple of easy runs of 4.5Km  and 8Km during the week.

The pictures here were taken by me 'on the run' using my Blackberry 8520. The official timings and pictures are still awaited - perhaps that is another area of improvement. They should be published within 72 hours of the race.

Maitri Mandir on the first loop

Aid station #4 at 39Km

Aid station with volunteer on cycle

Sun just coming out - a little after 6am

Amrita, Rishi, Sunil and Ashok after the race

Ran easy, Ran to the beat of my heart..

'Run easy,run to the beat of your heart' said the tag line on the bib of the 3rd Auroville marathon held on 14th February  and that was exactly what I did! The course, the atmosphere, the ensthusiastic volunteers etc resulted in a  wonderful race day experience once again this year - exceeding the high expectations of the event that I and many other runners had. I completed my 26th Full marthon(including 3 ultras) comfortably in under 4:36 within  my target time of 4:40 without pushing too hard. Over 24 hours after the run I feel that I am well on the way to recovery -  the recovery seems much faster say compared to my Mumbai run 4 weeks ago probably because I run at much slower pace and also because most of the route was not as hard as an asphalted road .  When I set my running goals for 2010 I had anyway decided that I will push hard in SCMM 2010 and Hyderabad marathon and take it easy and enjoy the scenery and the runs at Auroville and Bangalore Ultra. In the days leading up to the Auroville run I even toyed with the idea of switching from FM to HM after I heard about the 48 hours run as part of Strides of Hope. As soon as I learnt about this event, on an impulse, I felt  that with no pressure of pace and timing I should try and run as much as possible between 12 and 24 hours as part of this event just to test my limits of endurance. However, I finally decided to stay with the FM at Auroville - somehow I am not motivated to travel out of town to run anything less than a FM.

Since the Auroville run was on a long weekend (12th Friday being Maha Shivaratri) I had originally planned to drive to Pondy on 12th morning with my wife and do a bit of sightseeing in the area. I had booked a room in the Center Guesthouse in the centre of Auroville - same place where I stayed last year. However, due to my wife and son falling sick earlier in the week I had to change my plans and ended up take a ride in Pankaj's Red Dragon on Saturday 13th morning. Other than this change of plans I had a pretty cool week in the run up to the race – maybe because I was not targeting any aggressive time target and had decided to take it easy and enjoy the trail and the race I felt less pressure and stress.

Left home at about 6:15 am and joined Pankaj and co in Koramangla. Others in the car were Ashok Nath, Sonit Chadha and Wing Commander Vinod. We had a great time during the drive to Pondy though we ended up driving about 80km more than we should have. The highly energetic and enthusiastic fighter pilot was asked a lot of questions by the rest of us which he answered very patiently. There were several cars full of runners going to Pondy that morning. Some of us stopped at Kamat Uphaar just before Krishnagiri for breakfast and later at Krishna Grand near Vellore for a comfort break and tea/coffee. We reached Hotel Ginger in Pondy just before 3 nearly 8 hours after leaving Koramangla.

After cleaning up whatever food was availabl in the restaurant at Ginger we reached the visitor's center in Auroville to collect the bib. The collection of the bib and bagage tag(no bag or T-shirt/torch up front this time) took less than 5 minutes. Meant a number of runners from Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. While a bunch of Bangalore runners went to the Auroville beach I decided to hand around in the visitor's area talking to other fellow runners. It was really nice - I enjoyed the camraderie and the interactions thoroughly. Runners in T-shirts of Hyderabad runners, Chennai runners, Runners for Life showed the increasing popularity of running in the country. Around 645PM the pasta dinner was served. The food was good but it was not adequate for most runners. The choice was to eat either lasagne or pasta with salad. It would have been nice to have had both. I felt so hungry that I bought and ate two chocolate brownies. A video tape of last year's race was playing on a large screen in the courtyard. After dinner I walked back , in pitch darkness, to the Center guesthouse and located my room after a bit of an anxious time. I shared the room with Jaideep Pegu another Bangalore runner.

I went to bed by 9:45and though the room was comfortable it took me a while to sleep and as always I woke up on my own at 3:15am a few minutes before the alarm went off. Jaideep and I left the room a little after 4:15am and walked the 2 Kms to the start point , that is, Certitude. Along the way we met with Ram Viswanathan - veteran runner and founder of Chennai runners group and Ram Prasad Dasari - also a Chennai runner now living in Bangalore.  When we reached the start point at Certitude around 4:40 am it was already buzzing with lots of runners - greeting each other, warming up. I checked in my bag at the baggage counter, signed in the sign-up sheet and collected my torch. Just after we got there an anchor  started announcements in a baritone voice egging on the runners to get ready for the race. He kicked off the race a couple of minutes after 5.

Starting off in complete darkness with light bobbing from torches was a fascinating and unique experience. Though I had done it last year still I felt quite apprehensive taking each step cautiously and running at quite a slow pace. Since most of my fellow runners take off quite quickly I was pretty much alone. I saw Ram Viswanathan pull ahead. Apart from the light from runners torchers there were volunteer cyclists with headlights and also some relief from lights in the village that we ran through as the inhabitants were just waking up and starting their day. After about 3Kms on the road we entered the trail area and things became tougher. Negotiating uneven terrain with its ups and downs and bumps was challenging - more than once I almost tripped but luckily for me I managed to hold my balance. I am quite amazed how so many runners are able to keep a fast apce even in this darkness. Several runners from bangalore did a sub 4 hour finish here which is quite incredible. Whenever I glanced at my Garmin and could make out the reading I seemed to be running between 6:30 and 6:40 average pace which was as per my target. The day break around 5:50am is the best part of the Auroville experience, for me. The sun rays slowly streaking through the trees, sound of birds and often running alone - it is an amazing feeling. Around this time I met Ajit - a Bangalore based runner doing his first Full marathon. We ran pretty much together from about 6Km or so till almost 27Km or so. The trail itself was extremely scenic going through various parts of Auroville at times what semed like going past the back yards of people living there. Any Aurovillan we met whether standing, walking or riding their bicycle, scooter or motorbike cheered the runners on. The aid stations were well stocked with water, electral, fruits and energy bars and manned by helpful and enthusiastic volunteers. While the route was shaded by trees most of the way once could feel the heat and humidity quite early on in the run.

The Full marathon consists of 2 loops. The route was same as last year - there were perhaps a few minor changes. I completed the first in about 2:15. At the start of the second loop I met MS Suresh an ex-colleague from Mumbai who I had also met at the start point. He was doing a run-walk routine. And then I passed Prateek. I managed to keep a steady average pace despite stopping for several seconds at each aid station and stopping to take pictures - the only run in which I tend to take pictures. I took pictures of the Maitri Mandir in booth loops - all my photos in the next post. The pictures here are borrowed from others.  Around the 35Km mark I met Amrita who was tiring and asked me to go ahead. I reached the 37Km  mark after 4 hours of running(while in Mumbai I made it at least 30 minutes earlier). The road stretch after the last aid station at 39Km was challenging due to the heat and fatigue setting here. It was around here that I overtook Ram from Chennai. It is sense of relief to enter th trail again. This part of the route did not have distance markers - having those would definitely motivate tiring runners. I ran this stretch alone and as I made the turn for the final stretch of 400m or so like last year there was a cyclist escorting each runner into the gate of certitude. And from the gate Balaji(one of the organisers of the event and a marathoner himself) took over. He paced each runner to the finish point accompanied by loud  cheering from the bystanders - spectators and runners who had completed their run. And not to forget the anchor who was welcoming each finisher with the same energy and enthusiasm with which he had flagged the runners off several hours earlier. I finished with my Garmin showing 4:35:03- average pace of 6:34 - as per my goal. This time a medal was given to each runner at the finish point. Talking to the runners there I concluded that there was'nt a single runner who did not enjoy the trail, the hospitality of the organisers and volunteers and have a great time that day. There are very races in India about which one can say this. And this with no sponsors and very reasonable cost to runners. Kudos to Aurovillans and the organisers. No wonder the event has grown from barely 150 runners in its 1st edition to over 800 this year.

I had pongal and vada breakfast(the queue for Dosas was too long!), collected my T-shirt , chatted with several runners and then went back to my guesthouse. After a quick shower I checked out of the room . Rishi and gang picked me up and we went back to Pondicherry for lunch. We had lunch at a place called Rendezvous. The food was very good but service was pathetic felt more so because we were all extremely hungry. We left for Bangalore around 3PM and amazingly Pankaj drove pretty much non-stop and got us to Koramangla a little after 8PM. I will never be able to run like this after running a full marathon though of course I was significantly less tired compared to the run in Mumbai. I got home by 9PM after a wonderful weekend resolving yet again that I will come back year after year to participate in this event!!

Recently acquired books

The last couple of years I have been collecting books on running. See the list on LHS. After a haitus of not buying anything in 2009, in a frenzied session, I bought the following books from Amazon in January 2010.
Hope to read them and a few from my existing collection by the end of the year!

50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days -- and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance! by Dean Karnazes and Matt Fitzgerald

I Run, Therefore I Am--Nuts! by Bob Schwartz

Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon: How to Be Your Own Best Coach By  Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald

Wired to Run: The Runaholics Anonymous Guide to Living with Running Addiction  By Scoop Skupien

Zen and the Art of Running: The Path to Making Peace with Your Pace By  Larry Shapiro

More on SCMM 2010

It is now two weeks since my 25h and fastest ever Full marathon finish in India at SCMM 2010 on 17th January – with a hectic schedule in the weeks following the race including travel to the Mformation  NJ office there has been a never-before delay in posting details of my race experience.

It is quite usual for runners to get tense during the week leading up to a big event and the week prior to SCMM 2010 was no different for me. I did my customary 9K and 6K runs on Tuesday and Thursday respectively. I felt a bit of a niggle in my left hamstring since Monday – though nothing serious it did cause me to worry. I resorted to salt water gargling as a precautionary measure. However I felt quite fine by the end of the week and left for Bangalore airport on 15th afternoon taking a Volvo bus from my office as prepared as I could be – a bit nervous but quite excited and expecting to run a good race.My Spicejet flight to Mumbai was delayed by over an hour . Did not see many runners at the airport – the only person I met at the time of boarding was Ananth - planning to do his first Mumbai FM.

For the 7th straight year I took a bus from Govandi to WTC on 16th morning after a reasonably good night’s sleep(Good sleep on the Friday night before the race on Sunday is very important –it is invariably difficult to sleep well the night before the race!). The traffic on Mumbai’s streets seemed very slow that morning and it was almost 1230 by the time I reached WTC. My brother Mahesh had already reached and collected his bib. The process of bib collection was very quick. Plus this time the timing chip was compulsory for all FM/HM runners(of course the cost was included in the registration)– so there was no separate form to fill to get the chip. Met quite a few runners from Bangalore at the expo . Had a brief chat with Dr. Ashish Roy who was running his 100th marathon and A1 and A2 at the RFL stall. Mahesh and I decided to save time by having lunch at Flamboyante in WTC itself while most other RFL runners went to Moshe’s in Colaba. We were joined by Sridhar and his colleague Ajay. After lunch I went back to the expo and bumped into a few more runner friends including MS Suresh (an ex-colleague from 15 years ago) and Vijay Ramakrishnan – an RFL runner who now lives in Pune. I got back to Govandi at about 530 probably an hour and a half later than what I had planned.

Slept reasonably well Saturday night waking up just after 4am a few minutes before the alarm was set to go. Took the 5:18am train from Chembur station reaching VT by 6am . Met Bhupesh, a Mumbaikar, who was running his first Full Marathon. The train and the VT station were much less crowded compared to previous years due to the Half Marathon start point being at Bandra instead of VST. I kind of missed the buzz at VT station. Met Mahesh at the station. We walked down to Azad maidan and reached the holding area by 6:15 or so. Again the maidan was much less crowded compared to the previous years as it had only Full Marathon runners. Met with a lot of fellow runners from Bangalore while stretching. This time there was a separate holding area for ‘veteran’ runners. Met Dan Zico and a few other runners there. The gate opened a few minutes before 6:45. I managed to get to the front of the crowd – which was quite low.Contrary to press reports it did not look like there were 3000+ full marathon runners at the starting line even discounting for the fact that a few hundred would have started at 7:45am.

I crossed the start line in less than 20 seconds from the start of the race compared to several minutes last year. I ran with Prasad and Ananth(in the picture on the left) for the first few Kms. Soon Nitin also joined us. Priyankar was running a steady pace a few hundred Kms ahead of us. We got a bit of cheering and clapping from the crowds – as we had the company of celebrity runner Milind Soman for some distance doing his second FM. I covered the first 10Kms on target in 55 minutes and managed to sustain a 5:35 per Km pace till well after 20Km or so. We hit a wave of HM runners around the 19Km mark as we approached the exit of the sea link. In fact, the route became quite chaotic with a lot of the slower HM runners coming in the way despite best efforts of the volunteers to separate out the HM and FM runners. This was quite irritating and I am sure several of us FM runners lost a few seconds here. In the stretch on the way to Bandra the African runners zipped past us. Around this time I caught up with Dharam – much sooner this year than in the past. By the time Nitin and I reached the Bandra it became quite warm. As we entered the sea link we grabbed a bottle of water as Rajesh Vetcha who was running HM this year had warned us that there would be now water on the sealink. The sealink stretch was very tough – no shade, very few runners. The lack of breeze made it even more difficult. Personally, I thought the whole sealink thing was a bit hyped up. By the time we exited the sealink stretch I was quite dehydrated and desperately looking for water. Nitin slowed down at this point while I almost caught up with Priyankar. Maybe I missed a water point but I did not see any water till at least 3 Kms after the sealink stretch – running the 24Km to 32Km stretch with very little water was very difficult and definitely impacted a lot of runners including myself. The pace started to drop though I hit the 30Km mark in under 2:50. Then came the lonely last 10Km stretch – Peddar road flyover, Chowpatty and the marine drive on the way back. Priyankar seemed to be pushing along quite strongly. At this point I had to dig very deep both mentally and physically to try and hit my goal of a sub 4:05. Once I managed to cross the 37Km mark just after 3:30 I felt reasonably comfortable about a sub 4:05 and even started getting visions of a sub 4. Around this time Milind’s running buddy Colin and I ran met up again. Colin was targeting a sub 4 in his first FM. I started to fade at this time and found it extremely tough to sustain my pace. There also seemed to be fewer water stops this year in the last stretch of the race. I wanted to pick up pace in the last 1500m as we turned towards Churchgate station but was just not able to do so. With great effort I finished with my Garmin 305 showing 4:01:42 – I think I forgot to stop it for a few seconds after I finished. Colin finished a few seconds before me with a good sprint in the last few hundred meters while Priyankar finished strongly a couple of minutes earlier. I was quite thrilled to learn that my chip timing was 4:00:56 though a bit disappointed at missing the 4 hour mark by less than a minute. Detailed timings are available here. Click here for the official photos. I felt nauseous after I stopped running and had to sit down as soon as I finished – did not have the energy and motivation to walk into Azad maidan. At this time sighting Rajesh Vetcha was a godsend. He managed to get me an orange from some unknown runner passing by – I felt much much better once I had some of that. I think I lost much more salt during this run and the one usual power bar that I consumed during the run was not sufficient for me. To sustain higher pace I need to look at drinking electral or some sports drink – something I have avoided thus far.

Nevertheless, I was very satisfied with finishing in my fastest ever time in India in my silver jubilee(25th) FM+ finish. This was also my second fastest FM finish. Of course, the number of faster runners in India is increasing every year as I finished 10th in my agea category this year while last year I was 5th with a finish time of 4:13. I was so focused on the target time during this event that I did not talk too much with other fellow runners – usually I talk much more. Also, I did not waste any energy thanking the volunteers or the cops. The crowd support along the roads seemed much lower this eyar compared to the past. So I would say that I did not enjoy the race as much as I have in the past but I think that is the way it goes. Either I stay focused on a target time goal or enjoy all aspects of the run. I plan to do the latter at Auroville on Feb 14th. The organization was disappointing this year. Apart from the fiasco of lack of water on the sealink and thereafter the Kms markers also seemed to be messed up in the second half. I don’t understand why there cannot be clear markers every Km for the FM runners specifically stating what the distance is depending on whether it is the 1st or 2nd loop.

Maybe because I pushed myself more than ever before the recovery also seemed to be slower this year. My hamstrings were sore and stiff for 3-4 days after the race. It made me wonder once again how some people can run full marathons on consecutive days!!

First 4 hour marathon in India..

It was quite a warm Mumbai morning  on 17th January making this year's SCMM  very challenging specially from the sea link onwards when there was no water point for over 7Kms. In the last 3Kms it was a real tough physical and mental battle - but I am happy to report that I managed to push hard  and complete the run in the chip timing of 4 hours 56 seconds  shaving over 12 minutes off my last year's time and comfortably meeting my goal for this year. This is my fastest time for a FM in India and 2nd best time ever! The split timings are available here.

Will post complete details of the experience  by the weekend.

Mumbai marathon 2010: The Maths

Borrowing the title of this post from that of a post from Tanvir Kazmi - probably the most prolific running related blogger in the country. The tapering period before a big race in which one has a target time goal is often spent in working out the math of how one is going to get there. Referring back to my previous post on Average pace to achieve target  I need to do an average of 5:48 to complete in below 4:05.  I will try and do the first half between 1:55 and 2:00 and hope that I can still keep a below 6 minute per Km pace in the second half. The average pace this year will have to be 13 seconds per Km faster than last year's average pace which gave me a 4:13 finish. While the familiarity with the course will help the 5 Kms or so over the sealink on the return leg will be a new factor. Of course, by this time next Sunday I will know!

Start of a new decade of running..

A decade in which I hope to be able qualify and run Boston marathon. And  run an average of 4 Full marathons/Ultras a year taking my count from the current 24 marathons to over 60! I have been running long distance for over 8 years now. From my paper running logs of yore , I dug up the following progression of  my training with the goal of running the first marathon by the end of 2002  :

23rd July 2001             51 minutes run
17th Dec 2001            120 minutes run
12th Jan 2002             150 minutes run
4th  May 2002            200 minutes run
3rd August 2002         235 minutes run (35Km)
24rth August 2002      267 minutes run (40Km)

Coming back to this year and decade,  it has been a decent first week of running. Starting with a 15K/90 minutes run on Jan 1 in Cubbon Park followed by a 36K/3:43 run at GKVK. And then a couple of 55minutes, 10K runs to round of the week!

Fund raising for Dream A Dream

One of my goals this year that is indirectly related to my running is raise more funds for Dream A Dream than I have ever done in the past.

 have been personally involved with Dream A Dream for over 4 years and have been raising funds for them through my runs. I am happy to state that since August 2009 I have been even more deeply engaged with them as a Board of Trustee trying to help them scale and reach out to larger number of under-privileged children more effectively. I have experienced first hand the amazing work that DAD is doing with vulnerable children in Bangalore. Thanks to DAD, over 1,500 such children in Bangalore are participating in programs such as team sports, mentoring, creative arts, learnIT and adventure camps – helping them develop crucial life skills such as confidence, problem-solving, communication and leadership .This will empower them to achieve their dreams and integrate with mainstream society!

This year I am raising funds for DAD by running two Full marathons in 1Q 2010. I will be participating in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on 17th January 2010 for the 7th consecutive year and target to complete it faster than ever before in under 4 hrs 5 minutes. I will also be running Auroville marathon for the 2nd consecutive year on 14th February 2010. This year’s funds would go towards the construction of the Dream Life Skills Center. Dream Life Skills Center’s vision is to empower youth from vulnerable background in making a successful transition into adulthood; becoming fully functioning and productive members of society. The Center would provide services which develop employability skills and life skills. It would house a Resource Center & Library, Training & Skills Enhancement cell, Career Guidance and Mentoring cell.

By supporting me again this year , you can help build a promising tomorrow for these young adults and transition them away from life on the street.

My goal is to raise Rs 3 Lakhs this year - and I hope to get there with support from friends, family and colleagues. Any contribution small or big is most welcome. You can contribute by sendin a check in favour of ‘ Dream A Dream’ to 242, Ranka Heights, 4th Main, 7th Cross, Domlur Layout, Bangalore 560071 or online in INR through United Way or in International currencies using Ammado.

2009 Year End musings..

This post is about the usual year end activity : looking back at what was probably one of the best years running wise and also looking ahead to the plans for 2010.

Highs of 2009

1. Completion of the 12th full marathon in 12 months – the day was made special with the company of so many fellow runners specially from the BHUKMP and Red Dragon gang. The achievement of the goal that I set in May 2008 gave immense satisfaction – the T-shirt and plaque given by fellow runners made it truly memorable!

2. Cracking the sub 4 hr marathon at the Suntrust National marathon in Washington DC in March 2009

3. PB timings in 50K, HM and 10K distances at the Bangalore Ultra, Bangalore Midnight marathon and Sunfeast World 10K respectively

4. Being able to clock 2000Km of running during the year - up from 1800Km in 2008

5. Numerous new running mates specially in the BHUKMP group

Lows of 2009

1. Not being able to hit my PB in 5K distance at the 2nd Urban Stampede
2. Missing out on the 2nd Hyderabad marathon due to sickness - my first ever DNS

2010 Goals

1. Run at least 5 Full marathons/Ultras

• Mumbai Marathon  - 17th Jan 2010
• Auroville Marathon  - 14th Feb 2010
• Hyderabad Marathon - August 2010
• Athens Marathon - 31st October 2010
• Bangalore Ultra - 14th November 2010 

2. Sub 4:05 finish at Mumbai marathon 2010 in 2 weeks from now
3. Sub 4 Hr at Hyderabad marathon 2010
4. 75K at Bangalore Ultra? - it is tempting to go beyond 50K
5. Invest in a better cycle and do a few trail rides with Tandem Trails

I intend to start the year with a 12K-15K  run on January 1 - I have been   running on January 1 pretty much every year since 2003.  A good run on the 1st day of the year is a fantastic way to start the year.  And I intend to follow this up with a 32K - 35K  run on January 3rd - the last long run before the Mumbai marathon on 17th Jan .

Here is wishing everyone a Great Year ahead personally, professionally and of course running wise!!!

Countdown to Mumbai 2010

With just about 20 days to go for the 2010 edition of Mumbai marathon most runners registered to run either the HM or FM there are in the final stages of their preparation. They would have done their last long run either the alst weekend(26th/27th Dec) or would be planning to do so the coming weekend ie 1st, 2nd or 3rd of January 2010. I fall into the latter category. I was away from Bangalore(at Jungle Lodges and resorts in BR hills) for 4 days and have done little runnig sicne Wednesday 23rd December.  Rather I have been pigging out with 3 heavy meals a day with some deep fried snacks thrown in between lunch and dinner.  Fortunately, for me I have not added too much weight due to this.(I guess by now my metabolism helps me burn off high calorie intake quite efficiently!)  I hope to do a fair amount of running this week: a 9-10K tomorrow, followed by a 12-15K run on 1st of January and then a 32K+ run on Sunday 3rd Jan exactly 2 weeks before the big day in Mumbai.

To hit my target of a sub 4:05 finish and shave 8 minutes from my last year's timing I need to maintain an averge pace of 5:48. Based on my experience of recent training runs in Bangalore this should be quite possible; however I know the weather in Mumbai will be quite a challenge. Also, this year's change in route will bring in a new unknown. While running over the recently opened sealink should be fun I am a bit apprehensive of the effect of the wind on my pace. I am hoping to do the first half in under 2 hours and then push for the second half in about 2:05. This week's runs are crucial to build and maintain the confidence to achieve this.

HM at Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2009

The 3rd edition of Bengaluru Midnight marathon on 12th/13th December 2009 was definitely much better organised than the last two editions.However, the participation seemed to be lower. Though I did not reach the venue in time to see the 5K run happen I heard that it had far fewer runners compared to last year when a couple of thousand people ran. I rode to the venue with Vinay Chaurasia and Shumit Vatsal after having an ‘early’ dinner around 8PM -we got there by 1030 PM. The bib and timing chip pick up process was quick and smooth. Inside the Sigma Tech Park RFL had setup a stall manned by Arvind Bharati and Nikhil. In that area I met up with a number of RFL runners – several of whom were running the Half.There was a baggage counter conveniently located in the holding area. About 15 minutes to midnight, runners moved over from the holding area to the start line on the road outside the Tech Park. After a couple of announcements including one regarding the run lap having reduced from 2.64K to 2.1xK the run started off exactly at midnight.

About 400 runners must have started the race. While I started with Shumit and Chandra , who like me were planning to do a fast HM, within a few minutes they pulled ahead. I ran a steady pace with the goal of keeping my average pace around 5 mins per Km. Traffic was completely blocked on one side of the road.There were 3 aid stations in the 2.1K stretch which had water and juice.There were adequate volunteers and cops patrolling the area. The route itself had a couple of slight gradients. The chilly night made it a perfect weather for running. I was able to able to keep my target pace in the first half and completed 10.5 Km in about 52 minutes. One had to necessarily slow down at the turn around point. At the far point some volunteers wanted to mark the bib for each loop for which one had to almost stop – this was a bit frustrating and after the second loop I refused as this was upsetting my rhythm. One big advantage of the up and down route was one was able to see and cheer other runners quite often. This resulted in more than usual comraderie amongst the runners energizing them further. I stayed pretty focused on the run and my target time – talking very little with other runners. I managed to sprint the last 500 meters and finish in 1:46:03 as per my Garmin. Though I feel I could have pushed a little bit more and done a sub 1:45 I am quite satisfied that I shaved 3 minutes off my previous PB set over 3 years ago. Official chip timings are still awaited. It should be available here.

The single biggest contingent of runners was from RFL and they all did very well in the race with many of them clocking their PB HM or FM times. Like last year Arvind and Nikhil cheered the runners, took photographs and setup an additional aid station with electral which was definitely helpful for the FM runners. Shumit did an amazing 1:38 Half while Chandra clocked 1:42. Among the FM runners Ashok and Honda San led the pack with Ashok clocking a very impressive 3:13. Several RFL runners had podium finishes including RGI team in the women’s relay, Meher in women’s HM and Amrita in Women’s FM! We left the venue at about 3am just as Ashok and Honda San were on their last lap of the FM. Everyone seems to have had a good run and also lots of fun at this year’s Midnight marathon. So hopefully this event will go from strength to strength as the premier long distance road race in Bangalore!