Joy of Running!
Today (Saturday, 6 Feb 2021) morning after completing a run, as I glanced at the metrics flashed on my mobile, I realised that this probably is my PBT for a 10 km run!
My thought immediately went out to that significant moment in July / August 2003.
There was an article in the Times of India / Economic Times announcing the Standard Chartered International Mumbai Marathon (SCMM). Those interested in participating had to fill the form along with the entry fees and submit at the specified counters. Without giving a second thought, I filled the form for the entry level run, titled the Dream Run and submitted the same reverentially at the counter with the entry fees. I had not discussed or informed about this with my family members. Nor had I participated in any such sporting event in my life so far, for that matter none in our family had ever participated in such “sporting” events; exposure to sports being limited to the PT class in school.
A couple of days later I informed my family about this. The first reaction was - what made you do this? Have you gone mad? Apply for cancellation and ask for refund of money, let them deduct convenience charges if necessary. You will end up breaking an arm or a leg!
To say the least, I was confused. Have I committed myself to something fool hardy, something reckless? However, I mentally accepted my decision of having enrolled for a “sporting event” and started doing some home work to ensure that on the d day I don’t give an opportunity to my detractors to say “I told you so”.
A couple of days before the big day, I collected the bib and the goody bag. On the 18th of January 2004, I got up quite early in the morning had a quick shower and with a short but very sincere prayer took a morning train to CST. The starting point of the run was a huge playground opposite CST Railway station in South Mumbai. When I got down at the CST railway station, I was surprised to see a few runners, with the running bib proudly pinned to their chests purposefully striding towards the starting point of the run. Later I realised that most of these fellow runners must have probably travelled much longer distances than the 20 minutes train travel which I did.
The starting point was as colourful and lively as a typical Indian village during a mela / fair! For all my apprehension the actual running happened very smoothly. After completing the run, I collected the medal, picked up the snack box offered to all runners and reached home. When I showed the medal and the snack box, my family members were visibly impressed. I felt I was entitled to a good rest and spent the rest of the day lazing around in my bed, reminiscing about the events - from registering for the event to reaching home with my first running medal. Next day morning the front pages most newspapers were splashed with photos of runners and the event.
One day in July / August 2004, my daughter informed about the announcement of Mumbai Marathon 2005. When I filled the form now, there was not as much murmur as in the earlier year. Only one comment - you have already done it once, is it not enough? How do I explain to my family that what I did last year was the 7 Km dream run, the beginner level? What I saw and did last year was actually fun and not sport. And more importantly, I enjoyed the fun. Come Jan 2005, and I had my second dream run.
This got repeated in 2006 and 2007 January. The SCMM started getting bigger. There was more visibility in the media. International runners were participating. Celebrities were roped in as brand ambassadors. Participants started posting pictures in the social media.
By now some of my relatives and friends also started showing interest in this activity. When the announcement came for the 2008 Mumbai marathon some of my family members decided to fill the form. On the morning of the 3rd Sunday in 2008 January, 7 members from our family participated in the run. Apart from myself it included my brother, wife, daughter, sister, nephew and a cousin. My brother and cousin ran as part of a spiritual organisation to spread spiritual awareness. This organisation had around 20 members participating in the run that year. My brother and cousin informed the local group of the spiritual organisation about the Mumbai marathon. Some of their friends had heard about the same but were not sure how to go about it. Finally, with their guidance, over 20 members in the age group 20 – 35 participated.
Gradually with awareness for running spreading among Mumbaites, several other organisations also started conducting such runs. Most of these runs used to be on Sunday mornings in the month of January or February. And our family members started participating in these runs.
So, we started participating in the Mumbai marathon, Goregaon Aarey diary run, Navi Mumbai, Customs Marathon, ILFS run, Powai run, etc. Women get to participate in the Pinkathon.
Having participated in most runs in Mumbai, it was time to spread outwards geographically. Once as a family we participated in the Alibag beach marathon.
Occasionally, we have also had our office staff participating in local runs.
Amongst this group of runners from our family members, emerged two very strong runners. My brother Vaidy and my brother-in-law Dr Ramesh. For Ramesh running became a passion. While I restricted myself to maximum 21 kilometres, that too once in a while, and that too only in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai; these two would often team together and do regular routine runs in difficult terrains. Such regular training helped them to run marathons - mostly half, sometimes full, in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Goa, Nashik, etc. With each run, they would establish their PBT (Personal Best Time)
2019 saw Vaidy and Ramesh participating in the Berlin Marathon. They were all set to repeat this in 2020, but could not do so due to the pandemic Covid.
After 2014, I stopped participating in the Mumbai Marathon, as I felt it was getting too crowded. In 2004, Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon was probably the only organised run happening in Mumbai, as known to common people like me. Undoubtedly there may have been groups of dedicated runners even before SCMM. However, it was SCMM which created awareness about running among the common people.
Covid 19 created new opportunities for runners, especially like me who found it a bit funny to have to travel several kilometres to begin the run and then after completing the run return back to our residence, dead tired. Many people started organising virtual runs where the runners can run locally at their facilities and upload the result captured by special running apps. It was after completing one such run, that I started writing this article!
