I’m not sure if I should thank or curse my neighbour, Jai Durgam for getting me into this, but at least I finally got my sorry arse out on the road, incredibly wisely to run the Bangalore midnight marathon, without any training period! Smart move! I ended up walking a good bit of the last 1-2 km and walked a little bit in the middle as well and ultimately finished up with a 2:30 time (about 11 min per mile!!). Yes, my extremities as still in pain, despite the best efforts of Ibuprofen, and my posterior tibial insertion feels like Najaf/Fallujah or any area of international conflict you pick! Anyways, lesson learnt, back to life, need to run more often!
The race began at the i-Gate complex in Whitefield, Bangalore and was impressively run on time! Yes, we were put through some rough local rock bands in the beginning, but c’est la vie; there was a time that I enjoyed this stuff. I guess I still do, it’s just now I laugh more at it than I used to and head bang less! Water and crowd as well as Karnataka drummers were in abundance through the early part of the race. Crowd support strangely was not as much as one would have hoped for at midnight!
The route was a little boring as it was four times around a 5 km loop and that too was blessed with two wonderful uphills! It was kind of nice that we got timing chips and had to run through the usual mats to mark our times. Parking was a little painful as it was far from the race and obviously for a fat fart like me, this was even more painful at the end of the race. Waiting for the “medal” at the end was fairly efficient (it’s amazing how we can’t let go of butting into line even after running 21 kms!). Certificates will apparently be mailed home.
The most amusing part of the race for me though, was that with all the excitement, there were many people out to run the half marathon. Many were in pants and jeans and some were older, and dressed to go for their morning walks. I wasn’t sure how many would make it, but then I wasn’t sure I would either. I don’t know what became of them, but more power to them! I think it’s time young India took a hint from these enthusiastic young at hearters who showed up for the event.
Would love to do this again next year, but hopefully a little better prepared and I would like to see a longer loop rather than this boring 5 km loop. All in all, I say thumbs up….viva la midnight marathon, here’s to many more and hoping more slobs can get up and get involved. A healthy India is a happy India. Running is cheap, so don’t shy away from it!
Filed under: Idle ramblings
