Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2012

Completed the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2012 held yesterday. Was running with a bad back, without training (because of the back). No further injuries occurred except for a couple of blisters which have bandages on them now.

The run was good, the course flat & the weather bad. High humidity and a lot of sun. Kept myself well hydrated with lots of water and when I was lucky a couple of Gatorades. Met several runners before, during & after the run. All looking happy & chirpy.

There were a couple of downsides to the ADHM, but not worth recounting. It was a well organised run with plenty of water en-route, music (some of them playing highly motivational songs like Bhag DK Bose Bhag), some people on the road to cheer (more than the previous ADHMs).

Finished the run with a fantastic breakfast of tandoori aloo paranthas, an hour long massage, some sleep & beer.

Below are the race timings :

1st Rose Half Marathon

I hadnt run much in nearly a month, so when I got an email announcing a half marathon in 3 days time, i jumped on it. Now ever since completing the full marathon, i tend to think of HM as kid stuff.

In preperation of the 1st Rose Half Marathon, which was to start from Nehru Park and was going to be nowhere near the Rose Garden (why is it called the 1st Rose HM once again?) I took out my running gear :

1. Running T shirt
2. Running Shorts
3. Sweat wicking microfibre Undies
4. Five finger Socks
5. Running cap
6. Running glasses
7. Running Shoes (Nike Free 3.0)
8. Band Aids for the nips
9. Anti chafing cream
10. Water Bag (similar to Camelbak)


There were about 30 people registered for the half marathon starting from Nehru Park.  Maps were available to those who wanted one, water station placements were announced. We started up with a warm up session .

The run started on time. Both me and Sanjeev Chhabra were laggards trailing behind Alfredo and his friend. I was already tired at 2.5 KM (competently challenging my view that any run below a full marathon was now easy)

Sanjeev & Me (left)

Alfredo (right) & friend

We were in for an easy run with target to finish in 2.30 - 2.45. We ran upto India Gate and up to the presidents house.

On the way back on Rajpath we came across a huge group of abt 150 people dressed in black marching, beating drums, waving placards, and shouting some slogans in support of women and against sexual harassment.  The group was eclectic. It included some cyclists (the pro kind), some bikers (thinks Harleys, Enfields, Suzukis etc.) without the bikes , some runners like us. Yes. we dropped out of the formal run and walked with them back to the President's house. wore black arm bands, shouted a few slogans, signed a petition. That was abt 14 K ( a few U turn were thrown in between). 

 Heres a video I took loaded on you tube :

While waiting there we run into the Doc and the Honeyman. I complained to the Doc abt his impossible made possible run (www.thehigh.in) and placed an order with the Honeyman (excellent fresh & organic Honey from Preet Dodhani - preet.singh@dancing-bees.com)  some chatting later, sharing a couple of war stories, we decided to head back to Nehru Park with a mutual promise between Sanjeev and me that we will finish the Half marathon distance. So we headed back with the Doc and Preet. Doc making jokes of my recently acquired roundedness, until we had to finally send him off to run at his own pace (which was i think atleast double of ours).

To push us to finish the distance we described in excruciating details with recipes (even though I dont cook) the breakfasts we were gonna have. Me a Tomato-Cheese sandwich with diced cheese, tomatoes, green chillies, salt, pepper between two breads in a sandwich toaster made crisp, so that the crunchiness gives way to the melting better, the sour tomatoes and the spicy chillies. Sanjeev was going to make omlettes with 4 egg whites, onions, lots of garlic, cheese, salami, peppercorns, black salt OR chatmasala, every spice in the spice box).

With watering mouths we reached Nehru Park and realised that we had done only 19. Sanjeev's friend Harshad and his wife were waiting for Sanjeev (Sanjeev had Harshad's stuff in his car) and luckily for me and the kindness of Harshad's wife I got some orange slices which tasted like nectar.

Doc was waiting for us and told us to run away and finish 21 so me and sanjeev went on for 1 k and turned around to finish the 21. At this time we decided that we must climb every small hill we could on the way. I was dead tired (i was tired from 2nd KM onwards) and was aching in my calves but was happy to finish off 21 as planned.

Oh yeah - the 1st Rose marathon guys were all finished and gone before we returned so missed the stretches, refreshment & certificates. But fun was had by all.

SCMM Full marathon report - II - Acknowledgement

I just have to thanks my fellow runners who have played a part in me getting to my 1st full , running my first full and finishing my 1st full healthy, safe and injury free.


Sandeep Srivastava - Technical and nutritional expert - His indepth reasearch and willingness to share the knowledge he had on what all to eat, drink and maintain the salt levels to avoid cramping. Worked like a charm and made it seem so easy. Plus his encouragement and making me run that extra 300 mtrs during my longest training run of 31.66 Ks 3 weeks before the full.





Sanjeev Chabra - Seemingly slow runner. But you DEFINITELY have to acknowledge the consistency, preseverence and the surprise rabbit hiding in that skin. FInished his full in a little over 5 hrs ! Awesome job. He taught me to persevere and keep at it, slow, head down and keep pushing...



Rahul Verghese - What can I say - organised the running in NCR. His 10 K runs every month in Gurgaon got me running. His Running & Living events got me intouch with all the running people I know. During the SCMM 2012 he was the pacer for 5.30 hrs and was so perfect that the group finished in exact time ! I stuck to the group for about 20 Ks then lagged behind as I couldnt keep up the pace. Those 20 Ks were cheating as I did not realize they were done until I started getting tired. Full of energy, smiling , laughing, singing songs (chorus as well) taking pics. Swell !



Shiv - Goaded me into my longest training run. His guidance on what strategy to adopt including not to watch the clock but to aim to finish. He brought me to reality against my impractical thoughts of 5 hr finish ! Met him both before and after the marathon and found more words of encouragement.





My biggest and staunchest supporters are however my family, who forgive me for waking up super early and skipping out on family time specially on weekends.




Sunina & Rudi - My wife and baby son who accompanied me to the SCMM 2012 without complain. Constanly encouraging me, motivating me and telling me that they knew I was going to finish the race, without a doubt. My training was accomplished only due to Sue kicking me out of bed to go train !






Dad & Ma - Their pat on the back and the encouragement goes a long way. Their confidence that I can do what I set out to achieve straightens my back even when my energy is down.

ADHM 11 results

SO as psyched as I was, I finished in roughly the same time as my last years ADHM. The fact that it was without any reasonable amount of sufficient training make me happy. Probably helped by the fact that this was a particularly flat course. I was helped on the way by encouraging cheers from a few of my mates (Rahul, Ankur, Ankush and a couple of others). The run finish was injury free though a bit of throbbing on the right ankle which went away and a dull ache (sweet pain) in the thighs.

At India Gate, still with a smile...



My finish timings...



My split timings as per the the timing chip



The route as per my Garmin 205 Forerunner

Salwan Marathon : Sunday 6th November 2011

Sunday the 6th Novemeber there was held an excellent event at the Army Equestrian grounds. A running race. For school children under 18, under 16 and under 14 boys and girls. desitances from 5-8 kms. The special thing - they had also a 3.5 km race for visually and the intellectually challenged kids ! Why was this special ? Not because of the physiological challenges they are facing life with but that the race organisers were not trying to coddle them and make an eye wash event with a 100 mt or 500 mt run but a nice respectable 3.5 KM ! That too a cross country. (for the uninitiated, cross country run means no paved road, ditches, mud, stones, rocks, inclines, declines, bushes, thorns, dust and some horse shit thrown in for good measure, equestrian grounds, remember)




They called out for runners as volunteers with the idea that each runner hold hand of 1 kid and run the distance guiding them. I was with a kiddo named Ayush Prakash from Bihar studying at the Blind School in RK Puram sector 5, New Delhi. He loves social science, reading and running.

Before the run :



We had some small chit chat, warmed up for the run with some stretches, got all hyped for the run and had some fun. We faced all the things typical of a cross country run as mentioned above. We finished the run in about 32 odd minutes. sweaty, dirty and happy!

After the run :

My first 2011 run !

My first run of the new year on 2nd Jan 2011 @ 6.00 AM was a long run from Nehru park to India Gate and back , a loop of about 16 km, which I made 17 km because i got lost !

Here's the 2 pics i took from my phone :