Now I can scratch out item # 34 on my list-of-things-to-do-before-I-die - Take part in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. I ran and walked and (towards then end) staggered to complete the Marathon in three hours and thirty nine minutes. I will now proceed to give you a blow-by-blow account of my experience.
Given how scared I was feeling the previous day, it is no surprise that sleep eluded me, even though I went to bed before 9 p.m. that night. Finally at around 11.30 p.m. I gave myself a mental shake and I told myself that whatever was in store it would be behind me within the next twelve hours. Post that I slept like a baby and when the alarm rang at 3.15 a.m. I practically shot out of bed in the hope that the sooner I wake up, get ready and show up, the faster the day would move. I was at Andheri station at 4 a.m. and was half expecting a desolate station but what do I see, fellow Marathoners (I like that term 'Fellow Marathoners" makes me feel like I was part of something important) were also busy buying tickets to CST and Bandra, the venues for the Full and Half Marathon respectively. SR, my colleague who was also participating was already on her way having boarded the train at Bhyandar. After what seemed like eternity the train arrived at the station and I boarded. We arrived at Bandra station around 4.30 a.m and took a rickshaw to the venue. En route we saw the Bandra-Worli Sea-link all lit up and looking grand against the inky blue sky, it was still dark as the sun was still in bed with over an hour to go before he reported for duty. When we arrived at the holding area under the flyover, near the Bandra Fire station, we were welcomed by a sea of humanity all gearing up for the race ahead. I was told that close to 13,000 had signed up for the Half Marathon. All around us we could see happy faces, people laughing, joking, encouraging each other to complete the race. I could see that along with the professional runners there were many amateurs like me and that gave me the much needed shot in the arm.
At 5.40 a.m. the race was declared open and we started running or walking in our case. SR and I had made a deal with each other that no matter what happened we would stick to each other till the end. We had decided that in the initial phases we would walk and then run a bit where we could. Soon we arrived on the Bandra Worli Sea-link, it seemed even more beautiful up close and the sea below the bridge seemed almost silvery as it reflected the lights used to illuminate the bridge. Up ahead towards the left we could see Worli. The kilometers just seems to melt away and before we knew it the Bandra-Worli Sea-link was behind us and so was the Queen of the Suburbs - Bandra, we had reached Worli, we were in town proper, whether we would paint the town red remained to be seen.
As we took a turn that would take us away from the Sea-link into town proper, we saw crowds of people lining the streets to cheer the runners and it was not even 6.30 a.m. in the morning!!! It really surprised me that people woke up so early in the morning to cheer a bunch of strangers!!! The crowds were just magical, it was not just made up of youngsters but had all age groups, from old people right down to little children. I had always slotted townies to be snobs, but was that myth shattered to bits and how, they lined up the streets and clapped, cheered and did everything they could to egg the runners and ensure that they kept going. Most of these people were the ones who formed the upper crust of Mumbai society, they rubbed shoulders with the who's who of the Mumbai social and business circuits and here they were standing on the streets offering biscuits, tea, water, candies and fruits to the runners. The only word I can use to describe the enthusiasm on display is... INFECTIOUS!!!
Soon the first hour came up on the clock, we had crossed the 7 k.m. marker a while ago, doing a quick calculation SR and I deduced that if we kept up this pace we would complete the race well within three hours. What we had not anticipated was that the first hour was just a trailer of what was in store... the real deal was yet to come. Once we reached the half way marker and I started feeling the first effects of the strain. My thigh and calves started tingling and every step I took seemed to take some effort. By the time we reached Haji Ali we noticed that our fingers has started to swell. We tried to alleviate the swelling by rotating our arms but it just wouldn't help, after a while we just gave up and concentrated on walking. By the time we arrived at the Babulnath temple at something like 8.20 a.m. both SR and I were concentrating on looking out for kilometre markers that were put up at every kilometre and every time one came up SR and I rejoiced. Had it been any other circumstance I might have done a little jig but today I was beginning to feel the blisters that were being formed in my feet and I was more than happy to just be walking towards the next kilometre marker. Here I would like to point out that the first of the Elite Half Marathoners who started the race at 7.20 a.m had already overtaken us !!!
Chowpatty came and went and by and by we arrived at Marine Lines, this entire stretch was dotted with raised platforms for entertainment activities, some had people singing, others had people dancing, still others were blaring the latest film music, then there was one with the Navy Band (with some very handsome guys in white uniforms playing the instruments, yeah, yeah, I noticed the handsome guys even when I was practically dying on pain) playing a very popular tune. We turned left onto the road that would bring us to CST... the official finish point of the Marathon. Here the crowds started to swell up again. Up in the distance we saw the marker simply stating "1000 m to the finish line" and I am not ashamed to state I almost disgraced myself by bursting into tears. I quickly checked the tears and continued to egg myself with the mantra that I had been chanting for well over an hour now "You can do it just keep walking". And before I knew it we had crossed the finish line, I had not thought of what I would feel when we crossed the finish line but it took a while for the feeling to sink in that I had indeed completed the Half Marathon!!!
For the first few minutes after crossing the finish line, when I think back now, I feel I must have looked like an absolute moron for I was grinning at no one in particular, the grin was just pasted on my face and just would not go. In that dazed state itself we went into the Event area to collect the refreshments and medals that they were handing out to all the participants. We collected our medals and wore them, never in my life have I ever felt so pleased as I did when wore my hard earned medal!!!
We sat down for a while and then as I stood up to start my journey back home I started to feel the after effects of the strain that I had put my body through. Every muscle (even the ones I did not know existed) was screaming. Even the smallest task like picking up the bottle cap that I dropped by accident, led to excruciating spasms of pain that coursed through my body and to be honest it was getting difficult to put one foot in front of the other. The train journey was OK but alighting from the train onto the platform was another thing. Alighting from the train was still less of an ordeal as compared to the railway bridge that I needed to climb to get me out of the station. It loomed in front of me like Mount Everest and with every ounce of will power left in me I climbed the steps one at a time.
To sum up I think the first 7 k.m. I completed due to whatever training I did over the past three months, the next 7 k.m. purely on adrenaline and the balance 7 something k.m. I only managed on prayers!!!
