Mumbai Marathon 2010

In 7th year, Mumbai Marathon has become a calendar event with a lot of blitzkrieg and a typical Bolliwood merrymaking. This year an extra flavor was added by inclusion of Bandra-Worli sea link within the marathon route. In news-media, there was a talk about the intentions of the marathon, celebrity participation, Indian athletes not among top 10 finishers, additional strain of police force and in general fashionisation of charity and all that. This kind of criticism is an assurance of a bright future for the event. It’s only after 3 years that I had thought about participating in a half marathon (22Kms); on 17 Jan 2010 I could participate and complete this event successfully.

Personally I took this event to benchmark my physical fitness. Targeting 21km’s as my personal health goal and whatever time below 3 hrs as a bonus reward. Organizers will time your race and provide finish certificate if you finish within 3 hrs. An electronic timing chip was given to every participant, which was supposed to be attached to your shoes. Chip will ensure that the participant has crossed all timing points and will measure accurate finish time. Quite techno isn’t it? There were body-refueling counters at the finish, facility to store your baggage, medical service and water en-route and even marathon photos. I was impressed with the event management. Year before, I could not participate as the registration opens only till required no of participants get registered. I had to wait one more year. Pune marathon was an option, but for some reason there is no half-marathon event for this race and Mr Suresh Kalmadi expects participants to finish Full marathon (42 Kms) within 3 hrs. After this time no medical aid, no water, no traffic blockage and obviously no finish certificate. No online registration, can’t expect chip timing, it’s hard to believe that My Pune International Marathon is 25 years in Running.

Last years Mumbai marathon was a first mega event after 26/11 terrorist attack, depicting the spirit of Mumbai and showing solidarity against terrorism. These days’ religious events are highly politicized and look outdated. The event like a marathon is a so cool, to get together and celebrate good health on a Sunday morning once a year. No noise pollution, surely very low on Human-Irritation Index. This is probably the only event where celebrities are directing their fans towards right cause. I might not have participated if Ambani’s and Mahindra’s haven’t. I can say that it was my dream, my inspiration to rub shoulders against them, at least in one field. Celebrities can become ambassadors to pass a right message. Who knows people might give up Junk food if celeb’s say so. (Nice !dea for Abhishek Bachan’s next add)

There were few regrets as Indian runners were not even among top 10 finishers. Well, they were never there. It’s well known that Indians are poor when it comes to health cautiousness. Even Indian international sportspersons lack killer instinct and a desire to win. Don’t know how many years we will have to wait till we get our first Olympic field medal. The solution lies in building sport culture throughout the community. Building a generation of sports loving parents. Passing on the genes to next generation to win the medals. The marathon is a good starting point in this direction. There were around 14500 runners participating in Half and Full marathon. My running speed was around 8-9km/hour; the full marathon winner must be beyond 20kh/hour. I might be practicing for 1-2 years against the winners 15 years at least. My maximum weekly mileage was 25 kms against the winner’s average 150kms/week. Even Mukesh Ambani finished sub 2 Hours, mine was 2 Hrs 25 Mins 27 secs. One girl from my office finished round about the same time as mine. A hell lot needs to be done!!

Running is a quiet a straightforward activity, no technicalities, no expensive instruments. It is quiet monotonous, bit boring at times. A group might help in improving performance, overcoming injuries and sharing experiences. Cycling and swimming can be combined in the training to make the sessions more interesting. I could not find a group, but I did read a lot from books. Triathlon is an event, combining swimming, cycling and running, one can look forward to. One of my friends is involved in an event called LegBurn, it’s a kind of treasure hunt with a team of 3. They conduct this event in rainy season near Lonavla. Enduro is another expedition style event spanning 2-3 days involving kayaking, trekking, mountain biking and various other disciplines. Adventure-Sports culture is developing indeed. As I was traveling to Mumbai before the race day, I thought I was promoting Sports-Tourism…Wao!!!

Thanks
Mandar Joshi
Credit Suisse (24 Jan 2010)