My Experience @ Mumbai Marathon

[saurabhnigam]

The flags have been pulled down , the roads cleared, the celebrities whiffed away, and Mumbai moves on . But the effort , and the zeal on display at the Mumbai Marathon-2005 steers ahead .

To say that Mumbai Marathon was an exhilirating experience would just be an understatement. Not even in my wildest dreams had i imagined at the time of registering for the event (10th December) that its going to be one of the best experiences of my life. Seeing Mumbai coming out in full strength at pre-dawn was awesome. Whether it was man, women or child running, walking or on the sidelines the feeling was 100% positive. Everyone helping the next one on with words, cheers or water.

Reached Mumbai on Friday night and straightaway hit the bed at a friend's place in Mahim. Started Saturday with a visit to Akanksha, the Organization for which i had raised my pledges. I work with Akanksha-Pune in the capacity of a volunteer and it was they who had arranged for my visit in Mumbai. Interaction with the kids at Akanksha was really interesting with most of them too keen to let a stranger(thats me) know about their latest Maths session and how good they were with Multiplications and Divisions !! I also received the Akanksha T-shirt - Specifically designed for the Marathon. From Akanksha I moved to the Marathon Expo at the World Trade Center to collect my BIB and here i got the first glimpse of the enthusiasm this event had generated. There was a serpentine queue at the Expo and it took me almost two hours to get to the counter and collect my BIB. Roamed around the expo for next couple of hours, bought few soveigners from the Standard Chartered Counter - A mug, a Cap and a bag. Got back home at 7, had dinner at 8 and went to bed by 9 after putting an alarm for 6am.

Sunday, 16th Januray'2005 - The D-day arrived... got up much earlier than the 6am alarm. It seems the excitement of participating in such a huge event was finally getting on to me. I just couldnt wait to get to Azad Maidan (the place where we were supposed to report). Got ready by 7 and boarded the 7.15 local to CST. As soon as i came out of CST, only thing i could see were people, people and more people. Managed my way to the Azad Maidan, deposited my baggage, had Naariyal Paani for breakfast and then headed straight to the start point. The Dream Run (my event) was supposed to start at 10.30 and reaching early helped me to be really close to the starting line. Slowly people from all strata of society started assembling for the dream run... we had someone dressed as lord Hanuman entertaining the crowd, then there was someone who had come dressed as the Maharaja of Air India fame....we also had the Mumbai dabbawaallas in their traditional attire... At around 10.30 celebrities started coming in... Amitabh, Sachin, Kapil, Boman 'Mamu' Iraani, Azhar, Linford Christie.....they were all there....Finally at 10.45 the Dream run was flagged off...Took a deep breath and started my run not knowing how much i would be able to stretch myself. First 10-15 minutes went off in soaking the feeling that i was running alongside 25000 fellow Indians..... with almost an equal number of people cheering us on.... the atmosphere was electrifying..... i heard an 84 year old man shouting “Jai Hind” at the top of his voice as we passed by him... then there was this group of young girls who were singing “Saare Jahan Se Accha”.... there were drums, music and cheergurls...and i reached the 3km mark without much of a hassle.Then the struggle started..... the mind was ready to go on but the body was complaining.... i started realising the professional hazards of a software job and leading a sedentry life !!!...and thus i took a break at the next drinks stall....walked for next few minutes...giving myself a breather...but i couldnt walk for too long as there were people egging us on...”comon....u can do it”...”we will we will rock u”...final peice of inspiration came from the young kids, who were running as if the distance dint really matter.... resumed my run at a much slower pace...determined not to stop again..... slowly but steadily i reached the point which said “1000m to finish”...from then on it was easy, the struggle gave way to excitement of finishing the run....and i crossed the finish line at around 11.40....my immediate reaction...”I did it “ !!!

I have had many friends from Bombay. all of them have had one thing in common - they all boast that Bombay is “THE BEST“ city in India. and i have always wondered as to what is so special about this city. Now i know.... its the people and their spirit which makes this place so amazing. No matter which place you hail from, this city embraces you as its own. I dont think it would be easy to replicate the success of Mumbai Marathon at any other place in India......By my own experience at this event, I have no hesitation in proclaiming that Mumbai rocks......SALAAM BOMBAY......SALAAM INDIA.

[zango]

great post! Congratulations!

cheers!

[supervish]

The running experience ... absolutely amazing! To run on a chilly morning with THOUSANDS of people... with hundreds more cheering you on .... if you weren't there you missed something.

People, later on, wished that they were there ... seems they could feel the atmosphere even on the tele

And to do all this for a cause.... icing on the already lip smacking cake..

Originally Posted by saurabhnigam

its the people and their spirit which makes this place so amazing. No matter which place you hail from, this city embraces you as its own.

AYE !

[saurabhnigam]

And to do all this for a cause.... icing on the already lip smacking cake..

Couldnt agree more with you on this. How often do we hear people saying "What can i do"....little realising that if each one of us make a small contribution then we indeed can bring about the change and it was awesome to see 25000 Indians coming together to run, beleiving that they can make a difference. If the run inspires atleast another 25000 to do their bit towards the society then i guess it would have served its purpose.

Cheers,
Saurabh

[post2ashish]

well said saurabh... It's not only running that u did... u facilitated in creating awareness abt sports, social awareness, the will to fight & inspired many with a never-to-say-die attitude...

last yr there were around 10k runners... this yr it was more than 25k... next yr it wud b 50k people trying to spread the mesaage & create awareness abt various issues which we normally forget in our day-to-day life....
Salute to u n everyone who participated be it the runners or the motivators...

[Syberite]

Originally Posted by post2ashish

last yr there were around 10k runners... this yr it was more than 25k... next yr it wud b 50k

Hey Saurabh,

I agree with you absolutely....The spirit of mumbaikars and the marathon runners was awesome man !! Hats off to them & to you 2

Me reached CST by 10.30 from Pune for my FMS , centre St. Xaviers

As soon as we came out of CST on the other side of the road , were just astounded to see huge crowds on both the sides of the road , lots of celebrities For almost 2 hours we watched the dream run ..at the end of which I just forgot that I had come to Mumbai for FMS exam

On that very day I have made a resolution of a sort , to participate in the Mumbai Marathon 2006 , no matter where I will be on the planet

And post2ashish , don't you find similarity between the increasing number of ppl running for Mumbai marathon and increasing number of ppl taking CAT , year after year....

Cheers !!!

Syberite

[saurabhnigam]

On that very day I have made a resolution of a sort , to participate in the Mumbai Marathon 2006 , no matter where I will be on the planet

Thats cool man. so its already 25000 + 1 for next year!!!
I am also based in Pune. Lets see if we can participate together....

And post2ashish , don't you find similarity between the increasing number of ppl running for Mumbai marathon and increasing number of ppl taking CAT , year after year....

Yeah man, I have been a prime witness to that as well... ...45,000 appeared when i took CAT for the first time (2001) and the number has gone up to 1.5K in 2004 !!!... I can safely say that "I have seen CAT evolve over a period of time " !!!

Cheers,
Saurabh

[ameya.bhagwat]

I am taking part in the Half marathon next yr!!!!!!!!!...Completed the Dream run ! Yipeeeee!!! Hope to meet ya guys next yr !