10K

हाय, Pune Marathon - what a yo-yo -- the highs came in the running part, the lows in all the organization and logistics. True to form, the 22nd edition was no better organized than its predecessors - water, the usual problem was not present till 8K, the race started with about 30K people trying to squeeze past the podium onto Lakdi Pul all at once, traffic was not at all stopped well or held back...... but let me start at the beginning.

Woke up early at 5:15 AM, had my ritual cup of tea, half a banana and a couple of biscuits. I was still undecided about whether I was running in my New Balance or my new Adidas. After mentally hemming and hawing for about 15 minutes, I decided on the new Adidas. 10K seemed like a good distance to try them out over a longer length. I laced up and sms'd my running buddies - Ravi who was running his first event in a long while and Rajesh for whom this was a 2nd showing at Pune.

We all walked to Good Luck Chowk at around 6:40 AM where a set of desks were laid out haphazardly.. apparently the assembly point for some Group 5. We walked ahead towards an extremely crowded Garware bridge - everyone just wandering here and there trying to figure out what the procedure was. We were lucky to find a wayward official who stamped our bibs with a rubber stamp indicating 10K and took our entry cards (go figure). As we waited, I started my usual warm up routine waiting for the flagoff. In the background, there were speeches.. most of which I did not pay any attention to. It was a lot of fun to be among some practiced runners - I saw some familar faces, a lot of NDA/Army Cadets - most all the regiments had a contingent there

They flagged off all the runners at once - barring the "elite" runners who started about 15 minutes earlier (I think). All - the general 10K crowd, under 17, under 19, full marathon, boys, men, women, charity run .. what have you. One would think they could have at the very least staggered these start times by 15 minutes. Most of the first minute was spent passing the podium where people whipped out their mobiles and took pictures of the celebrities - Sunil Gavaskar, Salman Khan, Sagarika Ghatge, Vidya Malavade, (the last two of Chak De India fame) and some starlet who was unidentifiable to me.

Anyway I started my stopwatch and managed to make it out of Lakdi Pul without being trampled upon. Ravi and I got a good pace going running within myself, not yet huffing and puffing terribly. I did not check my time till before Modern Bakery Chowk, where I was clocking around 18 minutes. Not bad, I said to myself. After I turned off Laxmi Road, I started looking for the KM markers. Did not find one till the 4K mark. I clocked 27:46 here...at this point it did not register that I was doing 7 min/KM

At the bottom of the Seven Loves/Shankarsheth Road bridge, as I headed onto the climb towards Golibar Maidan, I had 35:26 on my stopwatch. I turned the corner onto Main Street at 37:26. I had heard this was a downhill run, but this was my first time on it. I paced very well on Main Street, sort of competing with this one other guy till the 7K marker at Budhani Wafers. I was showing 48:26 at this point and it finally registered ... I was running at 7 min/KM mark. This was a great boost as I reached the 8K marker going towards the Police Commissioner's office. As I passed Blue Nile, I saw a diminutive lady in a uniform - she was a an ambulance officer and I realized that the few others I had seen in the same uniform were also keepers of our good health.

I went past INOX at 1 hour and at the 9K mark, I clocked 61:26. A small hill near Wadia and I was home free was what I was telling myself. By now, I was grinning at other runners as I passed them, exhorting them ...it's almost over. I was certain I was going to clock around 68 minutes. I think the course calliberation was off, and perhaps the 10K finish line was set about 500 m beyond the actual 10K mark. Anyways, I kept runnning till I crossed the finish line. My stopwatch showed 71:14:55

I stretched a little, finished my Electral fortified water and set off in search of Rajesh and Ravi. Ravi's timing was 64 minutes and Rajesh's was 61 minutes. At the finish line, there was a chaotic scene as officials tried to write down our bib numbers etc. After we collected Rajesh's brother, we walked down Bund Garden Road in search of a rickshaw, ended up in Madhuban for an upma and coffee.

If only the Pune Marathon organizers think of the runners and general organization, perhaps it could have been truly be a memorable event for all the participants. First, water every KM or even 1.5KM would not hurt, traffic management with roads being shut at least for 4 hours if not more, simplified registration processes (in this day and age, I am surprised this event does nothing to leverage the Internet), staggered start times and distances, ... I could go on.

I am quite happy with my run. 10K in 71 minutes at a consistent pace of 7 minutes a kilometer, that is a personal best for me. Today is a rest day and tomorrow I start chasing the dream of a 140 minute half marathon in Mumbai