Dream Runners HM - 2013

It all started with a phone call from the Dream Runners group in Chennai to Coach Kothandapani (Pani). Coach Pani is the Coach of the Pacemakers running group in Bangalore. The phone call was to request Coach Pani and the Pacemakers group to participate in the Dream Runners Half Marathon (DRHM) scheduled to be held in Chennai on July 7, 2013. It was just January 2013 and there were still 6 full months to go. Coach Pani was undecided at that point in time. But the Dream Runners were persistent. Whenever a member of the Dream Runners group visited Bangalore, they even stopped by the Pacemakers training to invite them to the DRHM.

  

The Pacemakers running group was formed in early 2012 by a group of runners in Bangalore. This group of runners was better known for their maverick 12M12M challenge in the year 2011. 12M12M stood for 12 Marathons in 12 Months. The group actually did 13 Marathons in 13 Months starting from Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) 2011 and ending in SCMM 2012. Coach Pani and Thomas Bobby Philip (Bobby) along with experienced runners like Neera Katwal formed the Pacemakers group including the runners that did the 12M12M.

  

The Pacemakers aimed on participating in famous marathons / running events of India such as SCMM in Mumbai, TCS 10K in Bangalore, Celebration Half Marathon in Mysore and the Airtel Hyderabad Marathon. The DRHM was not on the Pacemakers schedule for 2013. But the Dream Runners’ persistence paid off and Coach Pani agreed to field a Pacemakers team at the DRHM 2013.

  

Coach Pani himself took care of the travel reservations and the race registrations. The hotel arrangements were also made. The Pacemakers started training for the DRHM 2013 after their incredible success in the TCS 10K 2013. The Pacemakers training schedule is usually as follows:

- Tuesdays – Interval Trainings at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore

- Thursdays – Tempo Runs at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore

- Weekends – Long runs

- Once a month – Hill Training at Nandi Hills

 July 6, 2013 dawned and the Pacemakers arrived at the Bangalore City railway station to catch the Shatabdi Express to Chennai that departed at 6 AM. In the process, the Pacemakers actually got an extra hour of sleep because Coach Pani’s training usually starts at 5 AM. It was like a college excursion. Every Pacemaker was highly enthusiastic and raring to go to Chennai. Some of the Pacemakers were participating in their maiden Half Marathons.

  

The train ride was filled with laughter and pulling each other’s leg. The train reached Chennai about 45 minutes late, thanks to our efficient Indian Railways. There were 32 runners in total that made the trip to Chennai. It was a challenge to reach the hotel as one group. So, Coach Pani decided for the entire team to take the local train to the hotel. The local train ride turned out to be a very interesting and successful too.

  

The Dream Runners showered the Pacemakers with the best of hospitality. As soon as the Pacemakers reached their hotel rooms, the Dream Runners made arrangements to hand deliver the goody bags, bibs and DRHM 2013 t-shirts at the hotel rooms. This led to the Pacemakers getting really good rest to their feet the afternoon and evening before the race.

  

The hard part of the DRHM 2013 was waking up at 3ish AM on Sunday, July 7, 2013. But, the euphoria pushed the Pacemakers through. Their pre-arranged cabs arrived at their hotel and off they went to the race starting point. Then Coach Pani started leading the Pacemakers in his unique warm up regime. The overnight rains had raised the humidity level a bit in Chennai and the Pacemakers were well warmed up for the DRHM to start at 5 AM.

 There is always a positive difference in running races arranged by a group of runners. The Pacemakers did not fail to notice that all along the 21.1 Km loop of the DRHM route. Firstly, it was fabulous teamwork by the Dream Runners. They proved that they are a close-knit group and it was on full display on the race day. The Dream Runners and their family members that manned the water stations did a

fabulous job. There was no shortage of anything that a marathon runner needed at the water stations. Water, glucose, Band-Aids, bananas, salt, lime and biscuits were at plenty. The Pacemakers were very grateful to the Dream Runners for providing all this support so seamlessly!

 The medical help that one runner from the Pacemakers group received at the finish line was excellent.  The Pacemakers thank the Dream Runners for quickly calling for medical help as soon as this runner collapsed. He doesn't remember anything from the time he collapsed until he came back to his senses. The medical team did an excellent job in restoring this runner back on his feet. It was dehydration that caused this runner to collapse. He had under estimated the Chennai humidity. It was this runner’s maiden HM as well.

The biggest highlight was, Nanjudappa from the Pacemakers team won the flag ship event at the DRHM 2013. That's just a feather on the Pacemakers’ cap, which they will display proudly, forever! Nanjudappa clocked whopping 01:14 hours to win the gold medal among 800 plus runners that ran the DRHM.

The Pacemakers take this opportunity to thank the Dream Runners group for a superbly organized Half Marathon event. Those who have worked on event organizations know that it is hours and hours of hard work to successfully organize a marathon.  Stupendous work from the time the race was announced until the race completed on July 7, 2013! The coordination between the volunteers, the patrol team, the podium team, the water stations, the Chennai Police, the Chennai public and the sponsors was done amazingly well by the Dream Runners team.

  

One pitfall to be mentioned was the "Finish Line". Many thought that the football goal post just before the finish line was the actual finish line and slowed down there. But, the real finish line was about 50 m ahead. That was just an exception!

  

The Pacemakers returned to Bangalore with nothing but praises for everybody in the Dream Runners team. Needless to say, The Pacemakers and Coach Pani will make the DRHM an annual running event on their yearly race schedules and will be training harder to keep excelling in all future DR Half Marathons.

PP's Marathon

The History

In 490 BC...

...the first battle for democracy was fought at the Greek village of Marathon. Though overwhelmingly out numbered by an invading Persian Army, the citizen-soldiers of Athens prevailed and in so doing allowed the first democracy to be established and preserved the classical Greek way of life that became the foundation of western civilization.

Legend has it that, when the battle was won, the Athenian messenger Phidippides ran twenty-four miles to Athens, carrying news of that stunning victory. The modern marathon commemorates this feat.


The Present 

About 2512 years later, a man called Patrick Pitchappa (PP) ran his first Marathon in Mumbai, India. This is his brief story. Let's hear it from the horse's mouth now....

I don't even remember how and when I took interest in the Mumbai Marathon sponsored by Standard Chartered (SCMM). In mid 2011, I registered for SCMM 2012 and did a Half Marathon with a personal best of 02:07 hours on Jan 15, 2012. That inspired me to do 11 other Half Marathons in 2012. 

I have to mention an interesting incident that happened on Jan 14, 2012. It was that day I landed in Mumbai for SCMM 2012 and went to the World Trade Center at Cuffe Parade in Mumbai to collect my bib. I ran into Bib Bala that day and he teased me about not attempting a Full Marathon (FM) yet in my life. I paid no attention to him and replied firmly that I'll only run Half Marathons in my life. Bala's reaction was - "Don't get stuck in 1st grade forever, it is important to move on to higher grades in life"! I laughed and we went our own ways. 

In July 2012, right on the heels of my father's death, when the registrations for SCMM 2013 opened, I quickly registered again for the Half Marathon (HM) without giving much thought. But in October 2012, I realized that Half Marathons were not challenging any more. So, I sent an email to the SCMM organizers requesting them to switch my registration to a Full Marathon and they obliged. 

My training for the Full went well till November 2012. I reached 30 km in training by the end of that month. I wanted to do up to 40 km, if possible, in December 2012. I attempted a 30+ run twice in Dec 2012, but couldn't go past 27 km at all. Once, I had to stop due to a blood stained shirt and the other time, I ran with Alifiya and just didn't have the fuel to go on. 

But the Rock n' Run Half Marathon in Coimbatore on Jan 6, 2013 provided me the much needed confidence to finish my maiden Full Marathon at Mumbai 2 weeks later. Still, I was nervous and my friends kept cheering me all the time. 

Saturday, Jan 19, 2013 dawned and I boarded my flight to Mumbai. There were many runners from Bangalore on that flight and we motivated each other to do the best the next day. After I landed in Mumbai, I went to collect my bib and lo & behold, I ran into Bib Bala once again. This time I told him with confidence that I was going to do a Full Marathon the next day! Bala patted my back and gave me his best wishes.

Alifiya and I had planned to stay the night at her sister's apartment in Mumbai. Alifiya's sister Arwa and her husband Husain were wonderful hosts and very nice people. After a relaxing Saturday, Jan 19th, it was time to face the challenge of the Full Marathon on Jan 20th. We all woke up at 4 am. While Alifiya and I were gearing up for our maiden FM, Arwa was ready for her second FM. Her husband Husain was doing a HM. We reached CST and after leaving our bags at the holding area, we rushed to the start line. I saw Rekha Sudarsan on our way to the start line and wished her the best. I also met my close Dailymile friend Mr. Srinath Nagappa and Barefoot Bobby at the starting line. 

The race started at 5:40 am sharp. And, off we went with a vague idea of the challenge ahead of us. Arwa, Alifiya and I decided to stick together till we crossed the finish line. Our idea was to maintain a pace of 9 km per hour along the way. I was the pacesetter and I kept the 3 of us in check whenever our pace increased. Mumbaikers, as usual, were on the streets cheering us, as we ran along. I saw Radha Rangarajan and shook her hand as we overtook her. My eyes watered when I saw the Indian Naval band cheering us with a wonderful music around the 4th km mark. As we kept running, we could see the first light of dawn peeping at us. We also saw the leaders of the HM running in the opposite direction. 

It was time to get on the Bandra Worli Sea Link (click on the link to know more about the Sea Link) and off we went running on the long sea link. Growing up in the coastal town of Thoothukudi (தூத்துக்குடி), the sea had been a great part of my life. Hence, running over the Arabian Sea gave me a big boost of energy. The sea link was the only stretch where there was nobody to cheer the runners due to restrictions. Nevertheless, we had fun running on the Sea Link. The view of the sunrise from the Worli Sea Link was picture perfect! I met a gentleman from Pune called Raghu on the Sea Link. This was his 14th marathon and he runs barefooted. I saluted the man as he passed us. 

As we got off the Sea Link, we saw the 21 km mark and it was such a psychological boost for us. I had taken a Clif Energy Shot before the start of the race and I took a couple more on the way. By the 23rd km, I felt a painful blister developing on my right sole. This was the first time I had developed such a blister and I just didn't want to focus on that. But by the 29th km, the pain from the blister was increasing. I wanted to remove my shoe and put a band-aid on the blister, but didn't want to open a can of worms by doing so. Hence, I kept going. In hindsight, I should have stopped at a medical station and had the blister treated by a doctor. Lesson Learned, the hard way!

Around the 25th km mark, I met a gentleman from Boston running in Mumbai. His name was David. He had planned his vacation in such a way to run the SCMM 2013. We chatted for a bit and he pulled away. At the 30th km mark, I saw my Chennai friend Shahul Hameed from the Dream Runners group. He was struggling to run as he carried a severe ITB injury. 

The sun was now out, shining so bright on that Sunday morning. The humidity and the heat were still bearable. I emptied a GU gel sachet into my mouth around the 34 km mark and swallowed it quickly. I kept drinking lots of water and energy drinks along the way. The Mumbaikars were so kind enough to offer oranges, bananas, chocolates and biscuits. Salt was also offered along the way. The children cheered the runners so loudly and gave us high fives as well. 

Arwa, Alifiya and I pushed towards the finish line encouraging each other. We walked 100 to 200 m every now and then, but ran for the most part. After the 36th km, the pain from my blister was unbearable and walking made it even worse. So, I decided to slowly run without stopping for the rest of the distance. I had to break my commitment to Arwa and Alifiya in doing so. I pulled away and met both Shahul Hameed and David close to the 38th km mark. We formed a new trio and decided to run together till the finish line. And, that's exactly what we did. Three seasoned runners from various parts of the world encouraged each other and triumphantly crossed the finish line with our arms raised towards the heavens. It was a moment in history to cherish forever! That feeling of - "I finished a FM" was just so incredible and amazing! 

Every marathon runner always has to respect the distance of the marathon. I was mentally well prepared and I never underestimated the marathon distance of 42.2 km (26 miles). Hence I was able to finish decently with a timing of 05:16:34. It may not be the best of maiden marathon timings, but considering the painful 3 inch diameter blister on my right sole that slowed me down considerably for almost 19 km, I think it was a strong finish. Alifiya and Arwa finished closely behind me with a timing of 05:17. 

The Future

My next target is to achieve a sub 5 hour marathon finish soon...!