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.