Sunfeast World 10K Run- 23rd-May-2010

Event name: Sunfeast World 10k
Event date: 23rd-May-2010
Event venue: Bangalore
Run distance: 10 KM
Bib #: 4513
Overall time taken: 69 minutes (Exact to be shared by event organizers)
Overall run Speed: 6.9 minutes per KM
Route: http://images.photogallery.indiatimes.com/photo/5917754.cms?
http://sunfeastworld10k.indiatimes.com/race-day-information/Open-10-K-Category/articleshow/5670861.cms
Time of run: The run started at 8:10 AM
URL: http://www.sntrun.org/
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/amagazine/Sunfeast10KRun2010#
Image source: http://images.photogallery.indiatimes.com/photo/5917754.cms?

Running experience:
Certainly the most special run for me as this was entirely dedicated to my new born son- Anusheel born exactly 5 days before this run.
The start of the run had a same story as with some of the previous runs i.e. i could not get much of the practice, infact no practice at all for last 2 months or so (except the occasional RFL runs). Something i need to seriously consider changing in the coming time.

From my experience in the past runs, i knew that the traffic situation is quite messy during the Sunfeast 10K run. So i parked my vehicle around 3 Km from the venue and boarded an Auto till the venue. Reaching the venue was quite challenging with loads of traffic diversion. Despite all this, i along with my cousin (Rahul) managed to reach on time for the run.

I heard the event organizers announce that for Open 10K run there were around 7000 participants. Thats a huge number for Kanteerava Stadium to hold but as it happened in last 2 years, this run was quite well managed too. Unlike last years, the timing chip was mandatory for all the participants.

The run started at an sluggish pace. With scores of people around, it was tough finding space to put one's feet on the group so the first kilometer went quite slow. After that it was fine. I purposefully ran slower than my usual pace. Since i was out of practice, i was trying to find out how my body was responding. This is one thing i learned in today's run- Learn to respect one's body in marathon. We cannot take for granted that the body will be able to carry the load always. This knowledge helped me immensely as i was not in best of shapes for the run. I knew when i had to slow down or catch pace.

The water stations were at regular Intervals and i deliberately took Electral and water at regular times. One of the new things that i saw introduced in this run was the Cool zones after about the half the distance. Cool zones were nothing but a covered place along the route with constant spray of cold water. I did not find it very effective, may be it did not work as expected.

Another new thing was the presence of Cheering stations along the route, it was not there in any of the last editions. It helped to hear the cheers like- "Go Bangalore Go", "Dont listen to your legs, only your mind", "Only 3 Kilometers to go..."
I was able to complete the run in around 70 minutes, may be less but i am happy that i was able to sustain myself throughout the run.

Feet on the street- 09th-May-2010

Event name: Feet on the Street
Event date: 09th-May-2010
Event venue: Bangalore, Cubbon Park
Run distance: 5 KM
Overall time taken: 34 minutes
Overall run Speed: 6.8 minutes per KM
BIB number: 533
Route: Marked route in Cubbon Park
Time of run: The run started at 7:10 AM
URL: http://www.feetonthestreet.in/
Pictures: None

Running experience:
I was on the running track after quite a lull. For some reason, hadnt been training for 2-3 weeks so getting to this run was mentally challenging for sure. But as usual, in the end i was glad i made it.
For a good change, this Feet on the Street run was run to support 3 charaties (details mentioned in the next section). The one that quite caught my attention was tGo Support, which was working towards a rather unconventional cause of providing the right means to prospective Olympians, which is an often neglected cause. I hope to associate with them in coming time.

With time to be given to 3 Charitable organizations to give their introductions, the run started around 7:10 AM. Being out of practice, i purposly decided not to push myself hard. So i went on to cover the entire distance at a steady pace. The only time i accelerated was the last leg of the race when i suddenly realized that amount of reserve energy that i have and went on in a full throttle.
Overall, a satisfying run and glad to complete it without much of after effects- read pains. :-)

Other Notes:
Below content taken from Feet on the Street May 2010 announcement email-
GoSports Foundation
Registered as a non-profit trust in September 2008, GoSports Foundation was conceptualized by an Olympian, and graduates of Harvard and Oxford who wanted to translate their passion for sport into a concrete idea that strengthens the future of Indian sport.
In India, junior talent in Olympic disciplines has very little recognition and funding support to motivate them to stay in their sport and proceed to senior and international levels. At GoSports Foundation we believe that champions are created when the right talent gets the right support at the right time. We have directed our efforts toward providing crucial financial support for high-potential athletes. We are committed toward building an India where the best sporting talent, regardless of economic background, physical ability, religion, caste or region is given fair opportunities to perform and incentives to excel.
We invite you to be a part of the GoSports Foundation Sporting Revolution.

India Literacy Project
India Literacy Project, ILP, is a volunteer based non-profit organization dedicated to the cause of literacy in India. By empowering every individual they serve with functional literacy and an understanding of their basic rights and responsibilities, they strive to be a catalyst for 100% literacy in India.

proVISION ASIA
proVISION ASIA was started in Bangalore with an objective to assist the differently abled and encourage them to live a life of self reliance. To enable them so that, they provide differently abled people from very weak economic background, free mobility aids like wheelchairs, crutches, calipers, walkers; provide physiotherapy and sponsor corrective surgeries; sponsor education to many of the special kids who are disabled or whose parents are disabled; provide job placement services and mobility aid camps in villages with an aim to reach out to the people who cannot afford to come to Bangalore.

Science and Technology Run- 11th-Apr-2010

Event name: Science and Technology Run
Event date: 11th-April-2010
Event venue: Bangalore, Indian Institute of Science
Run distance: 10 KM
Bib #: 2303
Overall time taken: 67 minutes
Overall run Speed: 6.7 minutes per KM
Route: Marked route in Indian Institute of Science
Time of run: The run started at 7:45 AM
URL: http://www.sntrun.org/
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/amagazine/ScienceAndTechnologyRun11thApril2010#

IISc Image courtesy: http://z.hubpages.com/u/332603_f496.jpg

Running experience:
This run marked the 100th Anniversary celebrations of prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc) . Runners for Life had organized the usual Feet on the Street run on the same day. I usually don't miss Feet on the Street runs but when organizers could not oblige to my request of changing the date of Feet of the Street, i had to choose this run because of it being a 10K and chance to run on different terrain.

I reached for the run along with my cousin(Rahul) by around 6:45 AM on a rather hot Sunday morning. Having completed the registration formalities, we stood in anticipation for the run to start at prescribed time of 7:30 AM. But the organizers seemed to be a bit lax with some organizational arrangements still on the way and soon they started customary introduction of sponsors and some esteemed professors. All this (including all invited individuals on stage speaking a few "words") made the run schedule move up a bit and by around 7:40 AM or so, we were at the start line eagerly waiting for the run to start. Apart from inherent enthusiasm with every run, one more reason we wanted to the run to start early was because of heat. The sun was unforgiving. There was one elderly gentleman at the start line who intended to give directions on "Dos" and "Donts" regarding the run. His words reflected his simplicity as well as a bit of Ignorance. Inagine this- "This is the start of 10Km run in which both Ladies and Gentlemen will run together. Also remember that this is a run and not the walk and you are not supposed to walk." The audience certainly took these words in a lighter vein and had a good laugh. After a while, Finally the race was declared open to my relief.

I knew the sun would be a challenging factor in this run because of start timings but one of the comforting factors were the tall trees throughout the IISc. Though the usual Bangalore breeze was missing but the greenery certainly helped a lot. The terrain was quite challenging too. With the initial part of run starting on leveled road, the terrain soon took us to uneven areas within a sort of mini forest. For most part of the run, the terrain remained zig zag and full of uneven surface. The terrain reminded me of Kaveri Trail 10k run, which was one of the most challenging and physically demanding routes that i have been part of. I had passed through the institute from the outside road quite a times before but could never imagine it to be so huge as it was. The event was fairly reasonably organized with the help of many volunteers from the institute. I maintained a steady pace and did not really push hard during the most of the run. Just an energy saving tactic to deal with heat. Overall, it was as usual an incredible moment crossing the finish line.

RFL Mad 5 run- 21st-Mar-2010

Event name: RFL Mad 5 Run
Event date: 20th-March-2010
Event venue: Bangalore, Prakruthi Resort (near Olde Bangalore resort close to Airport)
Run type: Relay race with team of 5 and each participant running
Overall time taken: 90 minutes
Overall run Speed: NA. I completed 10 rounds out of my team's 49.
Route: Marked route in Prakruthi resort
Time of run: The run started at 7:00 AM
URL: http://runnersforlife.com/events/rfl-mad-5-run
one more...http://runnersforlife.com/page/the-mad-5-run
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/amagazine/RFLMad5Run#

Running experience:
This run was organized to mark the 5 years anniversary of Runners for Life (RFL) . I must say the organizers at RFL has done a tremendous job over these years not only to connect the Running community by organizing world class running events but also by working with many charitable organizations to bring the smiles to often neglected and ever needy sections of the society.
Before i started for this particular run, i had an idea that this run would be some sort of a long distance run to be run in the stipulated time (1 hour 30 min). But soon after reaching the venue my notions about this run were corrected. The venue was a rather secluded and serene resort close to the North of Bangalore. One good part for me was that this venue was not too far from my residence.
The organizers explained the format early on- it was a relay race and hence a team race with each team comprising of 5 runners (with "5" signifying 5th anniversary of RFL). Each runner had to run a round of around 450 mts and the next turn to run would come only after all 5 people in the team had completed their respective laps. All this sounded quite trivial considering all the people who signed up were long distance runners. I am sure some people would have felt- 450 mts., thats sort of below dignity! But all that ego fell down like pack of cards once the run ended.

Each team had a leader and the one leader the team i belonged to was one Mr.Yasuhiro Honda , who had run distances as long as 100 Km with a smile on his face. We were about to start the run and our leader- the man of few words, just said- "Enjoy the run". No pep talk about winning, no strategies against competition, just simple words to Enjoy running.
The format of the run was tougher than many anticipated. The part of run that was most challenging was the wait between the laps. The wait time certainly stiffed the muscles and by the time your chance to run again came, it was a challenge running with seemingly "heavy" legs. There was another lesson i realized just after the first lap. As i started my first lap, i ran like a machine soon to be finding myself running out of breath. Soon afterwards, i got a feel of the format that is to be a consistent runner than just being fast. Lesson learned early on!
My team did not bad at all- we finished joint 2nd with our team completed 49 laps in 1 hour 30 minutes. The team that came first did 52 rounds.
Overall, the morning well spent with a unique run experience.

Feet on the Street- 14th-Mar-2010

Event name: Feet on the Street
Event date: 14th-March-2010
Event venue: Bangalore, Cubbon Park
Run distance: 5 KM
Overall time taken: 35 minutes
Overall run Speed: 7 minutes per KM
Route: Marked route in Cubbon Park
Time of run: The run started at 7:00 AM
URL: http://www.feetonthestreet.in/
Pictures: None

Running experience:
This run was a week after the Countours International Women's day 10K run. The best
part about the Feet on the Street runs is that it happens in Cubbon Park which has a lot of greenery and even on early Sunday morning, one can see a lot of like minded people exercising. For some reason, it always feels great after completing Feet on the Street run in Cubbon park. This time was no different. Though i went a bit slow as compared to my usual pace but it was something i felt comfortable doing i.e. not exert too much and enjoy each and every step. Good run completed in around 35 minutes of time.


Other Notes:
This times charity partner is ImagineIndia, an organisation formed with the basic premise that one person CAN make a difference. It’s an organisation that believes that each of us out there wants to do something for the needy and ImagineIndia provides a space for all the little drops to become an ocean. ImagineIndia is currently focused on child care and development. ImagineIndia works with grass root initiatives and projects aimed at child development and education with community involvement. ImagineIndia adopts rural schools with the objective of improving the facilities, infrastructure, quality of education and the overall joy of schooling. ImagineIndia also connects potential donors and volunteers with other NGOs, enabling the NGOs financially, helping them focus on their objectives and increase capacity. For more, check - www.icanimagine.org

Contours International Women's day run- 07th-March-2010

Event name: Contours International Women's day run
Event date: 07th-March-2010
Event venue: Bangalore, Ulsoor Lake
Run distance: 10 KM
Overall time taken: 67 minutes 56 seconds (for 10.25 KM)
Overall run Speed: 6 minutes 37 second per KM
Route: 3 Rounds of Ulsoor Lake equals around 3.3 Km. So, the 10Km run involved 3 rounds of Ulsoor lake.
Time of run: The run started at 6:30 AM
Bib number: 685
URL: href=http://www.contoursinternational.in/womens-day-run/index.html target="_blank
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/amagazine/CountoursInternationalWomenSDayRun05thMar2010#

Running experience:
This run was my 5th 10k run and certainly one of the better ones. One of the positive factors was that this run started quite early in the morning and none of the runs that i have been part of started as early as 6:30 AM. So the start was just perfect as the run started in mild darkness under a sort of moon light. A refreshing start indeed! I ran the first Kilometer rather fast completing the same in around 5 minutes 30 seconds. For the later part of run, i ran at my normal speed. The run terrain was not plan for the entire run, there were places which were rather up and down resembling peaks and valleys. One of the things that i didnt like about the run was that most part of the run happened along with traffic in the nearby lanes. Towards the later part of the run, the traffic grew more making it a bit tough to deal with pollution straight on the face. Each run has its tough spots and for this run traffic was a thing to deal with. One of the other positive aspects being the participation of Women true to the spirit of Women's day. It was good to see Women runners in rather big numbers. I was able to complete the run in close to 67 minutes, which happens to be my fastest 10 timings. My cousin Rahul, who ran with me was as usual there at the finish line much before me.
The post run event was chaired by Reeth Abraham , one of the accomplished athletes of the past.

Overall a very satisfying run!

The baby steps

Should I write about my running experiences ?
This is exactly one of the thoughts that has been occupying my mind in the recent while. As the answer to this call was always in affirmative and i am finally creating some time over a weekend to make this blog happen.
Since the time i participated in my first public run in Bangalore International Marathon Run on 16th-Dec-2007, running has occupied an important place of sorts in my mind and hence in my life.
It is just natural that i go ahead and pen down my experiences through this medium. Hoping that going one step at a time- this blog keeps the pace of my running!

Here's to the first baby step towards making this blog happen!