IIMB Community 10Km Run- TvaRun- 17th-Feb-2013

Event name: IIMB Community Run- TvaRun
Event date: 17h-Feb-2013
Event venue: Bangalore
Run distance: 10 KM
Bib #: 145
Overall time taken: 65 minutes (Exact to be shared by event organizers)
Overall run Speed: 6.31 minutes per KM
Time of run: The run started at 7:00 AM
URL: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IIMB-Community-Run-TvaRun/508322475876259?ref=ts&fref=ts

Having participated in many running events throughout India in last 5-6 years, i can really say that one thing about the IIMB Community run that really stood out and that thing is the name of the event. It was called as "TvaRun" which in Hindi means "ACCELERATION". I found this a very beautiful word. The precision used to select the name of the event itself is an indicator of the care that was chosen to organize the entire event.

IIMB has a beautiful campus and i had recently enrolled for a Management program there, i hadnt so far gotten a chance to see the entire campus. Its lush green and inside of the campus looks quite unlike Bangalore of today (which is fast becoming a concrete city losing its greenery). With parking of vehicle being a challenge and me not showing due diligence to collect the Running bib the day earlier meant that i had to reach the venue early in the morning. With the run start time of 7:00 PM, i probably was the first one to reach there by around 5:30 AM. Being an early riser, i didnt complain reaching at the venue earlier but there was just one glitch that i was at a get together at the friends place till about 1:00 AM last night. I tried as much to escape the offer to Saturday night drinks but not all excuses work to escape drinks when you are with your close friends. So i had to hold the glass with Single Malt waiting and pretending to take a sip once in a while (i never drink on race eve). Though my attempt to pretend was caught couple of times but friends being friends understood my take (knowing that i am a serious runner for as long as they know).

I got the comfortable parking and then went around for the walk till the Bib collection and the other stalls were put up. Ii patiently observed things happening around me and finally got my Bib number. But run was still around an hour away so i just roamed around and soaked in the beauty of the incredible campus.

Eventually the much awaited starting announcement was made. I set my Endomondo running app, which is my constant companion for all the runs. The feature i like it is that it tells the Distance, pace after every Km so one can make changes to running and pace on the fly. The announcement could have been louder as folks close to start line could only comprehend what was being said but i knew it was usual route information. One of the things that i could hear and found strange at the first go was the action to collect Rubber bands at the end or every loop (there were 4 loops of 2.5 Km). While the purpose of collecting Rubber bands was understood (its a way to ensure that everyone went through all the loops) but given that audience was either IIM alumni or current students or faculty, i thought people could just be trusted to run fair. But i am sure organizers would have had a better perspective than i have to come up with this rule in first place. Thats what i thought and geared up for the start of the run.

Before this run, the last i ran was on 16th-Dec on Bengaluru Midnight marathon and that completed my own version of hat-trick of half marathons i.e. 3 half marathons in 3 straight months. After that i thought i deserved rest and did run actively for couple of months. So before the start of this run, the thoughts specific low on practice were running in my mind. I actually acknowledged this fact and committed to myself that i wont run for better timing but just for the love of running, which is what i have always done.

So at the swing of the flag, i along with other enthusiasts started off. The start was nice as the route had downward slope and it assisted in the pace and i completed first Km in around 5 min+. After that i continued to go steadily as my pace remained around 6 min 30 sec on an average. I didnt complain given the lack of practice. I was just happy running and with some great weather along. Towards the later half of the run, the sun did come out fully but with the brilliant shade of the trees surrounding the route, it could hardly have a greater impact on me. The aid stations were good and having very active volunteers who passed on water, other stuff quite proactively. Near to the main entrance part of the route were the cheering squad beating drums and cheering the runners. They worked tirelessly to encourage the runners. A big Thanks to them, probably they dont realize enough even a single act of cheer in long runs help recharge the runners and i felt great everytime i passed them. I tried to do my bit to Thank them verbally and clapping in coordination every time i passed them.

Towards the end of the run, especially the last 2 km, i put in more efforts to managed a decent time in the end. In the end, i sped past to the cheers of the people at the finish line. Very few things match the joy of crossing the finish line of a long distance run. I  have always run with 2 goals in my mind- i.e. to complete the run and secondly not being last in doing so :-) So i achieved both of them and completed the run in around 65 min.