Marathon...

I'm feeling a sense of achievement, though there is also a feeling that my legs donot belong to me anymore. :)

I participated in a 5 km run yesterday.  It was organised by Running and Living which is an NGO started by this man named Nitin Varghese. He is an IIM A passout and worked in various MNCs for a couple of years before giving it all up for doing what he liked to do. The result was Running and Living which has the aim of making running a habit for atleast 200 million people.(For more details see ‘The Week May 9, 2009 issue’)

The run started at the Chandigarh Golf Range which lies just behind Sukhna. It was to start at 6 AM  which means I got up at 5…an achievement considering the fact that I had slept at 2. But I was determined to go…had been for quite some time. I reached at my friend’s place at 5:50 AM and then we started off together.

There were around 100 people of all age groups. And I was amazed by a really old uncle. He was running faster then most of us. My daily aerobics stood me in good stead and I was able to manage the first 2.5 km very well. Didn’t stop running at all while most of the people were already walking. After reaching the 2.5 km point, we were handed over a token which actually was a 3 day trial coupon of the Elementia gym at the Chandigarh Golf Club. 

Ok, now for the remaining 2.5 km of the run. Well, you could say I was dragging myself. Was stopping after every 10 minutes. Man, I need to further improve my stamina. But what struck me was how people were cheering others. What with complete strangers encouraging and bucking me up all the way, it felt really good.  

And I did manage to finish off my run, though I was doubtful at the beginning. There were no winners  or losers..just a sense of having done something worthwhile. Health, friendship, frolic was what it all about.  

PS: The one in the cream T-shirt in the above pic is me. :)