On the 26th of Nov I participated in the Hutch Pune International Marathon. This Marathon is the oldest in India. This was the 21st run conducted in the beautiful city of Pune. BTW, this marathon is used as the selection point for India's olympic team for marathon.
The 42k run started @ 7.30 am, with some 7000 participants, which included 50 professional athletes. Well starting point is the only time I get to see them... after which they all take off like a bullet. Evertime, the gun is fired to start a race, I always have goose pimples, and I say to myself, that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The excitement is always such that I am panting by 5k, but slowly the body and thoughts stabilise by 8-10k. Its only around 10k I am able to get into the rhythm, where strides and breath get into sync.
There was good traffic management and water points were enuf. But not sure why small kids in school uniform were made to stand in the sun, waving small flags. I could manage only 20k in this run since there was a time barrier of below 1:30 for completing 20k else you are stopped...... and I took 2:02. Actually 1:30 is really fast timing by any standards. Will have to leave my job, hire a coach to achieve it. I did a fast 10k (my standards) in about 00:54 mts and was looking upbeat to do 20k below 1:50, but slight elevations and unevenness in roads got better of me and my calf and left knee were really hurting by the time I did 20k. I think I overstressed .
Over all it ways a good experience. This was the second time I participated in Pune marathon. Last year (04rth Dec 2005) I had clocked 2:11.
The 42k run started @ 7.30 am, with some 7000 participants, which included 50 professional athletes. Well starting point is the only time I get to see them... after which they all take off like a bullet. Evertime, the gun is fired to start a race, I always have goose pimples, and I say to myself, that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The excitement is always such that I am panting by 5k, but slowly the body and thoughts stabilise by 8-10k. Its only around 10k I am able to get into the rhythm, where strides and breath get into sync.
There was good traffic management and water points were enuf. But not sure why small kids in school uniform were made to stand in the sun, waving small flags. I could manage only 20k in this run since there was a time barrier of below 1:30 for completing 20k else you are stopped...... and I took 2:02. Actually 1:30 is really fast timing by any standards. Will have to leave my job, hire a coach to achieve it. I did a fast 10k (my standards) in about 00:54 mts and was looking upbeat to do 20k below 1:50, but slight elevations and unevenness in roads got better of me and my calf and left knee were really hurting by the time I did 20k. I think I overstressed .
Over all it ways a good experience. This was the second time I participated in Pune marathon. Last year (04rth Dec 2005) I had clocked 2:11.
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