Why I love running

Well, running started as another activity to keep fit & healthy. And with increasing length of the runs, I began looking at crossing the next limit of endurance. But this was not all…

Initially, I had to slink out of bed, move around quietly (in the dark) while getting ready & sneaked out of the house quickly. Lest the wife’s sleep (even the daughter’s, but she sleeps more soundly) was disturbed. You surely know how it is. One would prefer distracting a tigress when she is just sitting down for the meal. Yes, running is a tough task. And as dangerous as a daru party in Gujarat.

But getting back drenched in sweat makes one ready to face the storm that awaits once we get back to the den. The sympathy factor helped too, for a true warrior never attacks a tired, drained out foe. Also, by the time I returned the kid would be getting to leave for school & I could avoid any backlash for the offences of the morning. There’s more to this – bragging rights each time I returned from an event with a medal. Even though it was only the finisher’s medal, it made them look up in awe at the achievement.

But the bad times (like the good ones) never last. Wife had a friend who wished to start walking for fitness (you can guess what type)s reasons. So, the two of them began going for post-dinner walks. But there was no improvement. On studying their routine, it was discovered that the culprit was the pani-puri wala who kept his stall open till late! Not that I was minded this, for I was now able to watch Govinda movies & football matches on the TV. But they did. And came to me for help (I never knew I was considered a fitness guru!). Which was when we zeroed down to the culprit after some RCA. I offered them 2 suggestions – switch to morning walks & take up running. They ignored both, for the ladies have the same affinity to pani-puri wala as bhakts have for a chai-wala.

Coming back to the point, we went to Kochi (Nov. 2015), where the wife ran the 5K (more about it here: A Spicy Run Along A Spicy Coast). And liked the festive atmosphere that defines a running event. Coming back, she shared her experience with her friend. They tried a 5K at Daman Wind Marathon next year (Dec. 2016) & decided they could run longer distances. I gave them a gradual progression programme so that they could do a HM at VIM 2017. Which marked a turning point in my running life.

While she still was a Ms. Know-it-all, but I was the expert on running. I was the one who would help her get through her 1^st HM. If I missed an alarm (after a late night out), she would wake me up. I was now boldly getting out of the house at wee hours for a run. And returned to a cup of tea prepared by the wife while she got ready for her run. And no lectures too!! Each time things appeared tricky, I just had to bring up her running & my mistakes would be history. I was no longer a Rahul Dravid at home, but a Virendra Sehwag.

But not for long. Having run two HM’s in successive months (VIM & SoleFest), she considered herself a veteran. At least, this was the equation in the household. While not a Sachin to my Viru, but definitely a Yuvi in relation to MSD. And then as another running season approaches, a tussle began for the prime running slot. Who leaves earlier & who gets to stay behind while the kid is still sleeping?

I realized that the post-demonetization world was transformed in more ways than one. Not one to give up easily (well, I am a runner), I tried all sorts of arguments but all were doomed. With threats of no tiffin for the office (met with a helicopter shot of packed lunches) & the kid going hungry to school (an unplayable Malinga yorker), she now decides the running schedules.

Hey, don’t feel sorry. Actually, I now get to sleep longer. And that’s something I like as much as running or a daru party. Now you know why I love running!!

How The Events Stack Up (Rounding Up)

Continuing where I left off in the previous post, I will briefly touch upon the “Overall Experience”. This covers the intangibles of an event, you may as well call it the X-Factor. It is what will make you come back again to the event. Like the beer which GRM so thoughtfully offers at the end of the run. On the other end of the scale we have RunGandhinagarRun. The route was quite flat most of the distance. The weather was pretty cool. There was no traffic whatsoever. And it was the fastest I had ever run over this distance. Add the company of Dr. Suresh Iyengar & I should have felt top of the world. But they forgot to identify the route for the benefit of (outstation) participants. Coming to the finish arena, this was the story all around. The memory remains & I don’t think I will run in Gandhinagar again.

Getting to business of this post, here are the scores of the events being considered:

   

	Start Time	Hydration / Fuel	Traffic Mgmt	Route	Weather	Crowds	Post-run Meal	Route Markers	X-Factor	Wtd Score
Rajkot	5	5	5	3	5	4	3	4	4	4.42
GRM	5	5	4	5	3	3	5	1	5	4.35
Spice Coast	5	5	4	4	3	3	5	4	5	4.33
SoleFest-1	5	4	5	4	2	2	5	1	5	4.03
Daman ’15	5	5	4	4	4	2	2	3	4	4.00
VIM ’17	5	4	4	3	4	4	2	1	5	3.94
Daman ’16	5	5	4	4	4	2	2	2	3	3.87
Zendurance	5	3	3	3	5	0	3	1	4	3.33
Gandhinagar	5	4	4	2	5	0	2	0	2	3.24
VIM ’16	1	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2.44
Weight	18	17	15	11	10	9	7	3	10

Let’s begin with the laggards. Zendurance is potentially a great event & not simply because they bundle a wine-tasting session with the registration fees. Only if they identify another route for the HM. Else this won’t be an event for repeat participation, as one can anyway visit Sula without paying those high registration fees. Die-hard runners can run to the vineyard for free & top it up with wine straight out of the casks. Again, Gandhinagar is an event that I will not recommend unless they have enough volunteers & clear markers to ensure the runners don’t stray off the route. They can learn a lot from VIM that has put in a much improved show in just one year.

Now to those placed #4 to #7, which form a pack. The last Daman Wind Marathon (2016) was much inferior to the year earlier. The goof up began with Bib distribution & one could feel something missing through the event. Though it will always gather a crowd as people in South Gujarat miss no opportunity to visit Daman! The others in this group are most promising. VIM 2017 surprised me beyond expectations. Firstly, by starting on time (they didn’t wait for the CM to arrive). Though the route took one out of the city, they ensured that the experience was worth it. Like putting the water shower at the toll plaza! Moving it to Jan 1^st week is another step that is expected to enhance the experience. Hope they again push the CM’s itinerary after the timed events are flagged off. And SoleFest did a good job in the 1^st edition itself despite less than a month of planning & execution. With more time to prepare & better weather, expect a far better event this time round (26^th Nov., mark the date in your calendars). And another round of sumptuous post-run brunch.

There’s not much separating the top-3 in the list. GRM has many loyal fans who religiously attend this event. I believe, Spice Coast also has its own set of regular out-station participants. Being tourist destinations & the events scheduled during peak tourist season, these will never be short of enthusiastic participants. Though one is surprised at Rajkot getting to the top of the table. Full credit to the organisers (Rajkot Municipal Corporation) who did a splendid job & ticked all the right boxes. More so because it was the 1^st time they were conducting this event. And to the Collector, who led by example & ran the full 21K himself. I will return to Rajkot, for a HM there is part of the unfinished agenda.

What is your takeaway from this post? Nothing, except pointers to what to expect at which event. Which need to be the deciding factor. For Spice Coast, though a good run in itself, is too distant to visit year after year. And despite not being (presently) in the top half, VIM is one place where I will always be found. 

The Good, The Bad... Before we Round up

Okay, we now know the criteria that will be used to compare the events & how I will rate them. I will now quickly go through these criteria for what was the best (or worst) experience for each.

Start time: Every event that I have been to, has started on time, give or take a couple of minutes. Full points to all. Except Vadodara International Marathon 2016 (VIM-16), though I have still given it a point because it started. With the experience of VIM-16, I was afraid this would be repeated at Gandhinagar too, being a city of babus. But no, they started on time which, I believe, is because the event is organized by runners. Need to point out that VIM-17 started on dot & is expected (hopefully) to do so in the next editions too.

Hydration/Fuel arrangement: This is adequately taken care of by the organisers, but inevitably supplies run out by the time slower runners are finishing their run. Kochi & Rajkot ensured this was not so. However, at Zendurance, Nasik, one found Enerzal was out of stock by the time the 10K runners reached the 5K turnaround. This was not on account of organisers running out of stock but failing to replenish it. Had they kept some bottles of wine there, runners would not have complained!

Traffic management: Toughest task for any organizer, this one is. But Rajkot managed it very well. For three reasons, I think – it was the local administration that was organizing the event, the collector himself was running the HM & also because the people of Rajkot are inherently friendly & patient. SoleFest also did a good job on account of good route selection that avoided early morning traffic. VIM-16 failed badly in this criterion simply because of a delayed start.

Route: Give this one to the tourist destinations. Spice Coast, Kochi, takes us through the beautiful old town areas with the backwaters turning up every now & then. Goa River Marathon (GRM), as the name suggests, courses along the river (and over it too) which is a good thing as Goa is otherwise synonymous with Beaches. Even Zendurance had a beautiful route beginning & ending at the Sula Vineyards. But making the HMers do a double loop makes it a bit boring the second time round. On the other hand, we have RunGandhinagarRun which is unfortunate enough to be held in Gandhinagar whose roads are laid out in a maze. No wonder, the 2-hour Bus itself lost its way (along with its passengers) at Gandhinagar.

Weather: Give this one to Zendurance. Perfect weather for distance running, neither too cold nor warm. Of course, all events are conducted when the weather is best. Except SoleFest, which had the disadvantage of finding a vacant slot in March. Not the best of times to run in Baroda. Having moved to end-November, things should turn out much better next time onwards.

Crowd support: It was a festival out there in Rajkot, maybe because it was the 1^st time such an event was taking place there. The municipal corporation had promoted the event very well & the locals were out in large numbers to witness it. They were not really inconvenienced much because they had to come out anyway to get their morning dose of ganthias. Zendurance is characterized by absence of any bystanders because it is conducted outside the town amidst the vineyards. But why so in Gandhinagar? I think the babus work very hard rest of the week to wake up early on a cold Sunday morning to watch some runners sweating it out.

Post-run refreshment: The spread at Kochi is any foodie’s delight. Steaming hot idlis along with dosas & omelets straight from the pan are what you get at Spice Coast Marathon. If you are planning to go there, I suggest you move out of town after the breakfast to have some fresh toddy. SoleFest scores full points here because of the awesome puri-bhaji it served. When you are a runner, you don’t bother about the calories you intake after a long run! I rank GRM in this bracket though the eatables they provide are not worth a mention, simply because they also give you a complementary can of beer. Shouldn’t Zendurance add a glass of wine to its fare, which is anyway served cold?

Route markers: It shouldn’t really matter but Spice Coast has taken this to stratospheric levels. Others shouldn’t even try to match it. Rajkot tried its best but doesn’t come close, though it leaves the rest far behind. ("Run, blood should circulate" is lifted from one such poster at Rajkot.) At the other end, we had budget-constrained SoleFest pasting KM markers on car windows & parking these along the route. I gave them 1 point for innovativeness! Hope Gandhinagar has directions pointed out next time round, for a zero score is not what you want year after year.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have also considered another factor – overall experience. But that is for the next post, when I will share how these events have scored. While you are waiting for it, you can share the best & worst experiences you have had for the other readers to benefit.