The VIM 2018 earns 7 Stars

What do you call it when it ticks all the right boxes & what turns out is a blockbuster. The 7^th edition of Vadodara International Marathon (VIM) on 7^th January called itself the 7-star Marathon. Deservingly, because this one was a near flawless event.

I was doing my maiden FM & the usual gang was not in the assigned enclosure when I got to the venue. Rajinder Singh, who I usually bump into while running, was. My regular pacer, Suresh Iyengar, was doing the HM. But his running mate, Shital Pawar, was also in for his maiden FM & we were chatting when the race was flagged off. Thus, we started out together for the first time despite so many events that we have done together. Now, Shital is a guy who does his HM’s in 2 hours. He started out in the same fashion for the FM too. After a few hundred metres with him, I realized I was running too fast & asked him to carry on while I dropped my pace. I was wearing my GRM jersey with my name printed on it. Soon after falling behind Shital, this guy joins me & the first thing he asks me is how do they measure our timing. I asked him whether he was doing the FM (believing he was a HM participant who had started out with the wrong group) & he confirmed that. Dutifully informed him where the chip was located & how the timing was measured. He was also named Ashish & this perhaps made him approach a namesake.

This was his first event, not having participated in any HM earlier. But he assured me that he has been practicing long for this one, as he wanted the FM to be his first event. Though not as fast as Shital, he was also too fast for my liking & I wished him best for the run & slowed down to a comfortable (for me) pace. Later, looking at the timing website I found that this other Ashish in FM category had not crossed the 3^rd the time check. If you plan to run the FM in future, give your body enough time to get used to running long distances. (Yes, you will always get some running gyan on this blog.)

We go over the Vishwamitri overbridge shortly after the start. But for two bridges, (the other one coming just before the finish) & the slight incline at the FM turnaround, the route is quite flattish. At the bridge, I noticed two trains at the Vishwamitri Railway Station. Had they stopped to watch the marathon, or did the overzealous cops stop them to let the runners pass? I had a long distance to cover & I did not wait for the answer.

Crossing the Vishwamitri bridge, we came to Akshar Chowk where Rakesh Rawat turned up. Rakesh, we all know, runs for four things. When he doesn’t run, as in this VIM, he volunteers. He was also handling a camera this time. He is a very good runner & an equally committed volunteer. Sadly, he is not a good low-light photographer. Don’t know why Reni abandoned this post.

By this time the fastest of the HM runners were speeding past me. Just after crossing HCG Cancer Centre, the 2:00 hr bus of Rajesh Tiwari sped ahead. I ran after him & jokingly requested to let me aboard. He got the shock of his life seeing me with him & only his sturdy heart saved him. With HCG right behind, pls be assured that this was not putting him at any risk. But this was just a joke & I let the bus go without me.

The turnaround at the first time check & I am back on the Sun Pharma Road & onwards into the OP Road. The 10K runners had been flagged off by this time & OP Road was flooded with them. With a few known HM runners running past me. Kedar Borkar being one of them. I had gone to my first HM (bSafal in Jan. 2015) with him. During these three years, he has discarded his shoes & now runs bare feet. He really enjoys it. And saves a ton of money on running shoes too. Those of you who have known him only recently, pls be informed that the smile on his face has been there even when he ran in shoes. 

I heard my name being called out just before Manisha Circle. Looking behind, it turned out to be Sachin Parikh, out walking (he would have found it quite warm compared to the weather back in Canada, where he lives). A quick hug was all I had time for, this being the maiden long one. But he is here in Baroda this week only & I need to catch up with him one of these days.

As I mentioned, the 10K runners were all over OP Road & the cops had a tough time managing the traffic. They were firm in standing up to the aggressive crowd. In fact, the traffic was very well managed at the VIM this time. Nowhere else, except Rajkot, have I found it managed as well. Only if they are able to manage it even half as well during normal days, driving on Baroda roads would not be so dreadful & stressful.

Turning left from Old Padra Road, we move to low traffic areas. In fact, there is sparsely any traffic after Nilamber Circle till the Gotri-Sevasi Road. And practically none after we turned right towards Chandan multiplex. After Chandan, the road has large green tracts on both sides. Forget vehicles, one doesn’t even come across a human except some fellow runners. And the volunteers at the turnaround point. Piyush Kunal offered me whatever I wanted, subject to permissibility under the dry laws. I already had my bottle of water & declined his offer, cursing the prevailing law. But the ill will is momentary, for the route enchants the runner in me. The sun was already up by this time but there was no hint of heat, the weather being so cold. The route this edition was wonderful & hope VIM sticks to this one for all subsequent events.

We turn left upon reaching Sevasi-Gotri Road to return back to civilization. Traffic is still sparse. Volunteers are still there at the turn with the provisions. But Nikky Joshi is no longer seen. Maybe, he was too tired after the hectic last few days bringing up the event. And it is still lonely. There were a couple of runners ahead of me who I soon overtook. It is now around 10 KM (after crossing Decathlon the first time round) that I have been running with very few runners in sight. I am still going at a 07:00 min pace & feel (apart from lonely) this can be maintained for quite some time. Running along, a cyclist comes along & turns out to be Nikki. Unlike the previous editions, the volunteers this time were at their posts till the end. And not just Nikky or Piyush,

Now we turn right towards Nilamber circle. It feels closer to the finish now. A little ahead a guy is running backwards. I have seen many people running backwards or sideways in the midst of their runs. But this one just keeps going on in this fashion & I am convinced that this is his preferred style. And I wonder why he doesn’t wear his Bib on his front, which is actually his back. I mean, he had put his Bib on the chest but he was running backwards & it should have been on the other side. Later, I was told he did the entire FM running backwards. I think he did this so that he could count the no of runners who overtook him & be sure of his position even before the updated results are put up on the timing partner’s website. Coming to think of it, if someone runs backwards throughout should his/her splits be always considered negative? Also, I think the route for such runners should be from finish to start so that they appear normal to the others!!

I got a few calls on the mobile this time. The first one to do so was my good friend RK Menon. I opted not to receive it. He called again & when I picked it up (thinking it would be something urgent) he asks “kidhar pahucha”. It was just 25 KM & I was still feeling strong & gave him a straight answer. Had he been an hour or more later, it would have been a real nasty one. We haven’t met post VIM & when we do so, the first thing I will ask him is why did he ask that question. As I neared Nilamber circle, I got a call from the wife, who had completed her HM, asking me the same thing. She was lucky too. Lucky, because she also got a straight answer. But not lucky enough as, she informed me, the HM runners were being refused ORS on the way because it was being preserved for the FM guys. Later, at home, she informed that almost all the hydration points were handing out only water to the HMers, keeping the ORS & oranges for the FMers. The 02:45 HM pacer, Dina Patel, was totally pissed off with this & discarded her flag mid run. It is a good thing to not let the provisions run out when those doing the FM come around, for they need it the most. But not refusing to support the HM runners. This was the only shortcoming of this edition.

Its over 35 KM now & I am not in a very good shape. Walk breaks have begun. The runs are at a pace of over 07:45. The walk breaks keep getting longer. It is hurting more. There are some 2/3 runners who got ahead when I took a walk break. When they do so, I get ahead. All are in the same boat. During one of these walks, a group of armymen runs past. I pull myself up & start running, keeping up with them for some time. Which exacerbates the pain. The knee hurts badly when stretched. Even when I walk. A little after 38 KM, I stopped tracking. I will walk rest of the way & still finish much before the cut off time.

I was already on the OP road. The traffic is still being managed for the event. I recall the previous year, when some of us runners (Reni, Nishant, Harjeet, Ajay) positioned ourselves under the Fatehganj overbridge to stop the traffic when the FM runners passed by. But nothing like that this time round. Take a bow, team VIM. A car slowed down as it crossed me. It was Rajiv Bhatia along with Mr. Onkar Singh. I had my water & didn’t need the fruits & they went ahead. They were still on the job. Reni zoomed past & stopped a little ahead, bringing out his camera. I ran a bit as he took the pictures. Running photos ke liye kuchh bhi karunga!!

Crossed OP Road at Tube company junction. The traffic is stopped as I approach, but I can only walk. I go past Classic Tea, but there is no one hanging around & missed a cup of tea with friends. I cross the Gateway hotel & am almost near the finish. And soon I am at the Akota-Dandia Bazaar bridge. Reni arrives on his bike, egging me on. At the top of the bridge the finish point comes into view. It is still some way away. As I get to the other side of the bridge, the runner a little ahead of me is getting directions from a guy in the car. I reach there & the car stops to guide me to the finish. It turned out to be Dr. Nagesh Kamat, who runs ultras when life gets a bit boring & today's 04:50 FM pacer. Another biker has joined the runner in front, who is also only able to walk. I am joined by Reni. And I realize I have miscalculated the cut off time by around 15 minutes. But I am so close to the finish that I will make it. And I did. There are no runners around, except Hiral. A short chat with him & I get into the medical center for some much-needed stretching. It took some time to find a vacant bed, for all the runners were inside. The guy did a good job & I felt, except for a painful knee, much better. I came out with the medal still round my neck.

A Safal Run at bSafal Amdavan Marathon

It all began here. Ahmedabad, the place where I was born, & bsafal, my first HM (in Jan 2015). So this was a homecoming run of sorts. Driving to the venue to collect our bibs, we found metro construction along portions of previous years’ route. We were worried that it would be very difficult to control the Ahmedabad traffic during the latter part of the run, especially now that there is a FM on the race menu too. Going through the route on the event website, we found that the organisers were taking us west this time. Rather Far West, as western Ahmedabad always meant the part lying west of the Sabarmati & we would be running along the SG Highway & the Ring Road. A good choice as both these roads have wide service roads that will assure the runners don’t interfere with the traffic (and vice versa) except at junctions.

The 6:00 AM flag off (on schedule) was preceded immediately by singing of the national anthem. Now, there are residential apartments adjoining the eastern part of the venue. I wondered what should a person, who hears the anthem being played while half asleep, do? Is he expected to stand to attention? But thoughts such as these are not advisable in Ahmedabad, a city where patriotism meets culture. Sorry, read it as conspicuous display of patriotism & culture. As in the case of this runner (though he forgot to wear traditional footwear during the run!) who carried this flag through the distance.

We get to the SG Highway at Gurudwara Junction & turn northwards. Around 17 years back, SG highway was actually a highway, i.e. a dark, unlit stretch of road outside the city. But I often visited it (along with good friend Wilhelm Singh) as there was a dhaba besides the gurudwara that also served chicken. In fact, that was the only non-veg joint (known to us) to the west of Sabarmati. Unlike the earlier occasion, this was the only bout of nostalgia this time. Today the SG Highway is more of an internal city road, lined with retail, commercial & residential space. We turn west towards the Ring Road & soon passed an under construction project named “Satyamev Eminence”, which is expected to be a “posh” workspace. Now, one associates the word satya with the likes of Gandhi (of the bapu variety) but definitely not something like “posh”. But this is a sign of the changed times, considering the netas (no names, as the list is endless) we have today.

As is now the practice, I was running along with Dr. Suresh Iyengar who has this uncanny ability to run at a consistent pace from beginning to the end. This time, Rakesh Rawat also gave us company, which indicates that the legend of Dr. Iyengar, the pacer, continues to grow. The Ring Road announced itself with an abrupt drop in temperature. Most of this part (unlike the eastern & northern stretches) of the Ring Road still doesn’t have any buildings alongside & there are open, green stretches on both sides. Apart from the cold (expected in the last week of December), there was a chill in the air too, making it feel colder. Of the three of us, none agreed with this lady runner. And I think Dr. Iyengar found her views a bit disturbing for Rakesh & I perceived him speeding up. Maybe, it was the chill which made him run faster. Whatever the reason, the pacer in Dr. Iyengar makes it look so easy even when in acceleration mode.

Going some further we saw a lady pacer a little ahead of us. As both the 02:30 pacers were men, we correctly guessed her to be the 02:45 pacer. Now, we were in a state wedded to BJP & in a city that is the karmabhoomi of Amit Shah & Narendra Modi. I realized that if we ran behind this lady pacer, who was named Sonia, we could be mistaken for being Congress supporters. I shared this with Rakesh & Dr. Suresh who too agreed with me. One of her passengers, overhearing us, assured us that such is not the case, but I believe that was more to save himself from some embarrassment! We disregarded his words & moved ahead as there are some compromises that are never made.

Distance running events provide lot of food for thought, turning most runners into philosophers. Running along the SG Highway, I came across an area barricaded by corrugated sheets with the words “Building Tomorrow” clearly visible from a distance. Inside, it was just a piece of open land, but a swanky entrance lined with potted plants was already built. Isn’t this true with most other aspects of life, including running, too? The doors of tomorrow have to be built today, else it will forever remain a dream. No one becomes a distance runner overnight. It’s the short runs one starts with that make us complete the long ones. So if you intend to run a HM/FM next year, begin the preparation right now.

There were a lot of things that made this edition of bsafal a very well managed & organized event. Primarily, it was the hydration provided. As per the route map (if I recall correctly), the organisers had planned hydration points every 4 km. But we found them at every 2 km, at least in the 1^st half for I did not even notice this later having broken off near the half-way (as is the practice). At the end of the Ring Road stretch, in fact, just as I came to the turn I heard a once-popular song from that Manoj Kumar starrer Kranti – Zindagi na toote ladi… (https://youtu.be/0K8wJnCq2pY). I would never have believed earlier that someone could listen to this particular song while running. But as I said earlier, patriotism runs in an amdavadi’s blood. And our friend here proved it again.

We turn left from Ring Road to move towards SG Highway. The road is wide with practically no traffic at this time. But it’s a RCC road, not the best one to run on. I opted to run on the pavement which had paver blocks, not much better but still better than the RCC surface. And this is quite a long stretch too. The organisers should consider an alternate stretch next time round. Barring this one, rest of the route was tar road, except a small stretch where metro construction was underway, which made it feel like a trail run (minus the vegetation)! So, we got a variety of running surfaces this here. Before reaching this portion, came across a tea stall with an interesting name – Khetarwala Bapa Tea Stall. Which shows that the average gujarati can smell a business opportunity before anyone else & knows how to encash it. I don’t know how the Khetla Aapa franchise reacted to this, but they have moved far ahead (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/humble-chaiwallah-vs-chai-chain-will-khetla-aapa-bitten-tea-kiosks-survive-in-long-run/articleshow/61855510.cms) from their origins as a typical chai kitli.

This enterprising spirit has taken gujaratis palces & you will find them all over the globe. Essentially peace loving, they assimilate with the local culture easily, though the magnitude may differ. Like this runner here, who left no one in doubt where he came from (or where wished to go?). Our American Desi friend had a peaceful run, but would it have been so had he similarly dressed up in the Indian tricolor? But this is not a social/political post & let us stick to the run only.

For the entire stretch west of SG Highway, the participants & the traffic did not disturb each other except at a junction on the Ring Road where the FMers need to cross the road. The traffic police did a very good job manning the junctions. It also appears that the residents in this part sleep late on Sundays & stock up on morning supplies so as not to venture out in the cold. The volunteers also did a very good job & no point was found unmanned even towards the end of the route. I particularly liked the watermelons & chikki bars at fueling stations. Watermelons actually double up as hydration too, which was so thoughtful of the organisers. Running in the cold, whatever the distance, always finds me with a running nose, though it is not so much of a trouble as I usually breathe with the mouth. This one was no different. But I couldn’t eat the chikkis & breathe at the same time & had to alternate between the two. A very difficult task, especially when running!! Fortunately, I realized that I had a bottle of water with me & used it to clear the nose & wash the hands. Rest of the distance was very comfortable, though I didn’t get find chikkis later (till after the finish point).

We get back to the SG Highway as we near the end. The sun is up by this time & so are the amdavadis. Even the temperature is higher now, though the traffic at the junctions is still manageable thanks to the efforts of the traffic police. I have been running at a gradually decreasing pace & did not have much left inside. However, the weather being good & not having run much the previous weeks, the legs held on. We turn east at the gurudwara junction for the home stretch. This is a slight climb but one had to keep going to finish under 02:30. The traffic at the junction at the AES ground (just before the finish line) is now restive but the traffic police manages to hold them to let the runners pass. Which helps one finish at a fastest pace of the run. Looking at the pace chart after I finished, I realized that this one was run at a near negative pace. Thanks to Dr. Iyengar who unknowingly speeded up on the Ring Road & the route which did not have any traffic holding up the runners.

But the best part was tea seved in kulhad’s at the finish point (on payment basis). And the quantity of serving was much more than the famed “Amdavadi Chai”. No better way to end a half marathon!