Sunday, July 6, 2014

Bharath Marathon - Run for a Healthy Nation

We were here


About Bharath Marathon
Country's one of the biggest Traditional and Professional MARATHON took place in Chennai, first time in india the professional marathon added a cause of creating "TOBACCO FREE INDIA", associated with Tamil Nadu marathon association and supported by Dept of Public Health (Dept of Health & Family Welfare).RUN TO QUIT TOBACCO!"RUN FOR A HEALTHY NATION"

Our New City - Chennai
I would have never thought in my life to relocate to Chennai. But wherever your work is - you gotta get use to the life. 
After a hibernation of 9 months until Siya was born , we thought to venture out something new in Chennai. 
Came through this site on Marathon - registered and started training. 
I had done a few runs in Bangalore - the Midnight Marathon, Sunfeast 10k etc - this was a similar run but in Summers. The Summers here is a experience of a life time. We thought of giving it a try. Running on the famous route near the Marina Beach is breathtaking.


Practice Session
While Soma practiced a few runs in the apartment Gym, i was full on regular at the Fastrack Gym in Selaiyur. My Coach - Prem - fitness freak and a cyclist was hell on to train me for the big day. I thought a couple of times to run in the evenings on the weekend - but the heat was so strong that it was unbearable. 
As this was a moderate 5km run - running on the treadmill was much easier. 5km on a normal track would be 6 to 7.5 kms on the treadmill. I had kept a target to finish my training in 10 days and slowly increase the pace, was of high fatty foods. 

At the venue

Marathon Day. (08th June,2014 - Labour Statue, Marina Beach - Chennai)
We started from home at around 3am to reach early for the Marathon. 
This was the 1st time we had ever seen Chennai early morning. The Marina Beach was a fantastic venue. 
I was amazed to see the enthusiasm shared be fella folks,,,


Banners were well put, Security in place, Drones, cameras, water bottles - very well organized. 
Chennai Police had superb security arrangements. The entire running area diverted - even public buses. 
The Half Marathon of 21 kms and Mini Marathon left early at 5am. The Corporate Challenge ( 5km) was most of the people had registered. We had small kids from various schools nearby Chennai who had come for the run. Lots of youngsters and Chennai locals for the run,,,


We started sharp at 6 am, as i was increasing pace, i had to catch up with the timing and wanted to finish early. Soma was running pretty good, ever after maternity- her pace was really impressive. I had planned earlier not to stop until 4 kms - take only 2 breaks for water and the 5th km - at max speed. 
It was a moment to enjoy - fresh sea breeze, clean n tidy roads, runners in yellow T-shirt. Early morning citizens had come for a good cause to cheer the athletes,,

After a turn - we had to head back to the Labour Statue - now, i could see signboards for 2 kms - more relieved as i had finished a good distance. As the destination was a bit close - i increased my pace to get the best timings. Soma was running good. As i reached the finish line - got a sigh of relief. Acknowledge myself for a good finish - the total distance covered was 5 kms in 33 minutes - WOW - that's an achievement.
Soma finished the 5km at 50 mnts.

The marathon soon concluded followed by closing ceremony. Had a heavy breakfast and collected the certificates. Superb Sunday and moments to Cherish.

Bharath Marathon
https://www.facebook.com/bharathmarathon