Runners set ... GO !
Q- What is common to Madras Mapilae, Velachery Veerasamys, and Taramani Talaivarey? A- These are the various names we thought up for our 5K run team.
Eight of us had decided to participate in a 5 Km run/walk, organized by Vibha, a non-profit organization raising money for development projects in India.
After quite some brainstorming for the team name we decided to call ourselves 'Tarams Thambis'. Nov 20th, Saturday, 8:30am, we all gathered at the race point, trying to pin up the jersey numbers (is that what they are called) to our shirts. Inspired by Gebrselassie and El Guerrouj we decided to plan the race. After discussing a lot of strategy for the race, we finally assembled at the start line. More than 225 participants included kids, moms pushing their babies in prams, and old ladies with their dogs (sometimes the last category can be very competitive). At the tick of 9:00, a pretty girl flagged off the run. And we too took off ...
We struck to our strategy of running at a comfortable pace from the start to the last leg of the race, where we would sprint (maaajor strategy eh?). Thanks to this plan lots of people kept overtaking us, but we still struck to our mega strategy. Two of our team mates also sped away, three of us followed the plan, and three others struck together behind. As we came towards the end of the first 400 mts, we gradually overtook the early sprinters. The race leaders had already opened up a huge gap to us and we knew it would be very difficult to catch up. A few hundred steps later came the first pit stop - a gatorade booth. I had seen in the olympics how marathoners (or marathonists?) would grab water bottles from people at the water booths, drink a part of it, pour most of the rest over their heads and then just drop the bottle. For a moment I wanted to imitate them, but then I was afraid of the stains that the gatorade might leave on my number 10 jersey. I managed to suck in two mouthfulls of the orange energy while on the run. Now disposing that tumbler was not very easy. I had run with it for some 200m till I found a trash can (and this is no indicator of my cleanliness quotient).
Soon, one of us three was left behind as his shoe laces wanted to tied more than once. And after a few hundred metres the other one was also slowed down. I gently ran behind the old lady and her dog, both of whom showed no signs of being tired. A few steps later I was beside a cute girl. I ran beside her for some time hoping for some conversation but this definitely was not the right time and I continued to run. At the next turn I encountered another volunteer group, who winked and told me that the finish line was nowhere near. I had been trying to overtake the old lady and her dog for quite some time now, but they had other plans. Now I hoped for some of the runners to slow down, and sure they did. Some of the participants had started walking. This cheered me up and I breezed past(this does not mean speed in any way) them, and so did the old lady and her dog. I knew that two of my team mates who had left us early in the race might be very close to the finish line by now. But then I could see one of them ambling/limping about 200m ahead of me. But El Guerrouj said .. machaan, don't hurry, stick to your "game plan". Soon I passed him and so did the old lady and her dog, who were quite ahead of me by now.
Another gatorade booth and I decided against making a pit stop this time. The dog gave up and the old lady was trying to pull it. Thanks to the dog, I passed the old lady, and was saved from the self humiliation of being beaten by an old lady. I was almost at the last leg of the race. As I thought of sprinting, I could not see anyone ahead or behind me. I bulbed bigtime, there was no point sprinting and undoubtedly our strategy had cupped. But then Gebrselassie flashed from no where and shouted "machi ... sprint". And so did I. As I took the last right turn I could see four people trying to maintian their pace till the finish. My legs had gone numb by now, but I kept sprinting. One down, two down, and three down. The fourth one was very near the finish line, but so was I. I put in all the enegry, but she beat me by not more than a metre. My team mate who had finished before me was cheering for me, but then all I could do was to collapse on the grass. And then bananas and gatorade happened. I'm sure I did not finish in the top 20, but the satisfaction of finishing the race was great. In another five minutes or so three more of my team mates finished. And the rest after some time. For the team event the four best times from each team were added, and guess what, we were first !!!
The prize distribution began and soon the pretty girl (who started the race) announced the first place in the team event - Tarams Thambis. All of us began shouting hysterically. Manda Makara Maada Makara - yaei yaei yaei yaei. Everone was shocked for a second except for the IIT Madras guys, who understood the sentiment attached to this chant;) We were all totally high, not because we won a three month free membership at 24 hour fitness gym, but because all of us had finished the race. Aaaaaaaahhaaa !!!!!!!!
PS1: I felt sorry for the old lady and her dog.
PS2: We received a mail just today informing us that we were actually second and were awarded first prize by mistake. Obviously, we ignored the mail.
Eight of us had decided to participate in a 5 Km run/walk, organized by Vibha, a non-profit organization raising money for development projects in India.
After quite some brainstorming for the team name we decided to call ourselves 'Tarams Thambis'. Nov 20th, Saturday, 8:30am, we all gathered at the race point, trying to pin up the jersey numbers (is that what they are called) to our shirts. Inspired by Gebrselassie and El Guerrouj we decided to plan the race. After discussing a lot of strategy for the race, we finally assembled at the start line. More than 225 participants included kids, moms pushing their babies in prams, and old ladies with their dogs (sometimes the last category can be very competitive). At the tick of 9:00, a pretty girl flagged off the run. And we too took off ...
We struck to our strategy of running at a comfortable pace from the start to the last leg of the race, where we would sprint (maaajor strategy eh?). Thanks to this plan lots of people kept overtaking us, but we still struck to our mega strategy. Two of our team mates also sped away, three of us followed the plan, and three others struck together behind. As we came towards the end of the first 400 mts, we gradually overtook the early sprinters. The race leaders had already opened up a huge gap to us and we knew it would be very difficult to catch up. A few hundred steps later came the first pit stop - a gatorade booth. I had seen in the olympics how marathoners (or marathonists?) would grab water bottles from people at the water booths, drink a part of it, pour most of the rest over their heads and then just drop the bottle. For a moment I wanted to imitate them, but then I was afraid of the stains that the gatorade might leave on my number 10 jersey. I managed to suck in two mouthfulls of the orange energy while on the run. Now disposing that tumbler was not very easy. I had run with it for some 200m till I found a trash can (and this is no indicator of my cleanliness quotient).
Soon, one of us three was left behind as his shoe laces wanted to tied more than once. And after a few hundred metres the other one was also slowed down. I gently ran behind the old lady and her dog, both of whom showed no signs of being tired. A few steps later I was beside a cute girl. I ran beside her for some time hoping for some conversation but this definitely was not the right time and I continued to run. At the next turn I encountered another volunteer group, who winked and told me that the finish line was nowhere near. I had been trying to overtake the old lady and her dog for quite some time now, but they had other plans. Now I hoped for some of the runners to slow down, and sure they did. Some of the participants had started walking. This cheered me up and I breezed past(this does not mean speed in any way) them, and so did the old lady and her dog. I knew that two of my team mates who had left us early in the race might be very close to the finish line by now. But then I could see one of them ambling/limping about 200m ahead of me. But El Guerrouj said .. machaan, don't hurry, stick to your "game plan". Soon I passed him and so did the old lady and her dog, who were quite ahead of me by now.
Another gatorade booth and I decided against making a pit stop this time. The dog gave up and the old lady was trying to pull it. Thanks to the dog, I passed the old lady, and was saved from the self humiliation of being beaten by an old lady. I was almost at the last leg of the race. As I thought of sprinting, I could not see anyone ahead or behind me. I bulbed bigtime, there was no point sprinting and undoubtedly our strategy had cupped. But then Gebrselassie flashed from no where and shouted "machi ... sprint". And so did I. As I took the last right turn I could see four people trying to maintian their pace till the finish. My legs had gone numb by now, but I kept sprinting. One down, two down, and three down. The fourth one was very near the finish line, but so was I. I put in all the enegry, but she beat me by not more than a metre. My team mate who had finished before me was cheering for me, but then all I could do was to collapse on the grass. And then bananas and gatorade happened. I'm sure I did not finish in the top 20, but the satisfaction of finishing the race was great. In another five minutes or so three more of my team mates finished. And the rest after some time. For the team event the four best times from each team were added, and guess what, we were first !!!
The prize distribution began and soon the pretty girl (who started the race) announced the first place in the team event - Tarams Thambis. All of us began shouting hysterically. Manda Makara Maada Makara - yaei yaei yaei yaei. Everone was shocked for a second except for the IIT Madras guys, who understood the sentiment attached to this chant;) We were all totally high, not because we won a three month free membership at 24 hour fitness gym, but because all of us had finished the race. Aaaaaaaahhaaa !!!!!!!!
PS1: I felt sorry for the old lady and her dog.
PS2: We received a mail just today informing us that we were actually second and were awarded first prize by mistake. Obviously, we ignored the mail.
1 Comments:
That was one heck of a achievment guys...great...realy great..
I too wnat to run..but i can do that only after i have some time to cut down and get into running form again...long time since i went to gym!!
Guru.
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