A marathon to remember

Running a marathon was something I always dreamt of...Like my friend's status on fb said..running a marathon is a new fad like eating cup cakes now! But it was in July that I first saw the marathon page and decided to register! My aim was to just get fit because things fell apart for me after my father's demise- high bp, high cholesterol and ofcourse a runner's knee!But I knew I wanted to do my first 10k before and I turn 35! One thing led to another and at the last minute some of my friends registered for it and then began all the excitement to gear up for the day! Saturday 30th December we all headed to Chennai Trade Centre to collect our T shirts and Bibs and came back awed with the arrangements made for the marathon! Then arrived the D Day! We land up groggy but excited at Nina's house at 6 as against 5.45 as we decided because most of our body clocks refuse to budge from their routine no matter what! As we are getting into the car to leave--Preethi comes in without her bib...but we were so excited we had absolutely no reason to crib! She runs back home to get the bib while the rest of us make her way to the start of the marathon! Loud thumping music, an ocean of Orange and thousands of excited runners shot off as the marathon was flagged off! Well I began running with full enthusiasm only to see the pros already on the other side making their way to the 2km mark in no time..I kept my pace and tried to move on as fast as I could! Only at this marathon did I realize what two kms is! After walking so long did I come to the 2km mark and it felt like forever. But the enthusiasm among the runners there for infectious and kept me going! Arrangements were fabulous..glucose and bananas every 2 kms...excellent waste management arrangements but alas our citizens still lack civic sense..so many threw banana peels on the road! I wish we would be more conscious citizens! And so I continued to run and I surpassed about 3.5 kms I see a thata already running back! My knee jerk reaction was to cheer for him! It was amazing to see the fitness level of people elder than me! Further more as I approached the 5 km mark I see Nina and Sujata already running back..Both running with full josh and am like wow! this is so inspiring...they are so much elder and way ahead of me. All the thoughts which came to my mind at different points trying to bog me down and tell me I wont be able to finish changed into positive thoughts as I chanted Sairam and continued to do a pace walk! I downed a pack of ORS and just as I got onto the Adyar flyover on my run back I see an old aunty slowly but steadily walking ahead of me...believe me I didn't want to run past her..instead I wanted to cheer her to keep up the pace! The other beauty I saw on the way were kargil heroes who had one leg and one prosthetic limb running the marathon! We cheered loudly for them. Little kids ran too and it was run to cheer for them! Of course I came across whole lot of unknown people who had ventured out and stood all along the way cheering us! that meant so much! As I came closer to the finish line I saw many people heading home proudly sporting their medals! I managed to run the last 500 m into the finish line and get that medal finally! what a high the marathon gave and may be I could have done another 10 k with the way I felt! With a timing of 1.44 I was quite happy because I followed Vijay's instructions and didn't run and yet finished in decent time without any hitches! One thing I learnt is that in a marathon age is no bar..only the 3 E's matter- enthusiasm, excitement and exuberance! If you have all the 3 then you can do it at any age!!!