My Experience - 5/5
I had a great time running my first 10K. On the race day morning....No..No... STOP, STOP this is not where its suppose to begin. If there's any run where the back story is important, its this one. It is important to know why I signed up for something out of my dream zone.
Back Story
I moved to Richmond in Feburary, and by March end i was more or less settled here and the winter was leaving the city. So now it was time to explore the city. When i mentioned 'explore' I actually meant lazy or casual activities - like nightlife, pubs etc. On 1st April while getting ready for office i saw local news running a story on big time race coming up in Richmond in 2 weeks. That somehow stayed in my head. I google some more about the race in office. None of my collegues are runners so no help on that front.
By afternoon, more out of 'lets try something new' feeling I signed up for the Monument Avenue 10K. Frankly, till this point i never met a runner in my LIFE, so it took sometime (and discussions) for feeling to sync in and understand what I have done. My discussion with Batra was on these lines - A 10K? Have you ever tried shorter run before? How much time the last person takes? What will happen if you can't finish? If you are tired or fell down? Lot of questions without any answers. Guess, I need to train now. right? I asked. There's a school ground next to our apartments, we can go there. Batra said.
The school ground had a dirt track, but with no markers. Batra told me about some GPS enabled app called 'Map My run' which runners use (Hail Google !). We started with making rounds on the track with the app. And, that was my first run ever, or in a long long time since i remember. I did 3 miles in 52 minutes, after which I was dripping in sweat.
I still had 11 more days to prepare, and i was determined to make the most of it. So next day I did 6.2 miles, Yes 6.2 miles. I was amazed. I can do it. I thought, but i spoke too early. My legs were not ready and by next day morning they were all sore. I only felt better after 4-5 days, during which time i did not run. A week before the race I again tried 10K, this time again I felt sore for a day, but i was back to run a 3 miler in 2 days. Now i was relatively confident to be able to finish.
Expo
I received an automated mail with my bib number WC55199. Both Batra and I agreed that this is just a marketing stunt to show inflated number of participants, and no more than a few thousands people are participating. We went to our very first running expo the day before the race, and we were not expecting it to be this grand. Everything we thought about its scale was wrong. It was HUGE with more than a thousand people in Arthur Ashe Center. So many booths, stalls and people. Only then we realized that I might have signed up for something really BIG.
Now our expectation was HIGH, and we expected atleast 10000 people to be there running.
Race Day
I asked Batra to accompany me on race day, as i was not sure if i could find a parking or could drive after the 10K run, which he agreed. So on the race day morning, Batra, Isha and I drove to Monument Avenue. After patiently following traffic we were able to find parking half a mile away from start line. It was a good weather day and every where we could see people in color ful running gear, shoes, socks,shorts, Tshirts, head bands in all colors. I dressed conservatively in a black cotton T-shirt.
We were amazed to see the crowd, thousands of people. Much more than our upper limit of ten thousand. The race started in waves and after sometime i joined in my wave which was at the back - WC. (i guess that was walk-run wave).
Everything was beyond my expectations. I could see the huge crowd running with me. From the sides people were cheering, music was on, bands along the way. Many people had placards with motivating lines for runners (Go..random stranger GO). I was ecstatic. I never imagined running to be this much fun. I saw people running in costumes, messages on T-shirts, some people just walking, some more seriously running.
There was a monument at nearly every mile of the run. I couldn't recognize any one except Arthur Ashe, but all of them were grand. I ran a mile till the first water stop, then walked some sipping the water enojying the bands. The volunteers happily motivating runners with 'Good Job', 'Looking Good' and giving water cups.The road was littered with used paper cups, so much so that it was hard to see the road. And some volunteers speedily clearing them up. There was a cheering squad or band playing every few hundered yards. It was more like a party. Many were sitting outside their home in lawn chairs to cheer up, some were cheering from the upper floors of houses with big banners including 'Free Beer for Quitters'.
At mile 3 there was a U-turn which would eventually lead to the finish line I contiued with my runsome walksome pace, enjoying the run. There were a lot of people running in costumes, even some spectators were in costumes. I saw couple of people running with a car-shaped box, other running in giant beer mugs.I finished my run in 1:18 hrs, and i felt fantastic. My legs were not tired. I met with Abhishek and Isha at the finish.
This experience was an eye opener for me. I never thought running could be this enjoyable. I later found that more that 30,000 people ran this race and then there were equal number of spectators,bands and volunteers. What an amazing event and what an amazing morning day i had. My first race was really fantastic.
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Back Story
I moved to Richmond in Feburary, and by March end i was more or less settled here and the winter was leaving the city. So now it was time to explore the city. When i mentioned 'explore' I actually meant lazy or casual activities - like nightlife, pubs etc. On 1st April while getting ready for office i saw local news running a story on big time race coming up in Richmond in 2 weeks. That somehow stayed in my head. I google some more about the race in office. None of my collegues are runners so no help on that front.
By afternoon, more out of 'lets try something new' feeling I signed up for the Monument Avenue 10K. Frankly, till this point i never met a runner in my LIFE, so it took sometime (and discussions) for feeling to sync in and understand what I have done. My discussion with Batra was on these lines - A 10K? Have you ever tried shorter run before? How much time the last person takes? What will happen if you can't finish? If you are tired or fell down? Lot of questions without any answers. Guess, I need to train now. right? I asked. There's a school ground next to our apartments, we can go there. Batra said.
The school ground had a dirt track, but with no markers. Batra told me about some GPS enabled app called 'Map My run' which runners use (Hail Google !). We started with making rounds on the track with the app. And, that was my first run ever, or in a long long time since i remember. I did 3 miles in 52 minutes, after which I was dripping in sweat.
I still had 11 more days to prepare, and i was determined to make the most of it. So next day I did 6.2 miles, Yes 6.2 miles. I was amazed. I can do it. I thought, but i spoke too early. My legs were not ready and by next day morning they were all sore. I only felt better after 4-5 days, during which time i did not run. A week before the race I again tried 10K, this time again I felt sore for a day, but i was back to run a 3 miler in 2 days. Now i was relatively confident to be able to finish.
Expo
I received an automated mail with my bib number WC55199. Both Batra and I agreed that this is just a marketing stunt to show inflated number of participants, and no more than a few thousands people are participating. We went to our very first running expo the day before the race, and we were not expecting it to be this grand. Everything we thought about its scale was wrong. It was HUGE with more than a thousand people in Arthur Ashe Center. So many booths, stalls and people. Only then we realized that I might have signed up for something really BIG.
Now our expectation was HIGH, and we expected atleast 10000 people to be there running.
Race Day
I asked Batra to accompany me on race day, as i was not sure if i could find a parking or could drive after the 10K run, which he agreed. So on the race day morning, Batra, Isha and I drove to Monument Avenue. After patiently following traffic we were able to find parking half a mile away from start line. It was a good weather day and every where we could see people in color ful running gear, shoes, socks,shorts, Tshirts, head bands in all colors. I dressed conservatively in a black cotton T-shirt.
We were amazed to see the crowd, thousands of people. Much more than our upper limit of ten thousand. The race started in waves and after sometime i joined in my wave which was at the back - WC. (i guess that was walk-run wave).
Everything was beyond my expectations. I could see the huge crowd running with me. From the sides people were cheering, music was on, bands along the way. Many people had placards with motivating lines for runners (Go..random stranger GO). I was ecstatic. I never imagined running to be this much fun. I saw people running in costumes, messages on T-shirts, some people just walking, some more seriously running.
There was a monument at nearly every mile of the run. I couldn't recognize any one except Arthur Ashe, but all of them were grand. I ran a mile till the first water stop, then walked some sipping the water enojying the bands. The volunteers happily motivating runners with 'Good Job', 'Looking Good' and giving water cups.The road was littered with used paper cups, so much so that it was hard to see the road. And some volunteers speedily clearing them up. There was a cheering squad or band playing every few hundered yards. It was more like a party. Many were sitting outside their home in lawn chairs to cheer up, some were cheering from the upper floors of houses with big banners including 'Free Beer for Quitters'.
 |
| Batra clicked me at the Start line and the finish. Tired? No Sir! |
At mile 3 there was a U-turn which would eventually lead to the finish line I contiued with my runsome walksome pace, enjoying the run. There were a lot of people running in costumes, even some spectators were in costumes. I saw couple of people running with a car-shaped box, other running in giant beer mugs.I finished my run in 1:18 hrs, and i felt fantastic. My legs were not tired. I met with Abhishek and Isha at the finish.
This experience was an eye opener for me. I never thought running could be this enjoyable. I later found that more that 30,000 people ran this race and then there were equal number of spectators,bands and volunteers. What an amazing event and what an amazing morning day i had. My first race was really fantastic.
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