Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2014 - A run in MY side of the world

India Gate

My experience - 5/5

Truth to be told, this race discussion started because of facebook. My sister liked 'Airtel Delhi Half marathon' page which then showed up in my wall. I clicked the link and found that there was a big half marathon in Delhi in November. I checked the dates. It was just one week after Richmond marathon and also the day after I land in Delhi. I knew I would be jet lagged and tired after 20+ hrs of travel across the globe, but still I just asked Pinki if she would like to run. She agreed. The thought of running a half marathon together was too good for us to just let it go.

The registration process was tricky; I actually needed a scanned photo ID and passport size photo to fill the online form. After 45 days we got the confirmation with our bib numbers. The expo was out of reach as it was planned for the weekend before the race one. The responsibility of collecting bibs and shirts was with my sister, who was traveling from Bangalore two days before the race.

On 22nd Nov I reached Delhi. Pinki and my friend Bhanu were there to pick me up. We stayed at his house, which I mostly do when ever I come to Delhi. The race was next day morning. We were assigned in different waves. When we were settling our gear for the race, I suggested that we run in shirts I printed for my wedding. Pinki readily agreed, even though it was cotton. I just wanted Neha to be a part of our race.

Pre -Race 

Race day morning, inadvertently we managed to wake up everyone in the house and then we were treated with good hot early morning breakfast. That's something you only get when you are at home in India. The weather was pleasant on the colder side. The place was not far but early morning traffic was expected due to race. We took an auto which took us around 20 minutes to reach the venue. The Sun was still not up, but already place was teeming with participants. Inside some very energetic music was being played on speakers. On a stage couple of instructors was performing aerobic moves, and some people on stage and lot many on the ground following them. Same was being projected on the big digital screen.

This was a huge event and organized like such. There were more than ten thousand participants just for the half, and across all events the numbers was around thirty thousand. Organizing big events in India has a charm. It becomes more of a show with big sponsors and bollywood personalities.

The baggage area was a downer, where volunteers were behaving rudely to participants. Luckily we just had a jacket in plastic bag, so we did not require much communication. The porta-potties arrangement was amusing. They had cleaners assigned to each of them, who were managing the porta-potties and queues outside.

The start was a minute walk from that point, where they separate entry points for each wave. And each gate was monitored to only allow participants from that wave. Pinki was in different wave so Pinki and I entered through different gates thinking we will meet after going inside. Little did I realize that I was entering an enclosure with closed exit. It might be a necessity in Delhi as participants tend to sneak in upper waves to have an early start. The race was still 30 minutes away, so I came out and 'sneakily' entered the other enclosure, so that we could start together.

Get-Set-Go

At the start line

I did not hear a Get-Set-Go, but as the exit gate opened, all participants were raring to reach the start line. We actually had to hold hands in order to not get separated. On a high stage next to start line, some famous personalities were waving to the runners. Many were trying to take their pictures with their mobile while running. It was good start, there was a lot of music, some with live bands and the road sides were plastered with sponsors’ logos.

The units were changed now. It was not a 13.1 mile race anymore, it was 21.1 km one.  An out and back route with the road dividers were secured with waist high barricades. Every barricade plastered with sponsors logo and advertisements. I guess the barricading was there to discourage few lazy runners who might try to jump the dividers. To track such runners they also had timing mats placed at eight (later information) strategic turn around locations.

Tree lined roads on the route

The weather was pleasant, so we were having a good run. The first water stop was around 2 KM and I was pleasantly surprised when the volunteers handed me a small sealed water bottle instead of paper cup.  The route without traffic was beautiful. It was through one of the greener areas in Delhi, with Lodhi Garden, Delhi Golf Club and Delhi zoo nearby. As we passed 6 km we turned towards India Gate, one of the most recognized places in India. 7 km marker was near the India Gate; we clicked a picture with India Gate in background and moved on. Now we were on Rajpath (literal translation - royal road) which lead to Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's House). This whole area is the maximum security zone, as most of high offices of Indian constitution are here. We turned much before, after running for 2KMs on Rajpath, towards Sansad Marg (Parliament road). We passed a lot of runners by 10 km.

In Delhi, you need not to worry about support. There were people everywhere, and many of them cheering the runners. Pinki and I were having a good time, running together for first time and catching up on everything since we last met. The turnaround was at Jantar Mantar (historical observatory built in 1700s) just before 11 KM marker and we crossed 2 more timing mats. 

The second Half

Just before the next water stop. I saw something odd. It looked like as if someone was filling used water bottles. I was unsure what to make of it, so as a precaution, I stopped Pinki from drinking from the bottle she just took from volunteer. At the next water stop, we checked the bottle seal and then drank from it. We were back on Rajpath now finished 13 kms. Just a 4 miler (8kms) more and we were done. Intersecting the Rajpath (royal road) at the middle is Janpath (People's road), which passes through one of the most sought after addresses in India - 10, Janpath. , Congress party HQ and Gandhi's residence. We turned towards Janpath and completed 14 km near the Congress HQ, and then turned back to Rajpath.

Amar Jawan Jyoti near India Gate

We were at a good consistent pace by the time we passed India Gate on our route back. Pinki had some pain in her ankle due to recent running injury, but it did not deter her from keeping the consistent pace. For me, I was hoping to not have my left knee issue as it happened in last week's marathon.

My GPS watch went blank by 17 km as I did not charge it the night before. We were passing a lot of walkers now and my jet lagged body was kind of tired and confused, so we kept encouraging each other so not to follow suit. With all the encouragement we actually increased our pace between km 17 and 20 as I found later. 

Starting mile 20 the finish line was kind of amazing. Markers were place at every 0.2 km now. It was sort of countdown now. We ran faster now as much as we could and crossed the finish line together at 2:23.

Post Race

It was great to finish a half marathon together. We talked about running alot since she started running in Bangalore, and finally we got a chance to run together. There were no medals at the finish line. We actually had to walk to a temporary setup, where there were multiple queues to get the medal. The organizers 'efficiently' combined the medals with after race snacks queue. I could see many runners doing their post run work outs in the queue, which was kind of amusing, but I must appreciate the volunteers who were distributing medals and snacks with smile and congratulating everyone on the finish.

We had a run to remember; and with my wedding shirts on, it was more amazing. I hope we will repeat it someday or go beyond half marathon and try something bigger.

We ran in my favorite shirt :)