This morning, I ran THE slowest half marathon EVER of my decidedly patchy “running” career…
BUT!!!
BUT…and here let me insert a quick drumroll for the raucous cheerleading team from Adidas Runners…as I ran past them on Lodhi Road in the pre-dawn dark, my name was shouted out over the megaphone by Rohit Pathak, followed by “Guys! Don’t let Christine beat you!”
The first time I’ve ever been used as a running challenge – and I love it!
(But me? As a running challenge?!!)
So thank you, thank you, thank you Team Adidas – and you all cheered me and greeted me on my exhausted return, a couple of hours later.
So, let me try and recap what was
(1) a crazy crazy crazy slow race for me
(2) a fabulous race
(3) an emotional race
(4) a kick up the backside experience
(5) the usual maelstrom of lovely people, lovely interactions, tears of joy, and the unbelievable kindness and camaraderie of strangers.
Right – my “story”: I have been battling hamstring pain/strain since the beginning of the year.
It is simply WAY too boring to rehash here, but suffice it to say that I am BEYOND bored with it, and am going for an ultrasound this week…better late than never etc etc. I’ve faffed around for over 6 months, seriously compromised both my HMs this year, so yes, today was the kick up the backside that I mentioned earlier.
God knows how many years of running I have left in me, but I hope many more, so it is now time to sort out my STUPID, STUPID injuries once and for all. (The block capitals are me shouting at myself).
So, anyway, enough of that and back to the fun stuff from this morning.
When I tell you that yesterday I was in such pain that up until going to bed I was debating pulling the plug on my race, then you can understand why I was beyond thrilled to run my HM this morning, and enjoy every second of it, and not end up in pain – just sobs of joy as I crossed the finish line.
Said it before, saying it again – runners are just THE bestest.
At one point around the 10/11km mark an older gentleman (who I didn’t know) running alongside me held out his hand and gave me an almond.
So sweet.
A group of young girls (wearing “Narcos” on the back of their shirts – I saw more of them at the finish line) ran past me on Kartavya Path, heading to India Gate and said “well done, ma’am…you’re doing so well.”
I cannot count the number of “Well done” “Keep it up” comments I got. There was a fella running past me in the early kilometres of the race, when I was taking one of my many walk breaks, who said “Come on, come on – today is for running not walking! Come on!” So I duly started running.
In the final 2 kilometres, other than the Adidas crew, there was a young man pacing and cheerleading a young woman, and his non-stop exhortations worked for me, too. He had the name of a Chennai running club on the back of his T, and when he ran backwards filming the 2 of us, I tried getting his bib number but have already forgotten it, but he was epic! Constant encouragement, positivity, a 100 metre by 100 metre count down. Too good and I shamelessly piggy-backed.
Just wish I could remember his number to track him down and say thank you.
Delhi looked amazing this morning, as the city always does on race day. The elites zoomed past at the speed of light – it’s always thrilling to see them running almost in formation.
Met friends, talked to random strangers, got comforted by strangers when I started crying at the finish line (“Is the heat getting to you, dear?” from a sweet lady.). Got invited for coffee by 2 lovely ladies who had “Run for coffee” on their Ts.
Oh yes! – in the warm up area, pre-race, a woman walked straight up to me, no preamble, and said “How old are you?”
Ah, India. You never disappoint!
But overall this morning was a feeling of such joy that I can still run. Very slowly.
I was definitely hamstrung by my damned hamstrings.
But I can still run.
Peace out.
