Certainly
not in my wildest imagination had I ever thought that I would become a
Marathoner. My solitary slow and regular trots along the Marina beach early in 2012
drove me into the arena of marathons, triathlons and the journey has been immensely
self-satisfying. 2014 had been a hall mark in this journey since for the first
time I attempted running long distances on the hills and was part of some of
the core team which organised marathons.
Marathons – Cities
and Meeting people – Unique Experiences:
Training
for a marathon, planning the trip and travelling along with likeminded runners were
some of the wonderful experience I always cherished. I should acknowledge that running
took me to different parts of India and I am confident that in the years to
come the journey would be lot more interesting and am looking forward to it. I
planned my travel mostly in trains but the best journey was when I missed my train
to Mysore to participate in Kaveri trail marathon. I travelled alone in a jam-packed
bus and reached Mysore at 2 a.m with just 4 hours for the run to begin.
What
popular books about running, scholarly articles written by experts on diet, and
advice provided by seasoned runners could teach me, I learnt travelling to
different cities with fellow runners and running in different events. My best
lessons about running and more fully about myself was learnt when I was attempting
to push myself on the roads, on the hills, swim in the open waters and pedal against
the head wind and on the hills.
Out
of the few events I participated some events treated the runners like a ‘hero’,
few events was busy selling their sponsors, but the best events were the ones which
was organised ‘by runners and for the runners’. In this regard Cochin Marathon 2014
stays close in my heart, there was no title sponsor, and the entire event was
very simple, heart-warming and I had unique experience running on the roads of
Cochin. I ran the following full marathons this year:
1.
Mumbai Marathon – January
2.
Auroville Marathon – February
3.
Hyderabad Marathon –
August
4.
Kaveri Trail Marathon
– September
5.
Bengaluru Marathon –
October
6.
Cochin Marathon –
November
7.
Chennai Marathon –
December
Discovering my Love
for Hill Running:
This
year I unearthed my passion for running in the hills. For me hill running is a
nirvana, I have made a decision not to run in any event being conducted in the
hills, I would choose to go for hill running with my running buddies and run
for days on the hills and feel the overwhelming humbleness. For me to run on the
hills is like returning to the place where I belong. Some of the most
interesting running and camping I did this year are set out below:-
1.
Shevroy hills 90 kms
in 2 days
2.
Palani hills 80 kms
in 2 days
3.
Kalryan hills 100 kms
in 2 days
4.
Munnar hills 120+ kms
in 3 days
Triathlons – Discovering
hidden potential:
I
was never a swimmer or a long distance cyclist until I put myself into test by
participating in triathlons. When I first attempted to cross the Nagalapuram
east dam, when I dived inside the Ottiambakkam quarry with a hope to swim
across all that I had was only the confidence which later transformed into
courage and strength to take up open water swimming confidently. For me
triathlon is an event where you put your mind and body to fight against each
other and discover your hidden potential.
Organising Marathons –
Thanksgiving to Runners:
I
consider organising and volunteering in marathons is a platform by which I can
serve, and give back to the running community. I have been part of the core
team which organised the Chennai Trail Marathon and Jawadhu Hills Ultra
Marathon. Planning the trail, getting permissions, promoting the run and
conducting both these marathons far away from the city was a very challenging
task and I am very proud for having involved myself in organising these runs. While
running has taken me to different places I volunteer in these events as a
thanksgiving to my fellow runners and volunteers.
Running for a Cause:
My
little and slow running gets its meaning, life and real purpose only because of
the cause I choose to run. I believe running is a very powerful tool in taking
forward a good cause, as always, I consider it as a god sent opportunity to run
for “Isha Vidhya” garnering support for their good cause ‘Educating Rural
India’. It was extremely a humbling experience when I got the good opportunity
to run 100 kms at the Kalrayan hills raising funds for these rural children. I
feel proud about myself when I run marathons sporting ‘Isha Vidhya’ t-shirt. I
also feel happy that I demystify the popular myth that marathons should not be
run sporting cotton t-shirts.
Overall,
the year 2014 has been very kind towards me and helped me realise my hidden
passion and explore my passion. I am extremely thankful for all my friends who
were part my journey. However, my dream is to run a barefoot, bare-chested
marathon in ‘Dothi’ and I wish to find an answer for the same in 2015.
Namaskaram,
Durai
Murugan
