RFE Annual Celebration - Auroville Marathon - 2015

We, The Runners For Ever (RFE), had decided last year that Auroville Marathon at Pondicherry would be a celebration run for us every year, where none of us would chase their Personal Best timings and just enjoy the run, and of course, the entire trip, as a group. This year, we implemented it in letter & spirit.

The preparations had started several months back. Kishore, the de facto planner of the group,  had planned everything well in advance. Ravi, the generous RFE member, offered his membership to get us rooms at Club Mahindra, Pondicherry, a beautiful and well equipped resort with a private beach, away from all the buzz of city.

We got into a train at Bangalore on Friday night, and the celebrations were kicked off then and there itself. Bafna ji, the master entertainer of the group, took over the charge instantly. Our conversations covering everything funny under the sun went late into the night, which ended only after a couple of fellow passengers requested us to let them sleep for a while, before the train reaches Pondicherry.

A 10+ seater vehicle was ready to pick us up at the railway station, courtesy - the meticulous planning by Kishore. We headed directly to Auroville to pick up Running Bibs, and had sumptuous breakfast en route. Auroville is a few thousand acre area, a few KM away from Pondicherry, that's developed by Sri Aurobindo Society as an experiment in sustainable living, which started in 1968.

Auroville: The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity – in diversity. Today Auroville is recognised as the first and only internationally endorsed ongoing experiment in human unity and transformation of consciousness, also concerned with - and practically researching into - sustainable living and the future cultural, environmental, social and spiritual needs of mankind.

We reached the resort by noon. As I observed earlier, the day before a run, we typically behave as ambassadors of saatvic diet. But, Auroville trip is an exception. This being the run planned purely for celebrating our otherwise gruelling running year, we defy all rules here. We started our lunch with a couple of beers, followed by an elaborate buffet lunch. We spent the rest of the day exploring the resort and several in-house activities that include, pool, swimming-pool, ping-pong, a bit of fooling around in the beach. Activities of the day concluded with rocking the dance floor, inspiring rest of the guests too to join us. Highlights of the activities include, Bafnaji's unisex swim-suit, Nirup's transformation into Pappu, Ravi's futile attempts to save himself from getting bullied etc., The day concluded with yet another round of elaborate buffet dinner.

Natraj deserves a special mention, who missed joining us in train due to some emergency meetings. But, not to miss his outstation run and annual celebration of the group, he traveled by car, 2 buses and finally a taxi and reached the resort, late in the night. Hats off to his spirit.

The run was scheduled to start at 6:15 am on Sunday. We reached the venue on-time and socialised a bit with the usual suspects. The entire group decided to follow 9:1 method of running, i.e, 9 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking at an average pace of 7:30 min/KM, an extremely comfortable and enjoyable pace for all the seasoned runners. We followed it till we crossed the finish-line as a group, and had an unforgettable 2 hour 40 minutes of running experience that will stay fresh in  our memories for quite some time. Shouting silly slogans, wearing our team T-Shirt with our team logo and our names, encouraging fellow runners, we made our presence felt in every inch of the course.

We reached the resort back by noon and treated ourselves to drinks and lunch. With that much of fun overdose, the entire team was tired and just dozed off in the lobby in the oversized and comfortable lobby chairs. As good times move extremely fast, it was time to leave for Bangalore. We spent the evening at the beautiful promenade sipping some coffee and nibbling on some snacks, at the legendary Le Cafe, enjoying the sea breeze.

Reached Bangalore by next morning and dispersed, only with a promise to make this an annual RFE affair.

Runners For Ever - Marathon Silver Jubilee

A lot of interesting things happened in the last one year. I mean, my last running year. 

Co-founded a running group in Bangalore, with like minded runners, called Runners For Ever (RFE). RFE Members have only one thing in common. They are all runners and they love their sport. Some of them are pacers, some are cruisers. We have weight watchers and also body sculptors. Some are chasing the Marathons that need the fastest possible pace by amateurs, and some are behind the longest ever distances treaded by distance runners. The only thing that keeps RFEs together is, we all run and we make sure that we have great fun, while we are at it.

I have my own humble journey. To join 100-Marathon Club, some day. I just crossed my Marathon Silver Jubilee (25 Full Marathons), an important milestone en route the 100-Marathon Club. I wanted to cross this milestone at an event, where my running group would be with me. So, I chose Mumbai (SCMM) as the place where I would cross it. Mumbai Marathon is something that hardly any distance runner in India misses. Though organisers had been indifferent one way or the other, the beautiful course, amazing support from residents through out the course, make it the best Marathon in India. So, I obviously chose it for the Silver Jubilee. I started 2014 with my 18th Marathon in Mumbai. I had 6 more to go to make it the 25th Marathon in Mumbai, the following year.

Mumbai -> Auroville, Pondicherry -> Zurich, Switzerland -> Hyderabad -> Vietnam -> Bengaluru -> Bangalore Mid-Night -> Mumbai : That's my Odyssey towards this cute little feat.

Bangalore Mid-Night Marathon finish has been the most memorable finish among all the runs that I did so far. It started at 12 Mid-Night. I planned to finish the run around 5 AM. RFEs promised to give me company, while I need it the most. The last 7-8 KM. Despite their promise, I didn't expect them. Because, if there is anything unearthly than running a Marathon at 12 Mid-Night, it's waking up a 2 AM and reaching the Marathon course across the city, to support a runner from 3 AM to the finish. And, defying all common sense, they turned up :-) Not just 1 or 2, but, a big bunch of them, right at 3 AM. And, we ran together till I touched the finish line at 4:40 AM. Then, we drove to Lalbagh, walked around enjoying the early morning chill till MTR opens, and had a great breakfast in a private room booked to celebrate the occasion, with full attendance, as rest of the RFEs made it to the breakfast. :-)

Vietnam Mountain Marathon deserves a special mention. It's more of a trek than a run for me,  with  elevation gain and loss to the tune of thousands of feet. It's organised in the border mountains between Vietnam & China. The area is untouched by modern civilisation, with only a handful of tribes having access to it. A Danish Tourism company and Danish Embassy in Vietnam organise the event with help from a lot of local organisations. Undeniably, one of the most interesting places that I ever visited during my MOMO, and an event that I don't mind repeating in the coming years.

That brings the curtains down on the last running year and my Marathon Silver Jubilee.

Swiss Odyssey: MOMO-Part-10

San Francisco-2010 (US) -> Athens-2010 (Greece) -> Berlin-2011 (Germany) -> Niagara Falls-2011 (US/Canada) -> Singapore-2011 -> Kuala Lumpur-2012 (Malaysia) -> Venice-2012 (Italy) -> Phuket-2013 (Thailand) -> Mt.Fuji-2013 (Japan) -> Zurich-2014 (Switzerland)

My Overseas Marathon Odyssey (MOMO) - Part 10 - Zurich Marathon

It all started when I was conducting my ritual search for the next destination in Europe. I was considering Vienna Marathon, Austria and Prague Marathon, Czech Republic. As my budget is always very limited, I usually check for the airfares to different places first and then select a Marathon. Vienna and Prague were both looking good. Around the same time, I happened to talk to Pravin, a friend of mine living in Zurich, Switzerland and also found that Zurich Marathon fits the bill well, and others fell off the radar.

Zurich Marathon turned out to be a very low profile event (relative to the other European Marathons that I had done). Though it's low profile in terms of its popularity outside Switzerland and in terms of the number of runners (just a few hundred), it was organized impeccably. The Swiss ingenuity could be seen everywhere. Printing a free Zurich public transport ticket, with 24 hour validity on the Marathon day, behind the Marathon bib is just a sample of it. Aid stations at every 3.5 KM were well-stocked and well-manned. There were pacers from 3 hr to 5 hr 30 min at 15 min increments. As the total number is very small, there were hardly any runners who were not following the pacers. So, after a few KM, the entire course looked like bursts of runners with a 15 min gap in between. I didn't go with any pacer and ran at 6:20 min/km initially and averaged to 6:50 by the end to finish in 4 hr 52 min. It was 12°C in the beginning (pretty cold for a South-Indian) and went up to a comfortable 18°C towards the end.

When I did my first European Marathon in 2010 in Athens, Greece (the birthplace of Marathon), I didn't quite have this MOMO plan in my mind. So, I did quite a lot of sight seeing and traveling with in Europe for the next couple of weeks. But, as this has become a regular affair now, my trips have become shorter and shorter. This is the shortest trip, with just a couple of days planned after the run. 

I visited Interlaken, a small town between two large lakes, Thun & Brienz, the most popular tourist destination in Switzerland and the gateway to several mountains and lakes in that region, the following day. Though there are some great cycling trails, and a bunch of adventure sports options, this being the day right after a Marathon, I had not planned any activities and just walked around the lakes whole day. The best part of the visit was getting in and out of Interlaken. Interlaken could be reached from Zurich through two different routes. One is shorter, more expensive, less scenic route (via Bern, the Swiss capital) and the other is a bit longer, cheaper and insanely scenic (via Lucerne). I chose the later in the onward journey and the former to return. The scenic route via Lucerne is just picture perfect in its every frame. It's a heaven for photographers and a feast to eyes. Icing on the cake would be the extremely efficient, comfortable and luxury trains.

The following day was for Baden-Baden, Germany. A 3 hour train ride from Zurich took me to this small German spa town at the foothills of Black Forest. Baden means 'bathing' in German. It's popular due to its natural thermal springs and their therapeutic effects, discovered by ancient Romans, thousands of years back. I heard about it from Dilip, another friend of mine, when we planned our 2010 trip. There are two popular spas, Caracalla-Spa and Friedrichsbad. The former is a modern spa with modern construction and luxury facilities. The later one is older (opened in 1877) and wilder (clothes are off for a full 3 1/2 hours), with its 17 stages that give one a glimpse of Roman bathing culture combined with Irish hot-air baths. I, obviously, chose the later and I don't regret. Some of the stages are hot air sauna rooms and some are pools at different temperatures, heated using only natural thermal springs, with a couple of short massages in between. Though the relaxation was quite comparable to the Onsen that I tried in Tokyo, Japan, the process and the aura were much more exotic.

That brings an end to the short & sweet Swiss Odyssey.

Driving Rashly is Not Macho, for God's Sake!

Heard this disturbing news over the weekend.

A friend of mine was out for a team-lunch on last Friday. While returning from lunch, while he was waiting on his bike with a colleague on the pillion, by the side of a road in Bangalore, well within city, a speeding truck ran over them. Both of them are no more.

Even a million 'deepest condolences' or 'may his soul rest in peace' messages will do nothing for his young wife, and she will have to go through the devastation on her own. I can't imagine the condition of his colleagues who saw this happening, from a car. He was not my close friend. But, I just dropped by, a few months back during a cycle ride, along with a few others, and had breakfast at his house. He had spent significant amount of time to design each room of his house on his own, and got the interiors done beautifully.

The least, I feel I should do is, request every reader of this to share this incident with every speeding driver, be it your colleague or drivers of auto or taxi to the Airport or an office cab. I found even the rudest of the drivers are not inherently bad. I had seen an auto driver, who refused to accept meter fare and demanded exorbitant fare, was the first one to jump out of his auto and help a couple who fell on road from a bike. I was also helped by a truck driver on a highway when my Bullet skidded and I landed on the middle of the road.

I don't know what must have been going through this particular truck driver. He might be drunk, negligent or indifferent. I am more worried about people who are just indifferent. Because, there are just too many of them. Everyone seem to be in a hurry on road, all the time, for no apparent reason. I get yelled at almost everyday, for stopping at red signal, while riding my cycle at 6:30 AM. I haven't seen the owners of cars or employees getting to work in cabs objecting their drivers breaking signals or driving rash.

There are enough ways to get life snuffed out of us. Let's get rid of at least a few. Let's educate everyone that driving rashly is not a macho thing!

Book Review: Everything That Remains

Everything That Remains - A Memoir by the Minimalists

- Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus

A couple of youngsters (in their late 20s), while successfully chasing their American Dream, come across this philosophy called Minimalism. Minimalism, on the face of it, may sound like being ascetic and getting rid of all material things and living life of monks. But, for these guys, it's slightly different. They have their own elevator pitch about their minimalism, which goes as follows:

"Minimalism is a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives. By clearing the clutter from life’s path, we can all make room for the most important aspects of life: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution."

While exploring minimalism more, they discover that the clutter of their material possessions is blindfolding them from seeing the world around them. To the extent that, they really don't know which of those possessions they really love to have, and which of them they can get rid of. That's when they consider organizing their possessions and unclutter their surroundings, and soon realize that organizing is nothing more than well-planned hoarding, but, hoarding nevertheless. This realization makes them get rid of most of their possessions.

Merely getting rid of things didn't make them contended. With the weight off their shoulders, they started asking fundamental questions. What's truly important in life? Why am i discontented? Who is the person that I want to become? etc., That led them to the next phase of minimalism. The Why behind de-cluttering. They find travel & writing as answers to their Why.

They start traveling and blogging their explorations. They currently have a couple of million readers. They also published 4 books and speak at events while traveling. All of that can be found at: http://www.theminimalists.com

Auroville Marathon - 2014

Auroville: Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity.

Auroville Vision: Humanity is not the last rung of the terrestrial creation. Evolution continues and man will be surpassed.

Auroville Marathon is organized in Auroville, Pondicherry, on 2nd Sunday of Feb. I did fall in love with the rustic surroundings inside Auroville, a 659 acre self-sustainable township, during a half-marathon that I attempted in 2010. The not-so-even course is entirely on dirt roads through narrow pathways, so narrow at some places that runners have to run in a single file, at times. By that description, it should be evident that the course would be a put-off to finish-time conscious runners and automatically a turn-on for me :-) And, here I am, just back from my 5th consecutive Auroville Marathon (2 half and 3 full) over the weekend.

This has turned out to be a special one on many counts. Traveled from Bangalore to Pondicherry and back with our Runners For Ever gang and a few others. These guys kept me so engaged for a full 60 hours, that I couldn't take out my brand new Kindle-PaperWhite and read even a single page of a very interesting book that I started reading about minimalism.

Having just run Mumbai Marathon 3 weeks back and nothing left to prove, even the craziest finish-time conscious runners will not care much about their timing in Auroville Marathon. I decided not to carry my Garmin, phone and not even a watch. I just wanted to run and reach the finish line, while enjoying the serene rustic beauty of Auroville. Started the run along with a non-regular and out-of-form friend of mine, whom I advised to follow my 9:1 (9 minute run + 1 minute walk) routine, so that he can touch the finish line strong. I wanted to do a random run as I did have no way to keep track of time. My friend soon pulled out his mobile and started keeping track of time :-) We reached 32 KM in that mode and he hit the wall (Marathon parlance), where he gave up and was in no mood to do even 1:1. With walking as the only option left, we walked the rest (10 KM) and touched the finish line in 6 hours. My longest finish-time in 3 years. But, one of the most enjoyable runs.

Thanks to another runner friend who has club-mahindra membership, we all could enjoy the beautiful resort with a beach-front for 2 days. Unlike other marathons, we were not picky about food (again, as nothing was left to prove so soon after Mumbai Marathon) and just hogged on lavish buffet, before and after the marathon.

A routine weekend trip to run a Marathon couldn't have been more satiating. And, my friends couldn't have made yours truly hate his erstwhile antisocial self more! :-)

Mumbai Marathon - 2014

I have been running Mumbai Marathon for the last 9 years, in some form or the other. Started with 6-7 KM dream runs, did a couple of half-marathons and graduated to full-marathon in 2010. Mumbai never disappoints me. This year is no different.

Left for Mumbai on Saturday, the 18th morning with a group of runner friends (We call ourselves - Runners For Ever, RFE), experiencing a bunch of pleasant surprises en route. Indigo Airlines pilot welcomed the runners aboard (more than half of the passengers were runners), gave an exclusive weather update for runners before landing and wished each runner personally while disembarking in Mumbai. Startbucks at the Mumbai airport wished me while handing the coffee. How do they know! Our T-Shirts speak a lot. :-)

We, the RFE, spent rest of the day ultra cautiously, eating very selectively and making sure that we are completely relaxed by the end of the day. Our menu typically swings between extremes during those 2 days.  The day before the run, we are ambassadors of Saatvic Diet. After the run, non-vegetarians among us don't allow anything vegetarian close to their plates :-)

Sunday, the 19th started at 3 AM with a quick and light breakfast. We were at azad maidan by 5 AM. Each of us got into our favorite routines before the run. Some do warm-up run, some stretch and some do aerobics. I got into my usual one. Just stare at others, let the mood take me over and wait for the gates to open at 5:40 AM.

I started the run with my usual run-walk-run mode with 9:1 splits (repeat of 9 minute run + 1 minute walk) at an average pace of 6:30 minutes per KM, which works out to  9.2 KMPH. Sustained the same pace till 34 KM. Dropped my pace slightly at the killer hill on Peddar road at 35 KM and maintained the same for rest of the run, finishing 42.195 KM in 4 hr 42 minutes. But for the 7-8 KM stretch of Bandra-Worli sea-link, entire course had cheering crowds offering drinks and snacks. Such support is nowhere to be seen in rest of India, and is not so common even outside India (Among the runs that I did, only Berlin Marathon comes somewhere close to it). So far, my best Marathon moment had been that little girl offering candy at 38 KM in 2011.  I got a candy this time too, around the same place, but from a 10 year old girl. Apparently, she has grown up a bit too fast :-)

A day after returning to Bangalore, I read a not-so-pleasant experience of one of the most seasoned runners from Bangalore. He pushed himself a bit too much in Mumbai and almost lost consciousness at a stone's throw from the finish line. But, somehow crossed the finish line, only to land on stretcher a moment later. Fortunately, everything seems to be alright after the timely medical aid. The more saddening part of this story is, reading comments of several recreational runners about this incident. Almost all of them claim to be inspired by his performance in Mumbai. I, as usual, fail to get the point. With all due respect to his indomitable spirit and his achievements, I claim that this incident reinforced the concerns that I expressed in my write up: Dilemma of a Recreational Runner.

I can't thank my RFE gang more for making these runs and trips extremely pleasant and totally worth looking forward to. We already have lined up the next in Pondicherry, Auroville Marathon on 9th Feb. Just a couple of more weeks to go!