Oh! what a run ; 3 years of putting it off and finally having the resolve to train for it, Big Sur International Marathon turned out to be worth the wait and definitely measured up to all the superlatives.
- the best marathon there is; if you run only one, run this one
- the best organized marathon
- beautiful course - bring a camera.
The run
Picture perfect conditions started off the run; even the early morning waiting time was spent in very pleasant condition - 50F @ 5:15 AM [compared to lows of 30F in years past is what we'd been warned].
The send off from the start line included a beautiful release of white doves, stars and stripes rendition and a bagpiper; need I say more. now it gets personal... :)
part 1
Talked to Ganesh before the start and we had decided to keep a pace of 12minutes for the first half and take it from there. Found myself with Sathya after the first mile and we stayed together for the next 6 or so miles. I wanted to fall back with the rest of the folks - but he pointed out that there will be other meeting points and the order of march for now was forward, didn't argue with that (and he was right). The first few miles flowed by easily through the valley's shade and felt quite a bit cooler than at the start.
Saw a runner going backwards and barefeet. He's run the course earlier; going forward wasn't challenging enough, that's all ! (just crazy, me thinks)
There were downhills initially and then some easy climbs; the noticeable thing from mile 1 was the mile markers and volunteers shouting out pace and expected finish times. I was hearing 11:20 / 5:05 miles 4,5,6 . Thought in my mind, "yea, let's see what the pace is at mile 22".
At mile 7 on the uphill, Sathya started to slow down and had his head phones on by now - he insisted that he was ok and that i shouldn't be waiting on top of the hill. I was of course bracing myself for Hurricane point at that point. Watching the scenery was a good distraction, and the ocean was visible after we got out of the valley.
By mile 8 I had started alternating water and gatorade at the water stops.Feeling quite good about the conditions and said so to any runner that would listen.
The relay runners changed over around this time - just before Hurricane point. and I could see the long steady climb that was coming up.
- The Taiko drums were there to launch off the climb
Head down, swinging arms started the climb - running on asphalt there are no rocks to watch for - but there were some colorful feet - saw a lady pass me wearing green shoes, turns out there is a reason they are green; they are her trail running shoes to match the geckos :)
The head wind was a quite strong [read the paper next day to find out 30mph!], figured that's where the name hurricane hill came from. Rounded one corner - seemed like a small plateau around mile 11. By this time it was all about getting to the top of this hill. focus, focus...
- Reached the top - took some pics to show for it.
Waited for a few to see if I could find any of the familiar TeamASHA runners, no luck :(
part 2: miles 14-22 [picking up this thread after 2 months; just have to get this entry done today 7/22/08 ]
This was going to be go it alone stage; at this point it was about getting into a mindset to postpone breakdown. I guess I had heard over the last 2 years about how the coaches talk about splitting the run into parts and i was seeing my own need to do this. The scenery was awesome and the number of people at every stage was really a key to keeping up the mental momentum going.
Kept a talking pace for this entire section - had Ali of Walnut creek for company. We both kept each other's pace for about a 4-6 mile stretch. thank you, Ali.
part 3: mile 22+
Saw Anthony coming up on the downhill after mile 22; i had arrived earlier than estimated thanks to Ali-the-runner. At that point a new surge of energy. Huge help that Anthony was there for a pep talk,
"prasana, keep moving or running; you can walk uphill, if you want"
As it turned out we never did take a walk break though I had thought the last few climbs would be best to do it that way! He had the last 4 miles completely mapped out and was doing a running commentary of next climb, next downhill all this time...
Grabbed a bunch of cold strawberries - i don't think i have enjoyed fresh cut strawberries soooo much as @ mile 25!
The last mile Anthony was preparing me for one last climb that never came - thankfully and i was thrilled to see the finish line. The last 200 meters were as before [sv 05] to hurtle down that stretch and finish in 5h 9m!
Special Mention- a special shout out to Chakri - fellow runner from TeamASHA05, and a superlative mentor, sweeper coach and support personality - all rolled into one. Hats off Chakri.
- Then there were all the runners that were there for the long runs, Arun Desigan salt tablets and smile, Sathya of-patti-fame, Bharath - intense trainer and headed for Boston, Madhavi anxious about everything around the 08 program, Medha -I-am-right :), Krishna+Deepu - the calm smiles, Arun Sharma, Coach Martina, Asif, Rajesh, Ganesh no-distance-is-long-enough !
- Anthony - you were incredible to come out and help me finish strong. I owe you the finish - strongest finish for me so far. Thank you, thank you.
- Rohini, prajakta and subbu - special thanks for putting up with my mood swings and helping me see this milestone, thank you.
- Thank you to Aai, Baba for showing up on this special day.
- Reliable Piyush - shows up in Monterey - at least i had to run 26 miles, he drove down 70 miles to just be there, thank you!
- ganesh, manju, shivum - thank you for always being there.
In closing a wonderful experience worth reliving again !
