Om Run 2010
A long hiatus and then Om Run 2010
After the marathon in July; no running on the calendar. missed all the fall marathons. Kept cheering the likes of Ganesh for completing his 2nd run for the year, the guy's on a roll here.
Then the fall started the planning for Om Run 2010.

The training
Started on January 16, 2010 and by the end of February we had begun to see a collection another determined bunch of runners. This was nothing new, having followed the TeamAsha tried and experienced model and mentors - getting here was not a surprise, the pleasant surprise gift basket was whole set of new runners who were saying things like,

it's just 4 miles today!

Week in and out, Radesh kept sending out the oft-repeated

Rain or shine, be there to train

Everyone came, warmed up, stretched and then broke into different pace groups. It was quite a joy to watch this come together. We improvised on things from water stations, to after-the-run snacks, electrolytes. The assembled crowd was quite understanding and that made for a fulfilling experience.
Starting on February 20, 2010 - Lochan assembled a set of kids for a 5K boot camp; the enthusiasm of the likes of Shashank, Shivum, and many others I can't recollect names of was infectious. Before I knew it we were looking at mileages of double digits.
By this time the first timers were already in the zone; charting their own course in a manner of speaking. First time for organization meant a lot of learning on the job,
water station were limited in the city of campbell - didn't mean that the runners couldn't go past city limits
too little, too much gatorade needed at stations 2, 3
in time runners had their preferred bars - not enough fruit and nut bars at finish line

mentors
Ranga, a new acquaintance through Om Run carried the sway with the runners; he is the Zen of running for Om Run, calm, composed, answers for all. He helped balance the load with Ganesh, Meyyappan in carrying the training load. Then there were VP Shenoy, Ram who led the Fremont group together.

walkers
There was a quite a following for the walking group. Rohini did well to hold them together and instilled a sense that walking is not inferior to running; it is. It was interesting to me how the walkers in particular paired together and would be walking briskly and holding interesting conversation; not that i was party to the conversation, the fact that they came back together week after week, led me to label it as such.

Races
The day arrived - the races started and it seems a lot of fun was had. I was on top of the world when several of the finishers in the final stretch waved back to say,
we must do this again
we had a great time

And my response all along,

you just made my day, right here, right now.

the smiles and the sense of accomplishment was a joy to watch. You had to be there and if you missed it, here are some pictures that I think tell a great story. Thanks to Mark Lin for some wonderful finish line pictures. I wasn't at Helm Field for the 3 hour period during the races and the pictures told quite the story.