Dawn at Mumbai Marathon - TMM 2019

The festivities started at the expo with the kickoff by Marathon Ambassador, Mary Koum.

Then came the Comrades champion Bruce fordyce(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Fordyce). Bruce's speech was simple - race day is an art, training is a science; prepare well and on race day relax+enjoy the race (we have heard it before from coach @⁨Ranganathan Ramaswamy⁩ and it is after all from the Gita, 2.47).


Sleepover at @⁨Sachin Thatte⁩' parents' home was vintage love, affection all in copious quantity.

Race day, Ganesh, Sachin and I met up on the local train (they ran specials starting at 330am).

Humidity, the big xfactor in this Mumbai run for me; sweating buckets from the start gun. The support on the course was head and shoulders above any race of this magnitude in these conditions, an essential and we are glad the organizers recognized it. Hydration stations (about 2 every mile), people support they wore care on their faces and in action. Locals had salt and oranges for the runners all along the way.. The ⛅  itself was blunted by the smog and the humidity, my body was sapped by the 2nd half.


At the halfway point, Ganesh father-in-law and mother in law were there to greet us, the best kind of surprise for this day. At this point all 3 of us were together and they made for a good celebration.

I was slowing down, then the right hamstring cramped, not entirely unexpected. In my playbook that calls for chanting Purushottam-yoga(ch15), the chanting helps me focus my mind away from the pain and I keep moving so I can come up with the next steps. Pain is after all temporary #weaknessleavingthebody and sure enough the cramp subsided, continued following the interval clock again until the left hamstring cramped; repeat playbook #omrun discipline.

Steadily the kilometers were counting down, 10togo was now 5togo; that's when the booster shot came, @⁨Ganesh Iyer⁩ called out, 'where is Sachin'; after a brief exchange on the toughness of the course we plugged away. That's when a helpful volunteer sprayed the relaxant 'volini' on both my hamstrings and the cool feeling helped go through what remained. It's been 10 years since I finished a race with Coach ganesh, another high point.
Today was a hard race, with amazing support, our village and flanked by 2 of the best that I have had the privilege of calling #myfriends this was a #sweetrace, #memorable #blessedami

Here's a photo log, well you all know I take pics along the journey so I can savor the ride

A tip of my hat to the champs, Sachin and Ganesh.

Rohini's brother ran the half and he met us in the finish area, another champ who was lamenting a slow (2:01:30!) race due the humidity.🙃

Thank you all - your wind of support was the source of strength for me.

And finally and most importantly a tip of the hat to the inspiration for this year's run,


And 135K raised, thanks to some amazing donors.