Wooohooo!

I took part in the marathon that I mentioned here, ran all of 5 km!!!!!!!!!!!!! The feeling is awesome, there were some 100 people behind us, we (four of us) took slightly less time than what the winner of the half marathon took to complete 21 km. The last km was the best, when we saw the dome of Kanteerva indoor stadium nearing and started shouting "We did it!" much to the annoyance of other runners. My friend emphatically said "Never underestimate yourself", true, each of us carried extra cash just in case we needed to take an auto to complete the race.

Running/walking was fun specially because there were cute volunteers who cheered for us and friendly policemen who stopped traffic for us. To all those who yap all the time that Bangalore is choking blah blah and it isn't how it used to be (How do you know? You've been here only 6 months), my advice to you, take early morning walks around Vidhana Soudha and Cubbon park. Bangalore is beautiful! The only celebrities present were Ashwini Nachappa and Charu Shrama(almost celebrity, sports anchor). Charu Sharma gave some excuse for not running and goofed up big time while announcing the awards. There were some people protesting against the unequal prize money for men and women runners (Men get Rs 30,000 while women Rs 15, 000 for running the same distance of 21 km, I support them too BTW).One guy held up a banner that said "Same distance, Unequal prize money, Support female athletes" So Charu says "Its easy to hold up a banner, why don't you donate some money, we will definitely increase the prize money." Er.. Charu what do you mean? His reply was received with a lot of boos which he rightly deserved.

My friends who were elated with their achievements didn't thank me enough considering that I forced them to come, I registered for them, I collected their chest numbers, I woke them up! I am not complaining not after they treated me to breakfast. They now plan to go for long walks every Sunday morning. Yeah right! God only knows how much energy I wasted in convincing them to forfeit their one Sunday. They also swore to lead a more healthy life. These same people wanted to celebrate in Pizza Corner and Corner House (the official sponsors) . 5 km is not much I know but it was enough to inspire my friends. I deserve a pat on the back just for that.

The people who competed in the senior category, junior's dash and the special mile were all received with lot of applause. The look on the people's face who completed the half marathon(21km) is something I'll never forget, may be one day I will run that distance too. Baby steps.

The proceeds of the event go to charity (Fame India). Also on Saturday I did some volunteer work organized by my company. I think I managed to impress Santa just in time. Even otherwise, I have been good the whole year. Really.