A great milestone in the annals of 'FreeRunners' on 29 Jun 2014. The group had a night out running and many of us members participated. It was a sight to see and remember, a group of people take off at 0100 hrs on the streets of Pune in different states of attire, most of the male members preferred to run topless, making it an even more colourful sight with a lot of packs {abs and other places ;)} being displayed. The Pune streets were rocking with the swishing footfalls of the FreeRunners who all believe in running in perfect form and therefore not much of footfall noise can be heard. What is amazing is that this group of runners comprised of legend runner Vishwanathan Jayaraman who graced his presence for this event as well as novice runners ( Rakesh Pandita) whose journey in the running world is as short as 2 months doing a 21K. There were other young runners ( Trupti, Ankita, Balaji, Rahul, Sophia) who have been planning and training for this event to complete their maiden 21K after they got the approval of their Ustaad Coach Jeetendran Nair. There were 8 experienced runners ( Vishwanathan Jayaraman, Jeetendran Nair, Ntin Pandya, Muthukrishnan Jayaraman, Hitesh Mahajan, Neeraj pardikar, Parag Dongre, and self) out of which self was the least experienced with only a single FM down my belt and in the recent past the maximum distance clocked was only 26K.
It was last Monday morning when I got this telephone call from Ustaad asking me if I would run 50K on Sunday. My first reaction was "I am not ready for this" as I know the rules of 10% increase in miles every week. My lack of confidence in self was put to dust by Ustaad who in his typical assertive tone told me that he considered me fit to run. Then he said that since the legend runner Vishwanathan Jayaraman was running with us, it was a golden opportunity to achieve a milestone and full support during the run was available. I hesitantly said "Yes" and then was wondering whether I did a mistake because I was worried whether I would be able to complete it or not. With less than a week to mentally and physically condition myself , I decided to take the plunge and experience this madness.
We all assembled at Ustaad's residence at 0030 hrs on 29 Jun (Post Saturday midnight). The atmosphere was fully charged up with the runners and the support team assembled and were preparing themselves for the event. The route and plan for the run is indicated below:-
The plan made by Captain (Nitin Pandya), there is a reason why he is called "Captain" which will be evident from the plan below:-
"Route for weekend 50K run is http://www.mapmyride.com/
Please go through it and memorize it.
We all (except Trupti and Ankita) will start together from Dorabji
Enclave (Jeetu's house) @ 1:00 a.m. and finish it at Kedari ground (approximately #7.00 a.m.).
Support and Camera teams...
* Sriram in his Scorpio will support faster group.
* Avinash and Shyamal will support second group in Muthu's XUV.
* Rupesh is our backup support in case anyone in above bails out. Avinash is down with fever and hence this precaution.
* Rahul, Balaji, Rakesh and Sophia after finishing their 21K will get into XUV @ #Pimpri Chowk
* Trupti and Ankita will join us at 29 KM mark (near Chinchwad station) @ #4 a.m..
* Balaji can then take Trupti's car and continue with the group for some time.
* Balaji will also have to alert the rest of the Free Runners @ Kedari/Racecourse for end game.
Sriram (
9820076633), Avinash(9923500067) and Shyamal(9923608460) will be our command and control center.
9820076633), Avinash(9923500067) and Shyamal(9923608460) will be our command and control center.
Let's stick with each other as a group to motivate and cheer up - most importantly let's rock and enjoy the run. "
Captain ensured that the plan was known only to the concerned people and he sent it to their individual emails rather than post it on the Facebook page to avoid crowd and cheering on the roads at wee hours and invite unnecessary attention from authorities. This group is wild and full of energy.. anything is possible, they simply rock the place they go to. The running groups were balanced well to ensure that weak runners got support from the strong and the other group members supported the long runners at the end of the run.
Support was organised immaculately. I have no words to describe the perfection of this planning. What is more important is that the supporters themselves are all good runners and they sacrificed their run to take care of us. They seemed to know exactly when we needed more support and were always there with sufficient amount of water and enerzal and biscuits/ bananas etc.. Moreover, they never let you run towards them, they ran towards you and helped you , it was an amazing support crew. I have never experienced this kind of professionalism ever. Each one of them deserves a standing ovation for their dedication and sensitivitity to the runners needs. Professional Marathon organisers need to take a cue from here as to how support is to be organised.
My Experience of the Run
The run started out smoothly exactly as the clock struck 0100hrs. I felt that the pace was a bit fast for a 50K but when you have a legend running in front, you can only follow. So I decided to tag at the back of the pack as I was keen on finishing the run. The initial plan had us 50K runners in two groups "the speed demons" comprising of the legend runner 'Vishy', his brother 'Muthu' and 'Ustaad Jeetu'. The balance 5 runners were supposed to be running slightly slower. But we had the young dynamic 21K runners with us who were keen on getting a good timing so they were actually leading the pack and that was the reason for a slightly faster pace, at least that is what I felt. As the distance progressed, I noticed that the gap had increased quite a bit and we were four of us who were in the "back-pack", two first time 21Kers,Balaji and Rakesh, Captain Nitin and self. Nitin had actually slowed down to push these guys. The run was very comfortable for me as the pace was slower than my normal pace and I was enjoying myself taking the view of the night and feeling the cool breeze on my bare body. Nitin mentioned that it was hot weather, and I felt that it was heaven compared to Mumbai where I normally stay. We finally reached the 21K point after approximately 2hrs and 15minutes of running and congratulated the first time 21Kers. Then Nitin just took off at a very fast pace, I just followed his pace and did feel that it was a wee bit too fast, but he was concerned about catching up with the ahead gang. We finally reached the turn about point and found out that the ahead gang was just about 500-750m ahead of us. So we started running at normal pace to catch up with them later as the distance progresses. Nitin and self ran together till the 29K point where we met another 50K runner, Parag Dongre who had slowed down. We three started running together, and continued. Nitin started slowing down to match pace with Parag and this is the place where I just continued at my previous pace. For a good distance of about 5-7K, they were right behind me but after that I realised that the gap had increased, but I continued running all alone.
Well, running alone has it's own kicks and highs, because it is like meditation and you are in full connection with your mind and body. I was practicing my breathing and I learnt a new thing, I was chanting "OM" while running and it was helping me in my belly breathing. I also felt more energised, maybe it has something to do with the sound and vibrations. But, how does it matter? As long as I was feeling good doing it, I must do it. So I continued chanting long OMs and steadied my pace. I was actually enjoying the solitude when I found a familiar form running ahead, it was Muthu Sir who had slowed down and left the speed demons. I overtook him also, I was feeling on top of the world and lot of energy was still there so I did not want to slow down now. So I continued alone, of course with the support crew always leading me in the Mahindra Scorpio and offering me water, enerzal etc. every 2 kms or maybe 1km at certain stretches. By this time, I felt I must have run a lot but when I enquired from the supporters, I was dismayed to hear that there was yet 16K to go. I couldn't believe that I had covered only 5K till now from the 29K point. This is the game of the mind in long distance running, as the distance increases, each 1k looks and feels much longer than what it was at the beginning of the run. Then Muthu Sir caught up with me and we started running together. Actually I find it very comfortable to run with him because somehow our pace and steps match very well, though he is a much faster and better runner than me, I still am able to match my pace to his. So we continued at whatever possible pace, because by this time, the body was beginning to protest. This part of the run was really long and I started wishing for it to end soon, so I set mental targets like Bridge on the river, Koregaon park, RSI, Racecourse etc. and looked forward to reaching the target. Once we reached the turning into Southern Command area, we were on a home run and now the confidence level was really high.
I had read somewhere that you must be smart in ultras and walk up slopes, so that you can save energy. I did that and it worked well because the last 2K , I was actually running fast and when I sprinted to the Kedari ground where the rest of the guys were welcoming me, I was told that to complete 50K I have to take another lap of the ground. I just continued at the fast pace and finished strong. I couldn't believe that I had done my first 50K in such a beautiful manner. All factors were favourable, the route, climate , group and support system. How could someone not achieve his/her PB here?
Last but not the least, the training and tips provided by Ustaad Jeetendran Nair are amazing and ensures that every person will become a FreeRunner and learn to run any distance freely without any baggage on the mind or body.
JAI HO, FREERUNNERS! Looking forward to the next amazing event soon!
