Mumbai half marathon

Mumbai Half Marathon

The Mumbai Half Marathon was to start at 6:45 AM from Bandra. The Sun was not up as yet and the night ruled roost. The last few days of chill had disappeared and it turned out to be a warm morning. This was an indication of what was in store as the race progressed, but probably not many guessed.
The place which on any other day would have been desolate at that time of the day was teeming with vehicles disgorging people and the people themselves. The crowd consisted of people waiting for others, people stretching, people searching where to go to. Not many knew the exact way to reach the holding area, but by playing follow the leader one could easily reach the holding area.
After one entered the holding area one had facilities to store ones baggage and to relieve oneself before the run. The baggage was being loaded into trucks and the trucks would be driven to the Azad Maidan where the race would end.
The runners consisted of the elite group that was participating for the prize money, runners who were participating to test their mettle and were serious about finishing and a group that was there only to pass sometime.
There were head honchos of large companies, many accompanied by their cronies. And many a bosses also accompanied by their cronies.
A conversation that was overheard went as follows:
Boss: How many people do you think are participating?
Subordinate: About 11000 – 12000 for half and about 5000 for the full and more than 20000 for the dream run, I guess.
Boss: No, no there are 3000 – 3500 full marathon; and this crowd will not be more than 7000.
A typical boss; wanting to have the last word with a feeling that “I” am the only one who can always be right. 
If the boss had actually checked the registration numbers he would have noticed that the maximum marathon bib number was in four thousands closer to 5000; the half marathoners had bibs starting from as low as 5 – 6000 and went up to 18000. and the rest were dream runners which went upto 45000 and it does not take too long for one to conclude that the subordinate was more accurate than the boss, but being boss gave the person the right to have the last word and give an indication to
As the time neared 6:45 AM the crowd moved towards the exit of the holding area. Suddenly somebody started singing the National Anthem “Jana Gana Mana …” and was joined in chorus by others. Once that Anthem was finished somebody started of with cries of “Ganapathi Bappa” and the crowd responded with “Maurya”.
And then the floodgates opened and the 7000 strong ran into the street.
First one encountered the slope to climb to the Sea-Link, but was easily negotiated by most as it was the start of the race.
One could see the steel cables of the Sea Link as one ran toward it and since it was still the beginning of the race one could take some time and take in its splendor. After the first kilo-meter mark one was one the Sea Link and running towards the destination with the a rhythm by now. As one passed through the first set of steel cable harnesses one could see the Vista of Mumbai towards one’s left and this included high rises with the ubiquitous shanties below them along the shore. Adding to the Vista was the rising sun in all its splendor. One could see many people stopping to take a photograph of this vista which cannot be savoured every now and then.
One went past the 2nd to the 7th Kilometer mark on the Sea Link and this led on to the Worli seaface. Here one saw the first set of onlookers. Each commenting as per his or her understanding; some not realizing why so many people were running straining oneself.
Again a U-turn route which brought one to the base of the sea link and then on through the sea face.
This slowly moved away from the sea coast and went inland for the first time in the run. This led one to the Haji Ali front back again to the coast, but this time one could not see the view of the sea as there was some construction going one. One ran through the BEST stop at the start of the stretch and went towards Maha Lakshmi.
By now enough crowds had gathered and people were cheering the runners, but one was only concentrating only on the Kilometer marks.
One progressed past the Mahalakshmi and went on one of the most famous roads, the Peddar Road. This road has a rising slope and this tested one’s strength. And as one went up the gentle slope one reached the flyover at Kemps corner and one had to once again climb up once again testing ones resilience. This was the second stretch where the sea coast was not nearby. This led us to the footsteps of the Babulnath temple and on the famous Chowpatty back again close to the sea. But by now most had lost the finer senses to sense the nearness of the sea and was more concentrated on getting past the remaining Kilometers. As one went along the marine drive one could see different types of groups, some cheering and some leering, leering at the females running and passing unsavoury comments. One cannot avoid the later in a city like Mumbai there would always be some such elements. But enough were giving out water, bananas, chocolates and glucose biscuits to keep the spirit of the runners high. They more than compensated for the leering crowd.
The event managers could be seen providing water and electrol along the way and there were also ones which armed with pain reliever sprays helping runner overcome the niggles that one faces in long distance running. One sponsor who was prominent by its absence was lucosode. One could only see their hoardings reading “your drink partner”, but they were not to be seen anywhere.
Slowly one progressed towards the destination and by the time one neared the Churchgate station one was again away from the sea coast and for the last time now. Only a Kilometer remained and people standing alongside were cheering up the runners and walkers (some were walking) alike and were egging them to finish the last Kilometer or so in a hurry. Soon one went past the famous Flora Fountain with the Marathon torch burning bright. Not many would have been in a state to observe the flame.
Now one inched past the D.N. road towards the famous CST and there were boards indicating the last 500 meters and then the last 100 meters. Many would have breathed easy after seeing these two boards.
Finally one crossed the finish line to the beeping of the timer tracker which was beeping away merrily as people went past the finish line.

Personal experience
I was running for the first time and it was an overall very nice experience and was fulfilling to have finished the race in about 2 hours and 40 minutes without major snags. But one day after the race I experience and pain in the thigh which took about three days to clear, but it will not deter me from trying to run it once again.