I ran the Jersey Shore half marathon as a part of Team Asha for raising funds for educating under-previledged kids in India. I ran 13.1 miles (20.92 km) non-stop in 2 hrs 12 min. I have pledged to raise $1300 ($100 for each mile I ran). Please help by donating to the cause. To donate, visit my official marathon webpage. Here is an account of my unforgettable marathon experience on October 2, 2005.

The day before the run:

I just could not wait to run the next day. I was mentally very prepared for the run. Talked to previous year runners about what I should do before the run.  I had carbohydrate-rich meal for dinner and went to bed early.

On the day of the run:

Got up early, and got everything set up. I had remembered to take the race bib number, but forgot it due to a last minute mix up. Came back home to get it. Diwakar drove us to the race venue. During the car journey, I just quickly ran the race in my mind. Imagined the good feeling after completing the race.  I was just raring to go!

Once we reached the venue, many people were already there. Tom, as always, had reached the place early and welcomed us. We quickly went to the registration desk and got our T-shirts and pinned our bib numbers on our T-shirts. I panicked a bit when I found that I lost the bar-code (which was essential for the timing for the race). I later changed my bib number from the help desk.

Start of the race:

We did some stretching and got ready for the race. We lined up at the start around 9 AM. It was a bright and sunny day. It was not very hot when the race started. We wished each other good luck and the race started and everyone started the race merrily.

During the race:

I had the target of 10 min/mile. The first mile mark passed at 10:02. Great! Right on target.

Second mile was at 20:09 min. Was really impressed with myself! Doing great.

Joined some of my friends in the third mile. Third and fourth were really easy at 10 min/mile.

Just after 4 mile mark, I heard someone in the crowd shouting, "You guys are looking strong! You got to remain strong mentally.. Keep going..." I remembered this throughout the run. I had to keep myself mentally strong. I remembered the quote,

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. "
- Mahatma Gandhi.

but did not know it was by Mahatma Gandhi. I actually remembered his quote on this birthday. My run could not have come on a better day than Gandhi Jayanthi.

Saw the enthusiastic cheering crowd from Asha somewhere after 4 miles. But for these people, the Team Asha would not have done such a great job. 5th and 6th miles were easy.

The 7th and 8th miles were starting to get a bit painful. I was still maintaining my 10 mins/mile pace. At the end of the 8th mile, I was at 1:19:56. It was getting very hot too.

"Come on!" I told myself during the 9th mile. I was slowly feeling that I need to stop for a while and get my breath back. There was a water stop and I grabbed some water and slowed down to drink it.

The 10th and 11th mile were getting worse. I was feeling that I was losing some energy. I badly wanted a break. "Walking a few seconds might help," I thought. Walked for 10 sec. and started running again. This was the first time I stopped running.

I passed the 11th mile at 1:50:20. I had to keep running at the same pace to finish the race as targeted. But my legs were just not operating at that speed. I was still mentally strong. I still felt I could finish by 2:10:00. I  passed the 12th mile. It said "1 more mile to go". This was the most difficult mile I had ever run.

The last mile:

I felt very weak and couldn't keep up at 6 mph. I stopped running and walked for 2 mins. I lost some time here. started running again, it was painful to run. I was just waiting to get to the finish. Fortunately, I saw my friend Jasvinder and he started running with me. He said "Come on! Run". I just wanted to stop. He was strong and said, "There is no way you can stop now! We are almost there, the finish is just around the corner". As I turned round the corner, I could see the finish at quite a distance. "The finish line seems to have been moved further!" I felt. My eyes were closing and I could barely see people around me. I could just hear my foot steps. I felt I didn't have any life in me and was hoping that my legs could carry me to the finish. A few minutes later, I heard people cheering loudly. I knew I had come to finish. My eyes were barely open and I could not see the finish line at all. At a distance (may be 50 yards) there was a huge crowd. I kept going.. My legs were hurting. I finally reached! Opened my eyes to see if I can just fall flat somewhere. I then heard someone calling me to get my official time. The clock read 2 hr 12 min. I sat down and it took 2 mins for me to get my breath back. I realized that I completed the half-marathon and had a great sense of accomplishment. Words fail to express my feelings.

I could barely walk after the race. But it did not matter. The feeling is just too good! I don't have words to write about it here.

The greatest lesson I learnt:

The last mile was my greatest lesson. At the 12 mile mark, I stopped to walk a bit as I was feeling terribly weak. I slowed down a bit. If I had not slowed down, I would have then achieved my target of completing the half-marathon at 10 min/mile pace. That was the time I needed to be very strong mentally. My advisor keeps telling me, "Many times, we will find ourselves in a situation when we get a feeling of just giving up, and that is the time we need to give our maximum". Very true!

Latest update (as on November 20th, 2005):

I ran the 8 km race at Philadelphia in 50 minutes (see the official results below). Later I had a really humbling experience of seeing the runners of Team Asha finishing the marathon. Each of them showed a great courage and they had their own touching story.

8K - 2005 Results

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