Sunfeast 10K

So I ran the first running event that was held in Bangalore after our move back to India. It was a 10 K (6.25 Mile) run organized by Sunfeast. The last time I had run in an event was the half Marathon in AnnArbor exactly 1 year ago. I finished the 10K in 66 mins - felt that its high time that I improve my timing. Over 12 people from GM ran the open 10 K.

I started from my home in Brookefield at 615AM, and caught the bus to the Kantheerava stadium at 630. I was there by 7 AM. Saw the elite runners start off. By the time I met Ashok (my research group's manager at GM, who also ran trained for and ran the race very enthusiastically), wandered here and there, drank some water and kept my bag in the lockers, the elite runners were back and finished! - in 28 minutes. It was simply amazing to see them run - if I run that fast, I will not run even 1/2 a kilometer. Our open 10 K event started at 810AM. The crowd was very enthusiastic. Sowmya, Pranav and Ramesh (Sowmya's brother) came to see and congratulate me at the end of my run around 930 AM. There was a 'Majaa run' of 5.7 km after an hour of the 10 K start. I missed its starting fun, but Sowmya said it was pretty funny, with people in all costumes running together - there was a 'tree' which took 1 ft steps, there were people dressed up as squirrels, peacock etc - I think you can see this only in India. While the open 10 K had 8000 participants, the Majaa run had 13000 people.

I had heard of so many stories of running events in India being conducted in a silly fashion - dogs chasing runners, water available to only elite athletes etc. Since I saw and participated in this event myself - let me say - this event was organized in a flawless manner, with all facilities provided to the runners. Sure, the toilets in the stadium were messy - but one should give considerations in India, and when 8000 people use toilets at once, you can not expect it to be shining spotless. But apart from that, the organization of the whole event made sure that all the runners got bottles of water and glucose when they ran, and after the run , every one got a bottle of water, a bun, fruit and biscuits - very very impressive indeed, considering that the entry fee was just 200 Rs!

All along the way there were people to cheer us. It was a blast.

Why the name ?

Balikukki - my son coined this word. Just one a few cute words that he uttered before he spoke of words similar to the ones in 'our' languages. This one was very popular for about 2 months after he turned one and a half years old. It has no meaning at all, but reminds me of his liffle face with big smile with big eyes.