TMM 2018 - Mumbai Marathon AND the
Samarpan Family
Sunday, January 21, 2018
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| Guruma's Birthday - January 21, 2018 |
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| Samarpan Half Marathoners |
This year was the fifth year the
Samarpan Family was taking part in the Marathon. Standard Chartered Bank gave
up the franchise after ten years and the same was taken up by the house of
Tatas – and the marathon was renamed as the Tata Mumbai Marathon with the race
being managed by Procam as usual and Charity Partners United Way of Mumbai. Yoga
Prabha Bharati (Seva Sanstha) Trust (YPBSST) got itself registered with United
Way of Mumbai, the charity partner for the movement for the fifth year running,
and this time we were given 50 charity bibs based on last year’s collections
and we also got one premium bib for achieving level 1 based on their internal
selection parameters. We got more Bibs this year as other NGOs also did not
collect funds as expected thus raising our average per bib collection compared
to the others; also, the enthusiasm which is seen in participation on the event
day is unfortunately missing when it comes to fundraising!! We also had made a
team under the able guidance of our Corporate Acharyaa, Ms Ruchita Dalal and Ms.
Deepali Gokhale to participate in the Jabong Run in Costume Contest and in
setting up a stage for promoting Samarpan Meditation.
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| Ms. Ruchita Dalal - the Samarpan General |
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| Make up team in action |
Hectic preparations and
practice went in for the singing and the contest. It was great team work
performed in a spirit of love and joy though there were hiccups from the beginning.
In the words of Ms. Ruchita – “Actually right from the beginning there were
hurdles….be it participation or logistics. I felt as if it was an attack of
adversities and the climax peaked on d-day! I found sadhaks not keeping their
word….not replying….backing out at the last minute from the cheer zone stage
and not even informing! I was chasing all areas without success and was at
times so exasperated. Then I used to call Deepali and just chatter, or call you
and ask for a solution, and then Malav after he came back from Guru-karya in Nepal.
But the upside was our creative team which was the most committed and kept
their word and time lines. On the stage Rajendran Pillai and team turned out to
be very dedicated although there were problems as they were inexperienced, so I
had to look into logistics – managing somehow! Deepali was also very committed
in spite of family responsibilities and gave so much time……suggestions, and
motivated centres. Although you are a post holder and have so much of work, you
were always attending meetings and guiding. Malav also after his return from
Nepal was in full support. I myself was inexperienced in logistics so this
became a huge learning. All in all unforgettable!! Surely next year Pillai can
manage on his own if he wants to. Thanks at Gurucharan for being a saviour.” The
joy and energy displayed was something to be believed.....in the end all the
hard work paid off, as we won the first prize in the Jabong Run in Costume
contest with the main judge Shaina NC commending us for putting on such a
unique theme of meditation for the security of the armed forces. She tweeted
this and her tweet was liked by the PM too.
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| The Song and dance team on stage |
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| With an ex-colleague - Karan and the Samarpan cheer line-up |
At this point I would like to also quote Ms. Seema Dasgupta who had this
to say – “Congratulations to all the teams who did wonderful Guru-Karya. The
final test came this morning in an uncontrolled environment. Special thanks to
all those who worked in that moment, ran around, did not get a wink of sleep
and made it possible by bringing the props just before the event started!! Hats
off!! It was a testing moment of all of us. Really appreciate the calmness
shown and how Hemant at the last moment creatively changed script. Great
leadership and faith by our dear Ruchitaji and Deepaliji. Ruchitaji you
really lead from the front to make it happen. Stage set up and music team were
great. Gurudevs blessings be showered on one and all and Samarpan meditations
reaches each household. Keep up the wonderful Gurukarya!!”
As I was running the half marathon and was at Worli, I could only call
and speak with Ruchitaji and encourage her and motivate her to have faith and
things will work out. She kept asking me to pray – which I had done while
meditating before leaving home, in fact I sat for 5 minutes in the enclosure
meditating and praying to the Guru-energies to test us but to make things pan
out in the end. In fact the entire costume team sat for meditation on the
ground as the props had not come and things were getting desperate – it was
just minutes before the event started that all the props and concerned persons
appeared as if by magic and after that what happened is history! We just need
to have faith and resolve and the positive vibes always work – Gurudev always
saves the day! That is the lesson for all of us!
I had already registered for the half marathon as an individual when the
registrations opened and our Trust registration happened much later. I had been
running on an average 9km per day for about one month. This year training was regular
but an office picnic to Esselworld where I freaked out on the ice skating rink
resulted doing uninterrupted rounds – I was the only person amongst all the
youngsters skating like there was no tomorrow – with me totally drenched in
sweat. The skating was fun, but the next day the arch of my right foot was in
tremendous pain – being flatfooted the skating in circles with my feet at an
angle had its impact on me feet. The climate had turned warm and humid a couple
of days before the event and it was expected to be nice and cool on race day –
I had been praying for 14-15 degrees centigrade and it was around that much on
race day. Very comfortable for running. I used to run non-stop for about 6 km
at an average pace of 7 minutes per kilometre (due to the continuing pain on my
rain foot), but today I barely managed 4 km before starting on a walk-run
strategy. At around this time last year I had reduced my weight to around 73kg,
but this time my weight had barely come down to 71kg. I had completed 21km in
2:59:00 hours, for my trial run on 23rd December, so I was sure of completing
the race, but the challenge was to better last year’s time – which now appeared
to be a remote possibility. The only thing I looked forward to was doing much
better than my practice run if I could not come close to my last years’ time (2:38:43),
and I finished in 2:42:12. I could have done it in 2:30 but I just walked the
last two kilometres as I got the sensation of getting blisters and I did not
want to take that risk with a family outing on the next weeks long weekend!
Regular meditation and a diet of nuts and sprouted beans helped me reduce my
weight by 7 kgs in a month or so – only my dinner was two whole wheat breads
with cooked vegetables which was same as last year.
The
ideal running temperature for good timings in a marathon is said to be 12
degrees celsius. It must have been around 15-16 degrees on Sunday morning plus
slight humidity was there in the air. My running mates from my society were
missing this year and I had to make my way alone. I woke up at 3.30 am and was in meditation for about 15 minutes. I got
ready and took a 4.17am special local
and reached Mahalaxmi, then a BEST bus arranged by Procam to the venue. Due to
the massive traffic jam, we were dropped more than a kilometre away from the
venue and had to walk it down.
I had got ‘A’ section as I was participating
as a ‘Change Runner’. This year too they had created 7 sections A to G based on
finish timings of the previous year. It was already just 5.15am and the run was
to start at 5.40am. When I entered the enclosure, it was already crowded. I
went into the A section, sat down in lotus position waiting for the moment! At
5.30am the announcement came to move towards the starting line. The half
marathon start had fewer runners this year – just 12252 as compared to 14663
last year!
At 5.40am the run started with the VIP
and elite athletes being sent off first after which the junta was told to go.
There was a huge roar of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’ along with cat whistles from the
runners and off we went. I hit the timing chip mat at around 5.41am. The start
was very steady as I started running at the speed I had trained for. This year
the run started off at Worli Sea face and then a couple of kilometres before we
reached the sea link, the run was smoother and I got off to a smooth pretty
fast running rhythm as opposed to what I was practicing at. The first four
kilometres were at a pretty decent clip averaging 6.15 minutes per km. After
that the pain in my right foot arch started acting up and I walked for some
time before starting off again. My first split timing at 10km was 1:7:55 at an
average speed of 6.48 minutes per km, and final time of 2:42:12 at a pace of
7:42/km. I completed the sea-link stretch – to and fro – pretty fast
considering I also walked a bit and my 10km mark was reached in a timing of 1:08
which was well in line for matching my last year’s time. But you know how it is
old bones and muscles get tired and the break-heart hill was yet to be
climbed!! Near Jaslok hospital I heard a friendly, “Hello Boss” from Malav, as
he went past me at pretty decent clip. This year I changed my strategy a bit
and after 6km ran 1km and then walked for 250m and with this strategy I was at
17km mark in 2:13:00 with 4 km to go I could have finished well under 2:30, but
the pain in the right foot arch and the sensation of getting blisters made me
choose the option of discretion is the better part of valour and I then walked
more than I ran, resulting in the time I got. But I am still happy as I did far
better than the practice run which was 2:59.
At Peddar Road, up break-heart hill
the weather suddenly became cooler and I kept pushing myself to avoid getting
cramps in the cold – I walked briskly, jogged a bit, walked and went up the
hill. After the hill the downward jog was pretty fast and comfortable as my
muscles warmed up again.
About 5km from the finish as we came
onto Marine Drive I enjoyed the sunrise – an orange ball of flame visible on
the horizon. This year too there was a High Court order restricting the band
sound level to 55 decibels and hence the enthusiasm and cheering of the bands
was a bit subdued. I did not see any of our Samarpan Family near Hindu
Gymkhana, but further down I saw our stage being ably manned by Rajendran
Pillai and the song and music team. There were very few people near the stage –
barely 100 or so as compared to 600 odd last year – this was truly
disappointing, but there is nothing that can be done. We had six sadhaks
running the half marathon – the most inspiring being Pratapbhai who complete
21km, which is awesome considering his age and weight! Apart from Pratapbhai,
Yogesh Chawda completed in 2:10, Malav 2:17, Sandeep Narang 2:51, Vandana 2:45 –
so it is good to see more of the Samarpan family taking on the challenge of longer
distances!
The route for the last kilometre was different
and we turned left at the Oval junction before Flora Fountain, went upto JB
Vacha School, taking a right there, straight, then again right and straight
before turning left for 200 metres to the finish. From the two hundred metre
mark I went to the extreme left and sprinted down to the finish. Time taken 2:42:13
(official 2:42:12). My Garmin watch said I had run 21.310 km rather that 21.097
which is what the course distance is supposed to be.
This time the arrangements were
different. The exit was on the road adjacent to Azad Maidan – as soon as we
entered on the left was the recovery tent where volunteers were applying pain
balms and massaging tired muscles. I kept moving on and found out that the medal
distribution and refreshment counter was at the other end of Azad Maidan – the
Metro end. This year too I could not go to the Procam Marquee which was located
at CST bus stand this year as the volunteers kept asking me to go further down
and take the subway – but the route to the subway was blocked – hence I could
not go to the Marquee for refreshments and massage. I showed the invitation to
the grandstand and to the Procam marquee to the Police Inspector stationed
there, but he said no one was allowed in the subway. There was no point in
arguing, so I just moved on. Procam/United Way should not raise hopes by giving
such invites which cannot be executed due to race day rules – or they should
bring the marquee back to Azad Maidan where it used to be originally! They gave
Turkish towels for the first time, and I had just collected my Finishers medal
when I looked for the towel on my shoulder, just to find it missing – most likely
whacked as I did not realise it was missing from my shoulder! I tried calling
Malav, but to no avail. I sat down on the ground, ate the apple and drank the
orange juice. My legs were becoming stiff and I just stretched them a bit,
massaged them and got up and started moving towards our stage at Marine Drive.
I reached Marine Drive at around 9.15am
and joined our gang out there. There was a lot of enthusiasm and dancing with
the youth – young and old kids – having the time of their life. The Borkar
sisters were on stage with the other singers and band members. I was asked to
go on stage and say a few words. I said that the ideal gift for Guruma’s
birthday was the first prize in the Jabong contest and there was loud roar with
lots of clapping, then I started singing “Happy Birthday to You” and the whole
crowd joined in joyous celebration.
Birthday song for Her Holiness Guruma
At around 10.15 our Bib runners came to the
stage and the party began in right earnest with the costume team coming on
stage and joining in the singing and dancing – for about 15-20 minutes it was a
complete jam session with Samarpan Marathon songs being sung with high energy
and a frenzy of dancing taking place with the prize money cheque being taken on
stage and shown to the public. Mr. Arun Doshi, who is a part of Mumbai
Philharmonic, he came and played the mouth organ with five popular tunes which had
the crowd singing and dancing along with him for the second year running. A
gentleman in his seventies joined us and started dancing to our music and his
pyrotechnics enthralled the audience. The icing on the cake was Mr. S. Sankara
Raman, the Hon. Secretary of Amar Seva Sangam who along with his wife collects
more than Rs. 1.25 crore towards his charity every year. We had photo sessions
with him, gave him Swamiji’s aura book – this gentleman is totally paralysed
and does the Dream Run in a wheelchair, but his enthusiasm and dedication to
his cause is immensely inspiring. We told him about our theme and he was very
happy and congratulated us for doing so much for the nation! This variety added
a new dimension to the mornings festivities!
At around 10.30 we all left after
participating in a group photo and we all dispersed thereafter. Deepali and I
went to Churchgate station and caught a Borivali local.
A big thank you to Ruchitaji,
Malavji, Deepaliji, Rajendranji, Amit Parulekar, Ashish Rajput, Komalji and
team, the Borkar sisters and music team the youth who designed the costumes and
make up and of course Swamiji for testing us in the beginning but also for ensuring
that we won the contest!! Of course a VERY BIG THANK YOU AND JAI BABA SWAMI to
all the sadhaks who thronged Marine Drive shouting their support, singing
songs, dancing and waving flags and banners – it just goes to prove that there
is great strength and harmony in collectivity!
– JAI BABA SWAMI
