Why I run

So, last evening, 22 Dec, my wife and I attended the Churachandpur Run 2022 Charity Dinner in Bungmual where I was asked to say a few words on ‘Why I Run’. Since I haven’t updated my blog for some time, I think this is a good time to share what I managed to cobble up:

Remarks at the Churachandpur Run 2022 Charity Dinner

I can say that I have been running for around 20 years now. I always say that running is my only good addiction. My interest in running began in my early 40s when we were posted to Maputo, Mozambique during 2001-2004. We stayed in an apartment on the 11^th floor of a building that overlooked Maputo Bay and the Indian Ocean. Below our apartment was a park and a road that also overlooked the ocean and went on for around 500m or so, connecting to the main road that led to downtown Maputo. I think it was the winter of 2002 when I first thought of seriously taking up jogging. The seasons in Mozambique, which is in the southern hemisphere, are opposite of what we are normally used to in the northern hemisphere and winter there falls during our summer season. So it was sometime in March-April 2002 that I decided to try jogging. The park below our building and the beautiful and fit joggers who seemed to go on and on without getting tired were a big factor in my decision to try jogging.

I have never ever been the sportsman-type in my life. As a child growing up in Sielmat where everyone played football, I was always the last person anyone would pick for their side – that too only when there was no one else. Even when some friend took pity and picked me, I was so pathetic at the game that I would soon be substituted. The only game or sport that I have a little skill at and which I played somewhat regularly during our school days was badminton. But, looking back, I sometimes have the feeling that the only reason I got to regularly play badminton with my friends back then was simply the fact that the rackets belonged to us. So, except for the occasional game of badminton and volleyball during my school and college days, I have never really played any real sports. Even those occasional games came to a complete halt once I left home for my job, got married and our kids came along. Having been born with and excellent appetite and marrying the girl of my dreams who is also an excellent cook did wonders for my weight which started to slowly balloon till at one stage I tipped the scales at almost a 100kg just after my son was born in Morocco, during our first posting abroad.

When I first attempted jogging, I used to be so out of breath even within the first 100m or so that I simply had to stop to catch my breath. With my irregular schedule because of work and other things, it took me at least a year to be able to jog for up to a kilometer. I must have made a pathetic and embarrassing sight, but I kept at it till the day finally came when I found myself jogging without running out of breath even when I passed the tree which marked the spot where I used to catch my breath. I still clearly remember the incredible feeling of well-being and excitement as I realized that even though I had already crossed my usual landmark and was still running, I was breathing normally and my legs were moving in a steady rhythm. It felt like an epiphany of some sort, a kind of spiritual feeling which I had never experienced before. And I have been hooked ever since.  

We returned to Delhi sometime in early 2004 where I continued jogging, though only once or twice a week, mostly during the weekends. Back then, the present trend for fitness and jogging had still not taken off even in Delhi and I remember being mostly the only person jogging and people looking at this crazy guy running even in the summer. Of course, things have changed now, and you will now find people running/jogging at any time of the day and season in Delhi. I only wish this was the case also in our hometown, Churachandpur. Because, I have now been running in the morning in and around Sielmat every alternate day for the past month and, except once when a small kid (around 10yrs or so) ran with me from Bijang to Tuibuong, I have basically been the lone runner. Every time I run, I wish it was like in other places where you criss-cross other fellow runners every few minutes. My normal run is around 6-7 to 10k now and I am extremely thankful to God and proud that I have been able to do this for the past 5-6 years without any injury.

But I must tell you that I did not get to this stage in my running life as a matter of course. It took me a long time. In fact, it was only during the past 5-6 years, when I was already 54-55 years old that I started this level of serious running, so to say. In 2017, I was posted to Copenhagen, Denmark, which is a joggers/runners’ paradise where you will find parks with running tracks within accessible distance from any place in the city, and spaces to run even in the center of the city. It was the beginning of winter when we arrived and I started running. It was a novel experience running in the cold and snow but so refreshing that I practically took off running when we landed there.  

My tenure in Copenhagen was probably the most hectic of all my postings workwise. I had no choice but to run in the evenings, after office. Which is what I did. During winters in Scandinavia, the sun rises around 0830 and sets around 3:30pm. So, my runs were always in the dark. But the streets are so well-lit, it didn’t matter. It was in Denmark that, for the first time in my life, I found myself averaging 5+k for every run until, eventually, I started running a 10k more or less at least once a week. My average runs also started increasing from 2-3k a day to more. Somewhere along the way I also downloaded Strava which has been a big factor in encouraging me to continue running because one can keep up with other fellow runners and even compete, in a way, especially if you are a member of a running club. I have been a member of Sinlung Runners, which currently has 122 members, for the past 5 years or so, where we kind of compete to see who makes it to the top10 every week. Recently I also joined the Churachandpur Running Club which also has a similar scoreboard where we can see each others’ records in real time.

The Covid pandemic caused untold suffering and deaths across the world which was followed by lockdowns across the globe. My wife came to India on Homeleave sometime in end-Jan 2019 and was able to return only after 7 months because of the lockdowns. That period turned out to be the best period for me as far as my running was concerned. Because I was alone, I was breaking all my personal records in running, especially in terms of distance run, which I was able to continuously record on my Strava. In Dec 2020, we moved to Hamburg which is another Joggers Paradise. 2021 was a record year for me despite, or in spite of, the pandemic. I ran 2300+ kms that year, at an average of around 7k a day! This year, as of this morning, I have done 1745kms so far and hope I can reach 1800k in the next few days before New Year. I seriously doubt that I will be able to better 2021, but you never know.

To get back to my journey in running, I have to talk about the first time I took part in a real race. This was the Tokyo Marathon, considered one of the major marathons, which took place in Feb 2010. On a whim, I applied for the 10k part of the Marathon and was accepted. I still remember my wife telling me not to participate because, till that time, I had never seriously run, apart from the occasional 1-2km, and she was really scared that at my age (almost 50), I would suddenly be running a 10k (which was unimaginable back then) practically from scratch. In fact, the words she used was that I might even drop dead from exhaustion during the race. Which in fact was a reality. But I applied for the race anyway without telling her. Eventually I was accepted and took part in the race. Those of you who know will know that tens of thousands apply for these major Marathons and getting accepted itself is a huge thing. Unless you have some previous track record or have participated in the Race previously. Looking back, it was probably my diplomatic status, or the fact that I was from India and they wanted participants from more countries that made them accept my application.

Anyway, on that morning in Feb 2010, without ever having even run a 5k in my life, I found myself on the starting line of the Tokyo Marathon. I completed the 10k in 1 hour 7 minutes and came home with a real medal for the very first time in my life. The experience of running with more than 30,000 runners, people lining up the streets cheering for each and every runner, was overwhelming and nothing like I had experienced in my life. Running with tens of thousands, and people cheering you all the way gave me such an adrenalin that I completed the first 5k even without realizing it. I had to walk and run the rest of the way and I remember the last few meters as the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.

I was now hooked and I again took part in the next Tokyo Marathon 2011 which I completed in around the same time. We moved to Hanoi, Vietnam in mid-July 2011 and one of the first things I looked up was whether they had any formal race I could take part in. I ended up taking part in 6-7 formal/organized races during our stay there and, of course, kept on running in bits and pieces in between. We returned to Delhi in end-2014 and discovered that there was a formal/organized race almost every weekend in Dwarka where we stayed. I continued taking part in a Race at least once in two months or so. I am proud to say that it was during this period that I influenced some members of our community to come and take part in the races and they have also become hooked to running. In fact, this period marked the beginning of our Sinlung Runners where we now have 122 runners from Delhi as well as here and places as far away as the US and Australia. I know that at least 30-40 of our members are regular runners while the rest remain members and do run/walk occasionally. But they remain members of the club – so I still have hope. 

After my experience in Tokyo in 2010, my dream and personal goal was to do a sub-1hour 10k. I tried for many years but never managed to do it till one day in 2019 in Copenhagen when I did a 10k in 59 minutes and went on to complete a half marathon (21k) in a personal best of around 2 and a half hours. That was the one and only time a did a sub-1 hour 10k and a half marathon in just over 2 and a half hours. I have since run many 10ks and around 10+ half marathons but have never managed the same pace or time. I have given up on the sub-1 hour 10k and a better-paced HM. At the moment, I am just happy to be able to keep on running without caring about the time. There was a time when I aimed for a sub-7min per km pace and somehow managed. Now, I am happy with a 8minute per 1k pace and extremely happy if I manage a sub-8min/km occasionally. By this, I mean the average pace for a full 7-8 to 10k which I do is a mix of walking and running. But I still occasionally run a sub-7min/km run in between walking.

Another dream has been to run a full Marathon at least once in my life. There was a time when I thought I should at least try and train for one but, as I said, I started too late in life, after my 40s, and by the time I started to really run I had already crossed 50 and admitted that I would never be able to do a full marathon. But I am happy have completed a couple of HMs. In fact, just 2 days after my 60^th birthday, when we were still in Hamburg, I ran a HM to celebrate and, frankly, for the right to brag that here is a 60 year-old man from a tribe and society that doesn’t really run, who has run a HM and I thanked God for giving me the health and ability to still be able to run.

After Tokyo, I have taken part in quite a number of races wherever we have been posted. These include many races in Delhi, especially in Dwarka, and also the Airtel HM, 2015, I think as well as the last Vedanta Delhi HM on 16 Oct this year. Others include the Hanoi Moi Run, the Song Hong HM in Hanoi, VN, the annual Royal Run in Copenhagen. The only thing I aim for at these races is to finish the course I signed up for no matter what and, if possible, not finish last. I can report that I have completed all the races I signed up for and have always managed not to be last. In fact, I have even placed 1^st and 3^rd in my age category for the 10k in the races that I took part in Delhi.

Lastly, I must also add that running/walking has saved my life. I was diagnosed as a diabetic more than 10 years ago when we were in Tokyo. From taking a pill once in a year or so for some fever, to taking 2-3 pills a day all of a sudden was a drastic change for me personally and extremely hard to accept. But it made me increase my running/walking and my diabetic soon came under control and I am now down to 1 pill a day. With God’s help and regular running (and medicine), my blood sugar level has been around 120-130 or so for the past 6-7 years while I was in service. We came back to Delhi in Sept and, after 2-3 weeks my blood sugar level came down to 107 and when I again checked after a week, it went down to 97 which was when I realized what an important factor stress plays in our health in general and in diabetes. Now that the tension and stress of office has gone from my life, I hope and pray that my diabetes remains under control and I am able to continue running/walking for the rest of my life.

I would urge all present here this evening – if you are a regular runner or take regular walks, not to give up. And if you have never taken any regular walk or run, please please start now. Walking/running is basically the best medicine available and is there for free. A few people have come up to me and said that, I must also start walking/running because I have put on weight/ I have diabetes / my cholesterol is high, etc. etc. My reply to them is that – you can’t just decide one day that I have to start walking/exercising/running from tomorrow. In my personal experience, you have to become addicted to it. You have to persevere for at least a year, if not more, before it becomes a habit or an addiction. Once it is an addiction, you will find the time for it. Most of the past 6-7 years, I used to run at night. I would sometimes come home after a hard day’s work at 8-9 but still went for my run for an hour or more. I find that all the stress and pressures just melt away once you start to run and you are refreshed both physically and spiritually. Until you reach that stage where running/walking is a compulsion / an addiction, it is probably not possible to continue for long.

Finally, I must admit that, in a sense, I am not really a runner or a Marathoner – in the sense that Lun and James, for example, are. Calling myself a runner is probably sacrilege for someone like Lun or others who regularly and easily run at a pace of 4-5min/km. My so-called ‘runs’ are actually a mix of walking and running – I only try do a bit more of the running than the walking. There was a time when I tried for a better pace but, as I said, I am now a certified senior citizen and am just happy to be able to do the occasional run in between the walks.

Lastly, running for me is a passion, an addiction, and I could probably go on and on, but I will end here. I hope that, with more organized races like the Churachandpur Run and more people taking up running, there will be further occasions to share our experiences in the future.

Thank you for your patience and for having me here tonight. I hope at least one of you is inspired to take up regular walking or running from my story. I am sorry that we have to leave early because of a previous programme in the family.

I hope to see you all on 29 Dec at the Churachandpur Run.

Thank you.

A Dream Realised

I can now cross off one of the few items I have on my wish-list or ‘things-I-must-do-before-I-die’ – that is, take part in a real marathon. Yes, I took part in the Tokyo Marathon 2010 last Sunday. Not the full marathon – that is too much at my age. I’ve not yet put it on my wish-list. But, who knows 😉

It was only the 10km part of the Tokyo Marathon, which I completed in just over an hour. Maybe nothing much to boast of for the pros and the sportsman-types, but for me it was a culmination of a dream – something I’ve strived for and worked hard at during the past seven years or so.

All those early morning (and some late evening) jogs finally paying off and culminating in that precise moment when I crossed the finishing line was something I will not forget. Though there were no TV cameras, or for that matter any type of camera, recording the precise, ecstatic, moment I crossed the line, I can recall and savor the exact moment even now. And I know it will remain one of the highlights of my blessed God-given life.

I knew from the moment I awoke at 6 in the morning that all the predictions of bad weather and rain had come true. I lay awake for some time just taking in the fact that the Big Day had finally come and listened to the rain lashing against our bedroom window. I felt like a small kid on Christmas morning thinking of the presents Santa would have left around the Christmas tree the night before as I finally got up to dress for my first ‘marathon’ and have a leisurely breakfast before leaving for Shinjuku where the race would start at 9:10. I peeked through the window and saw the steady drizzle and overcast sky in the early morning light and thought of the first time I started seriously jogging all those years ago.

I think it was the winter of 2002 when I first seriously thought of taking up jogging. We were then in Maputo, Mozambique where the seasons are opposite what we are normally used to because it is in the southern hemisphere and winter there falls during our summer season in the northern hemisphere. So it was sometime in March-April 2002 that I decided to try jogging. A beautiful park overlooking the Indian Ocean just below our apartment which was usually full of early morning joggers was a big factor in my decision. Plus the sight of all those fit and beautiful joggers who seemed to go on and on without ever getting tired.

Anyone who has ever known me will testify to the fact that I have never ever been the sportsman-type. As a child growing up in Sielmat, where everyone played football, I was always the last person anyone would pick for their side. Though I love football and tried my best, I could never master the dribble or any of the moves that could have made a ‘captain’ pick me for his side. On the few occasions some friend took pity and picked me, I was so pathetic at the game that I would soon be substituted. So I remained a spectator at most of the games. This has continued throughout my life – the only place you will be sure to find me during any sport or games is in front of the idiot box or in the spectator stands. The only sport I have a little skill at and which I played regularly was badminton and, to a small extent, volleyball. But, looking back, I sometimes have the feeling that the only reason I got to regularly play badminton with my friends back then was simply the fact that the rackets belonged to us.

And so, except for the occasional game of badminton and volleyball during my school and college days, I never really played any real sports. Even the occasional games came to a complete halt once I left home for my job, got married and our kids came along. Having been born with an excellent appetite and marrying the girl of my dreams who is also an excellent cook did wonders for my weight which started to slowly balloon till at one stage I tipped the scales at almost a hundred kilos just after my son was born in Morocco. But after getting back into the daily office commute and grind in Delhi, I settled back into my ‘slightly’-overweight-for-my-height/age status which I have more or less since maintained.

When I first attempted jogging, I used to get so out of breath even within the first 100m or so that I simply had to stop to catch my breath. With my irregular schedule, it took me more than a year to comfortably jog for up to a kilometer. Though I must have made a pathetic and embarrassing sight, I kept at it till the day finally came when I found myself jogging without running out of breath even as I passed the old, gnarled tree which marked the spot where I usually stopped to catch my breath. I still clearly remember the incredible feeling of well-being and excitement as I realized that even though I had already crossed my usual landmark and was still running, I was breathing normally and my legs were moving in a steady rhythm pounding the dirt tract. At some stage I even felt like I was out of my own body and watching this handsome, strong jogger out on his regular morning jog, casually passing lesser mortals with a slight sneer on his lips 🙂 It really felt like an epiphany of some sort, a kind of spiritual feeling which I had never experienced before. And I have been hooked ever since.

Though I knew it would take me less than 30 minutes to reach Shinjuku, I left home at 7:30 to ensure that I reached well in time. It was around 5 degrees, chilly, with an overcast sky and drizzling as I stepped outside and practically hit the ground running as I jogged down to our Metro station to catch the Toei Oeda line for Shinjuku. The metro was full of other runners, all decked out in their best running suits, excitedly chatting. As we filed out of Tocho-mae station, we came upon thousands of other excited runners checking for directions to their own allotted blocks. I joined the throng and, after making sure I was on the right track, decided to take off the extra sweatshirt which I had worn for warmth and keep it in my allotted ‘baggage bag’ which I had to deposit with Luggage Truck No. 4 that would take it to the finish line to be collected after the race.

As I came out of the station, I saw that it was still drizzling. I adjusted my cap and put up the hood of my wind-cheater below which I wore the official Tokyo Marathon tee-shirt. I looked at my watch which showed exactly 8:05am. I followed the sign for the Luggage Trucks to first deposit my ‘baggage’ and then find some shade from the rain near my starting block. Having deposited my ‘baggage’, I started looking for ‘K’ block which was my allotted starting block and finally found it, the last of the starting blocks, at least 200-300m from the start-line.

I only found out later, long after I submitted my application for the Marathon in July last year, that the starting blocks were allotted from ‘A’ for the elite runners and so on to ‘K’ for amateurs, first-timers and those who were not exactly expected to break records, according to the ‘estimated time expected to finish the race’ which every applicant had to fill in. Seeing that the maximum time given to complete the 10K race was 100 minutes, I filled in 90 minutes as it was my first race and I had never even run 10K at a stretch in my life. I was, accordingly, allotted the last starting block, ‘K’.

Though it continued to drizzle and I could feel the rain water starting to seep into my sneakers and I was starting to shiver in my tee-shirt and wind-cheater, the excitement was palpable as I made my way towards K block which was a small grass-less park now turning muddy with puddles all round. I looked at my watch which told me I still had about 45 minutes till starting time. I looked around for some shade, a tree maybe, or some structure, and found none. So I made my way towards the front of the excited pack and stood in the rain and mud like the rest. It was probably the coldest 45 minutes I have spent in Japan with the steady drizzle and more rain water seeping into my shoes every passing minute. But the excitement of being in my first marathon (ok, 10K race) and being in the midst of 35,000 excited participants more than compensated for the cold and soon enough the announcement came that the race had started and a couple of crackers exploded overhead. It seemed like ages as we slowly shuffled along with the crowd towards the starting line. Being in the last block, I made it to the start-line at exactly 9:31 and I was finally off.

With the ever-present knowledge that I was attempting to run a distance I had never done before, I started tentatively but running amidst thousands of excited runners and crowds lined up on both sides despite the steady drizzle seemed to pump in extra adrenalin into my body and I found myself picking up pace as we crossed the first kilometer. Concentrating on my run, I was surprised when I saw looming just ahead the 5km mark, which was the maximum distance I had ever run. Before the race, one of the recurring thoughts that came back again and again was of me trying to keep my pace while runners continuously passed me by. But I surprisingly found that I was able to keep my steady pace and, in fact, was passing more runners than the other way round. As I passed the 5km mark, my watch showed 10:02 and the big electronic clock showed exactly 00:52:49 which meant just over 52 minutes had passed from the official start of the race at 9:10am. A quick mental calculation told me I had done 5km in 31 minutes! At last (like a true sportsman), I now have a ‘personal best’ time of sort, I thought.

And so, just as I had passed that old, gnarled tree which served as my landmark when I first started jogging all those years ago in Maputo, I passed the 5km mark without stopping and continued on. Except for a slight pause to get some drinks at the drinks table which came up just after the 5km mark, I pushed on almost as fresh as when I started. The tiredness in my legs started to creep in as we passed Iidabashi and approached the 8km mark on a slight climb, approaching the Imperial Palace. By the time I was running past the Imperial Palace with the Finish Line in Hibya Park just round another bend in the road, I started to feel the full effect of what I was doing as I felt my leg muscles starting to protest. I realized I had reached the stage where I simply had to put one foot after another and tell my poor, faithful, tiring legs that it was just a matter of a few more minutes to the finish line.

For the last few hundred metres I hardly noticed the waving crowd as I concentrated on reaching the finish line – and making a last sprint as I crossed the finish line. Which I did, and was rewarded by some clapping from the crowd. My watch showed 10:37 and the big electronic clock showed the time from the race start as exactly 01:28:11 when I crossed the finish line. Which meant I had finished the race in 67 minutes, or more precisely, 67 minutes 11 seconds or 1 hour 7 minutes 11 seconds, counting from the moment I crossed the start line at 9:31.

Another recurring thought I had before the race was of me collapsing during the race or even as I crossed the finish line. But, happily, nothing of the sort happened and, except for my tired legs, I felt as fresh as ever as I walked towards the race officials waiting to guide me to the ‘reception’ area. As I walked to one of the race volunteers to have my computer chip (which had my details and recorded my exact race time) taken off, my happiness was quite obvious in my smile. As she gave me my chip and pointed me towards where I could exchange it for my medal, she gave me the sweetest smile and congratulated me. I gave her my best Japanese-style bow and simply said, ‘Arigato’ but she was already congratulating the next finisher, little realizing that had she looked my way she would have seen the happiest person in Tokyo at that moment.

Though there was no formal medal ceremony or opportunity for me to climb the medal podium, I did have a real proper medal hung around my neck by a bonafide race official when I went to the next table to cash in my chip. As I went to retrieve my ‘baggage’, my medal proudly hung around my neck, I passed by happy, fellow runners and more smiling race officials who handed me a towel emblazoned ‘Finisher Tokyo Marathon 2010’ along with a bag containing a chocolate bar, some fruits and a bottle of water.

It was still drizzling with specks of snow starting to mingle with the raindrops as I walked towards the exit of Hibya Park to go home. I started to tuck in my medal into my wind-cheater but then thought, ‘Why not?’ and with it dangling on my neck and the brightly colored ‘Finisher’ towel draped over my shoulder, I walked towards Sakuradamon station for home. I proudly wore the medal all the way home on the metro. After all, I had done it. I had realized a dream.