The Mumbai Marathon 2011

The Race to the Start Line has Begun

When Mumbai ran this year on the 17th January for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2010 and Every Mumbaikar ran not for himself but for some other Mumbaikar, you might have watched from your comfortable sofa sets as to how each participant contributed to the Nation. For those ignorant of facts and figures let me elaborate. The 7th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) started at the crack of dawn with thousands out there in the streets of Mumbai : not just participants but also the men, women and children cheering and motivating all participants. This event representing each individual running for their cause is undoubtedly one of Asia's largest philanthropic event.

Though I have been entrusted of motivating maximum articles to join the Gokhale & Sathe Contingent for The SCMM 2011, I thought a mere mail on the group cannot encapsulate the myriad range of feelings that one encountered while at this carnival. Still I feel that, there were three defining moments in my entire half marathon: One, the energy and enthusiasm of the participants at the starting line gave our hearts quite a hike. Second: the shouts of fellow participants: "Bharat Mata ki Jai" on the stunning and mighty Bandra-Worli Sea Link gave me added energy and the view of the rising sun from the city landscape was so beautiful that Rahul Sir decided to 'just' walk the entire sea link as he wanted to spend a long time on that engineering beauty. Third: Approaching the finish line and crossing it is another experience.My legs were literally going away. My toes were starting to turn inwards, my calf starting to bend backwards and my thighs unable to sustain any more body weight. But the energy which people cheering you from the roadside gives you is unimaginable. With that I sprinted my way to the finish line and heaved a great sigh of relief to have completed my first Half Marathon.

It is really a big appreciative effort on part of the populace to turn up to attend events like this and make their august presence felt and make Mumbai known for what is famous the world over. – For its welcoming hands and open heart. At the end when I was sitting alongside my parents at the Azad Maidan, I thought over it, "This was my Marathon.. and I lived, loved and cherished each kilometer of it..."And I decided that I would come back again to participate next year...

BE a part of The SCMM 2011.. The race to be there at the Start Line has begun.. For more details visit the link http://www.procamru nning.in/ scmm/