SF Half Marathon Experience

Having witnessed my husband Durgam’s marathon experience, I thought I knew what to expect from whole experience – trainings and races. I knew there will be moments of aches and injuries, of triumph and self pride, of self-doubt and self-assurance but I was so happy to experience that special moment , during the SF Half Marathon journey, that I had not anticipated.

I started the run with full enthusiasm but still the way coaches had wanted – at my regular slow pace. I soaked myself into wonderful SF experience – the familiar yet wonderful tour route – Emarcadero, Pier 39, Coit Tower, the hills and of course, THE BRIDGE. I was so much in high spirits running on the bridge that I just let myself loose in thoughts. I remembered how exactly 10 years ago – in July 1997 – I had visited GGB for the first time ever with my husband (my fiancé then) in little red car and was awed by the sheer splendor of engineering triumph. And of course, it reminded me of many subsequent trips to the bridge with scores of different loved ones. Even before the run was finished, I was already proud of myself for running on GGB.

But coming back, I felt like I was fighting the elements – the rain, the fog, the wind, the cold. All of sudden, my knees, ankles, shins all started complaining. After the bridge and 10 miles marker, remembering coaches’ advise and keeping the eye on the bigger prize (the full marathon), I convinced myself to not get hurt and started walking instead or running. With determination from within and cheering from beloved mentors, I finished my personal high of 13.1 miles and was given a big hug by a dear friend who also happens to be a fellow runner.

Medal, accomplishment, self-pride, still the most memorable moment of my experience wasn’t brought by any of them. The most memorable moment ,for me, happened before the run. When 3 o’clock in the morning, my carpool buddies and I took off for Sunnyvale, I showed them the full moon and said “It’s Guru Purnima - full moon. No wonder we are acting like bunch of lunatics who wake up 2 o’clock in the morning only to travel 2 hours to run 13 miles!!!” And of course, we were joined by some more lunatics like us in the bus J When the 3.30am bus headed to SF, I badly wanted to catch up on sleep but instead I was bemused by the lively environment of the bus. 20 somethings and 30 somethings, competent managers and complex programmers, toddler tackling moms and high performance athletes, all indulge into early morning Antakshari in a dark bus, just like school going children on the way to group picnic. I doubt I will ever forget running on GGB or the pain at the finish or the first medal hanging around my neck but even if I ever do, I am sure I will never ever forget one of the sweetest moment of my life – the moment that brought inner children out of bunch of accomplished grownups embarked upon a journey to yet another challenge.