For Venugopalan, Age is No Bar

The man who wrote Age No Bar for The Hindu is no more.  I connected with Mr. Venugopalan for a story for The Hindu - Road Runner column.  As we were discussing various topics, he zoomed in on this story for which he was eminently qualified.

We all know, we all have to go at some point in our life.  But when it strikes someone out of the blue and that someone is a person you know and respect, it hurts.  I have known Mr. Venugopalan for about 8 years now and have fond memories of running with him.  He was a man of few words but was ever willing to coach/guide others.

I remember meeting Mr. Venugopalan in 2009 at ECR 11.  He ran 30K in that event.  Since then, I have seen him in several running events and have engaged in several wonderful conversations.  His measured running and thoughtful tips to fellow runners were always welcome.

Mr. Venugopalan sent me this photo for The Hindu 2015 story.  Though it didn't get published then, would like to publish it now in memory.  Thank you, sir, for being the spark that ignited several minds to the path of fitness.  Though I don't like your departure, I like the way you left us.

Receding Green Cover of IITM

It has been a while since I ran inside IIT Madras so I have been wishing to get a run there for some time and the opportunity came yesterday.  I was on the last day of my 10x10 and wanted to squeeze it in somehow in the evening.  Since I hadn't run in the morning, I forced myself to fight the traffic and head to IITM instead of running around Boat Club fighting traffic.

I always enjoyed running in IITM and I still do.  I like the relatively traffic free roads and the green cover.  But yesterday, I saw lot of 'fallen' trees.  Some due to nature and many others 'felled' by humans.  It would tragic to reduce the forest cover in the name of 'development' and I sincerely hope IITM is able to strike a balance between 'development' and retaining its green cover.

That said, my run inside IITM was otherwise good and I was doubly happy having managed to complete my 10x10.  Along the way, I met these third year students who were waiting for the shuttle bus near IITM Research park entrance.  I 'coaxed' them to run / walk with me till their Hostel.  They reluctantly obliged, but that set the stage for interesting conversations.  We talked about many things ranging from technology to 'what after graduation'.  Good Luck Nikhil, Karthik & Sadhvik.

ps: This 'tip' merits to be in Senthil's diary (in Boys movie).  So, if you wonder about the 'tip'.. it is.. Sivan temple in IITM gives 'pongal prasadam' at around 6:30 PM everyday.  Made a 'note to self' to 'time' my future runs around that time... :-)

'Stuff of the Legends'

Who is the legend in this photo?

So, I bumped into this guy in my routine Bengaluru flight.  I generally dose off during this puddle jumper to makeup for waking up early.  But this time I somehow struck a conversation with my neighbor and that made the generally monotonous one hour flight interesting.

Guy next seat mentioned that he has seen me in some runs and boy I started yalking away about my running 'exploits'.  As I was reeling off my running stories, I too remembered seeing him somewhere.  So, I asked him..

"I have seen you somewhere too.. Was there a story about you in The Hindu?"

"Yes".. He said coolly and politely.  What I discovered later about him, squarely shut my mouth.. :-)

He turned out to be Sridhar Venkatesh who is perhaps the only 'Indian' to have participated in Marathon De Sables, the gruelling six day, self sustained 250k trek across Sahara.  I asked him how did he train for it in Chennai?

Sridhar said, he got an online coach and ran a minimum of 10K per day and a marathon every weekend (with a backpack) for the Sahara adventure.  He also learned the value taking 'salt tablets', which according to him is very useful in the long runs.

Marathon De Sables is definitely stuff of the legends and I am glad I got to meet one.

So, now you know who is the legend in this photo.. A big bow to you Sridhar.  You have inspired me to 'dust off' Comrades from my bucket list.

Random Act of Kindness

Today, I received 'random act of kindness' from a total stranger.  More than our run today, this gesture by total stranger made my day.  Read on for the rest of the story..

Shirtless (one of us), phone-less and penniless, three of ambled along to Marina beach from our usual start point in Abhiramapuram.  There, I wanted to take our usual selfie with Gandhi but none of us had our phone to take our ritual snap.  Reconciled to not being able to take selfie with Mahatma, we headed back, but soon discovered we were penniless as well.

As we were heading back, saw a small boutique coffee shop and decided take a coffee break.  The 'genius' bunch we are, we first set our eyes on coffee and then discovered we were penniless.  None of us had carried any emergency cash to quench our coffee thirst.

We had a hearty laugh and decided to move along.   That's when we became recipients of random act kindness.  Total stranger heard us talking about our 'peculiar' bind and politely offered to buy us coffee.  We accepted his offer and enjoyed freshly brewed Vivekananda Coffee.

Thank You Venkatachalam, wherever you are... Your random act of kindness made my day..  

Mumbai Marathon Expo - Time to Grow Bigger

Mumbai Marathon is growing bigger by the year, in terms of stature and size.  But the expo seem to caught on time warp.  It's time for expo to grow to match the stature of the event.  It needs to be move to a bigger place and with more exhibits / stalls.

I ran Mumbai after a gap of six years and was surprised to find Expo in the same place (World Trade Center, Cuffe Parade) as last time.  If it looked small then, looked even smaller this year.  Expo for a marathon of Mumbai stature needs a large open space that can be customized to suit.  But in Mumbai, it was circular and narrow, making it difficult to navigate through or use the space efficiently.

On Saturday, Jan 16, Bib collection was apparently only for outstation runners.  Even then the place was crowded and the lines moved at snails pace.

Met this guy from Japan.  They have a Chennai Marathon Club in Japan!!!!  Got to talking to him and came to know that he knew of Namma Chennai and in fact he is planning run TWCM on Jan 31.

Pacers were around to talk about their bus.  But I was more curious about the belt concoction they were wearing to hold the pacer pole.  Didn't look like a comfortable thing to wear, run and drive the bus.  On the race day, I saw several pacers getting rid of the belt and simply holding the pole in their hands.  In marathons across the world, making the pacer 'visible' is a challenge.  I have seen from balloons to t-shirts to whistles to poles.  Only balloons come close to doing the job while still providing complete mobility to the pacer.  But balloons are fragile and tend to break easily when the 'timing stickers' are pasted or soon thereafter.

 It has become customary in marathon events and runners have come to expect a Tee in their goodie bag.  Mumbai gave an 'almost' empty goodie bag as the contained only a few fliers and Volini sample spray.  But, I got lucky.  Thanks to IBM Runners Clubd, we got an Adidas Tee to boot.

Feeling cramped and not much to do, left the Expo early.  I hope Mumbai Marathon organizers move to a bigger place and give more reasons to spend more time at the Expo.  That will be one more way by which Mumbai Marathon can improve the runner experience and pump them up for the event.  All world marathon major expos do and its about time Mumbai did too.

#Marathon, #SCMM, #Mumbai

More photos -  SCMM Expo

Maximum City Getting Ready for Marathon

It takes less than two hours to hop from Chennai to Mumbai, but it might take more than two decades for Chennai to become a 'Maximum City' like Mumbai.  That is if it wants to.. :-).   I lived in Mumbai for about 6 months in my twenties and it was fast then.  And now it has only become faster.  From Airport to roads everything and everyone is 'on the move' all the time.  It looks as though Maximum city never sleeps.

Suresh and I took a walk across the famous marine drive this evening saw ample evidence of a city on the move and getting ready for another edition of Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.   Entire stretch of this scenic section of the city was swarming with people.  Young couples were enjoying themselves oblivious of their surroundings.  In the middle of this was workers erecting stages to showcase plethora of things for the run tomorrow.

We must have walked north at least 2k from Nariman Point and all thru, there were bunch of stalls coming up. Here some kids (and their moms) having fun at Radio Mirchi band stage getting ready for tomorrow.  This place is going to be buzzing tomorrow.

Nestle has put up hoardings across the city with Fauja Singh and I understand Mr. Singh is in town to run the event tomorrow.  I don't know how much he will be running, regardless he is my hero.  He is 104 and travels around the world participating in events.  Even if he runs 1k tomorrow.. that will be awesome.  He transformed his life at 89, after moving to UK.  What are you waiting for ? Start your transformation today... Do More..Start Running.

I am here to run my marathon #57 with no preparation.  My goal is to finish, keeping my hernia problem under control.  Wish me luck...

#Marathon, #SCMM, #Mumbai #DoMore

More photos - Marine Drive  SCMM Expo

Reminiscing Val Vil Ori Ultra - Getting to Nalla Thambi Resorts

Reminiscing Val Vil Ori Ultra - Getting to Nalla Thambi Resorts

As Krishna and team get ready for the second edition of Val Vil Ori ultra, I cannot not think about the first edition in which I participated.  The buzz around second edition kind of kindled me to do a few posts on the ultra.  Here is the second installment (Link to first post here). (They may be running as I click post button).

Like this year, Val Vil Ori Ultra started and ended at Nalla Thambi resorts.  It is a small resort on top, where the time moves slowly and employees of the resort move slower.

We took a train from Chennai to Salem and from there a car to Kolli Hills.  There are buses from Salem, but they are sparse and one may have to switch buses to get to Kolli Hills.

We took a brief pit stop at Rasipuram market enroute to Kolli Hills.  Not sure if it was a weekly or daily market, but the place was packed.  It was happening right on the main drag was hard to miss.  Farmers from the surrounding area were selling their farm and poultry produce.  Interestingly, the prices were comparable to what you would pay in Chennai.  Here is small video clip of the market scene.

This photo was taken near the entrance to Kolli Hills.  The climb up to top has about 70 'hairpin bends' as the road winds its way to the top which is about 22kms. Our initial plan for the Ultra was to run down till the arch and run back, but after some discussions that we partially changed it to run halfway down, climb up and a loop to Arapaleeswarar temple.  Here is a short video clip of the gateway to Kolli Hills.

Kolli Hills is still fairly untouched by commercial tourism and the accommodation options are limited.  Nalla Thambi Resort is one of the decent ones.  It has about 25 rooms and a restaurant.  But be prepared for things to move slowly.  From getting the room keys to food serving everything took time and at times tested our patience.. But then, there is no hurry, just sit back, relax and soak in on hills beauty.  Nalla Thambi is surrounded by thick vegetation and the greenery was a feast to our eyes if not to our stomach.

Nalla Thambi's only restaurant is in the open air and perhaps that's the way it ought to be.   They fare is limited but fair enough for vegetarians.  We chatted, chatted and chatted while waiting to be served.  While waiting, Krishna converted the restaurant to a mini Ultra expo and distributed our bibs.

With Bibs in hand, we are ready to run..


Val Vil Ori Ultra - Photo Collection

Reminiscing Val Vil Ori Ultra - Who is Val Vil Ori (வல் வில் ஓரி) ?

As Krishna and team get ready for the second edition of Val Vil Ori ultra, I cannot not think about the first edition in which I participated.  The buzz around second edition kind of kindled me to do couple of posts on the ultra.  Here is the first installment with the second one planned for tomorrow.

I signed up for Val Vil Ori ultra mainly as a precursor practice run for Comrades.  But the trip to Kolli hills was lot more than just about the run.  I got to enjoy the pristine forests and catch up a little bit on our rich history.  For starters with some basic knowledge who is Val Vil Ori?

For long, I didn't quite understand the name of the ultra and was actually was pronouncing it incorrectly.   I knew it was Tamil name, but didn't know the history or how to say it properly when all I saw was written in English. (yeah I right, I blame it on English..!!!).

So, I went digging and got to know a little bit about the famous 200 CE king.  Here is what I found..

According to wikepedia,  Ori (ஓரி) was a popular king in the Kolli hills region during 200 CE.  He was an excellent archer, hence the name Val Vil Ori (வல் வில் ஓரி - வில் வித்தையில் வல்லவன்).  His valour and archery are part of the folklore and he is said to have killed lion, bear and boar all with a single arrow.  He was also praised as one of the seven great philanthropists of ancient Tamil land.  He also built the famous temple in the region.

King Ori said to have built Arapaleswarar temple around 200 CE.  According to the legend, Siva ling of this temple was actually found by a farmer ploughing his land.  This temple is purported to have a secret passageway (tunnel) to another Siva temple in Rasipuram about 50 km away.  Just near the temple is Agaya Gangai falls.

 But, to get to the falls, one has to buy a ticket and walk down several steep steps.  We didn't venture down last year, but I do encourage runners to take time to go down and enjoy the falls.  A shower in the falls is supposedly very invigorating as the water runs forest herbs and they do good to your body and mind.

Paradoxically, Val Vil Ori is both revered and shunned. He is revered for his valour and philanthropic activities but shunned because of the belief that any association of any kind with his name brings bad luck.

There is statue of him in Kolli hills and Tamil Government even conducts a festival in his name every year.  But TN leaders shy away attending the function and even if some attend, refuse to garland his statue.

Val Vil Ori Ultra - Photo Collection

Next Post - Getting to Nalla Thambi Resorts

Journey to New York - Searching for that elusive marathon entry

Journey to New York - Searching for the elusive marathon entry

You  know, I didn't strike gold in the 2015 New York Marathon lottery.  Since then, I have been exploring other options and one of them is to try the NYRR-ITP (International Travel Partners) route.  International Travel Partners provide guaranteed entry for the marathon for a slight premium, if we make some travel arrangements (hotel, sightseeing, air travel etc.,) through them.

I sifted thru NYRR ITP site and what I found was a revelation.  A country of billion billion people does not have a travel partner for NYC marathon, whose 'proud' sponsor is an iconic Indian company.  Make no mistake, there are 'hundreds' of travel partners for many countries in the world, including smaller countries like Iceland.  But India is not on that list.. wonder why?

1. Is it because, there isn't enough runners in India who would take that route (not an attractive market) or 
2. Is it because India doesn't figure in the scheme of things for NYRR.  

I could connect with travel partners in other countries and try thru them and one my friend did that for me.  But it is proving to be lot more expensive and 'out of range' for me.

Now I have only two options left 1) Go the charity route 2) Explore the sponsor route.  I am trying both and hopefully one of them would work out.

Tags #TCS, NYRR, Running, Marathon

Elusive NYC Marathon Entry

Elusive NYC Marathon Entry

While Boston is the Mecca (or the Kasi or the Jerusalem) of marathons, New York City marathon is perhaps the most iconic and coveted in the world.  Both are part of world marathon majors and very popular amongst marathoners.

Boston is tough to get in.  There are stringent qualifying criteria tied to age / time.   One must have run a qualifying race within the age / time limit to even  qualify to enter the lottery.  I didn't even have an outside chance of qualifying for Boston and the charity route in 2012 to run that oldest modern marathon.

But New York marathon is entry is proving to be tougher even though there is no such qualifying criteria.  Also, NYC takes in more runners than Boston, about 17,000 more.  While the cap at Boston is around 33,000, NYC takes in about 50,000.  Still, I have not been able to crack the NYC lottery for three years in a row.

I was looking forward to running NYC marathon this year as it would knock off one more marathon from my bucket list and give the satisfaction of having run all of the world marathon majors.  But, the 'reject' mail landed quietly in my inbox around 8:20 AM this morning, deflating me a little bit.

Till last year, NYC used to give automatic entry if one has been rejected 3 years in a row.  But, that option is no longer available.  So, there is no guarantee that I will get in next year and moreover, I don't want to wait till 2016 to tick off NYC.

Now its time to try other options..

Photo courtesy - Bloomberg.com

There are still a few options left and I will be pursuing them..

1. Sponsor route - Work with the sponsors to see if they will give me one of the slots reserved for them.
2. Travel Agencies - Get a guaranteed entry by working with one of the official travel agencies.  Some of my friends took this route to Chicago last year.  Though there is a slight premium for this service, it works well.
3. Charity route - Raise funds for a worthy cause and get a confirmed slot.

I will be working all these options and hopeful of one of them clicking.  Still, so looking forward to running in the big apple..

Chennai Runners 8th Anniversary

Chennai Runners 8th Anniversary Celebrations - March 2, 2015

We moved from IITM to Nandambakkam trail discovered by the CR Pillar Pacers for our 8th anniversary.  That was good as it gave us an opportunity to discover new running route possibilities in Chennai.

We had good crowd of close to 900 folks who trekked from various parts of Chennai to join us in the celebrations.

Milind Soman joined us to promote pinkathon, women only run.  Here, he is browsing through the Rundown magazine released on that occasion.  This magazine is an important contribution to the running community by Chennai Runners.  Thanks to a bunch of dedicated volunteers, Rundown has shaped up well over the years.  Everyone present got a free copy the magazine and a softcopy was made available online as well.

Pinkathon folks gave away a few wigs (pink color.. obviously) to promote the run.  Who else, but KP the best ambassador of that.

Chennai Runners Pillar Pacers took the responsibility for organizing the event.  They made sure all aspects the event was taken care with meticulous planning and preparation.  They also released their own chapter TShirts during the occasion, in bright colors.

CR Pillar Pacers also organized a tree planting as part of the event.  Wonder the status of those saplings now.. after a year. :-)

Of course, the celebration is not complete without the customary cake..

Now we are all set for Chennai Runners 9th anniversary celebrations tomorrow.  Please do come and be an evangelist spreading the running mantra.. Remember, you can always Do More... Be there or be square..:-)


More Photos of the Chennai Runners 8th Anniversary Celebrations here.. 

Chennai Runners 7th Anniversary

Chennai Runners 7th Anniversary Celebrations - March 3, 2013

2013 was the first year Chennai Runners anniversary celebrations moved out of the confines of Anna University.  The running community in Chennai was growing and we definitely needed more room and IITM helped us with that.

About 500+ assembled in OAT and started the run after a short stretching session.  This time around, we had two different loops.  While many chose to run the 6k, few others were content with 3k.

Beast and Harican decked up the Beast with water cups..

Swamy and family talk to us about "How is it like to have the entire family hooked on to running".. Undoubtedly Very Good..

Customary cake.. enticing folks to eat the cake but after that Do More.. Start Running..

Tradition continues.. Though we got out of Anna University and its cafeteria.. we continued with the sumptuous South Indian breakfast made exclusively for the occasion.

More Photos of the celebrations here..


Tags #Chennai Runners, #Chennai #Running

Chennai Runners 6th Anniversary

Chennai Runners 6th Anniversary - March 4, 2012

This was the last anniversary celebrations that Chennai Runners celebrated inside Anna University.  We were growing in size and it was starting to attract unwanted attention the AU security staff.  

We perhaps had over 200+ folks joining for the anniversary celebrations.  Before the run, we had stretching sessions led by Vidyuth and others.  Notice the TShirt, still the first generation ones we had released in 2009 - 10 time frame.  Since then, there have been at least 3 other editions of the CR TShirt not including the ones done by the chapters independently.

After an easy 5k run, we had Arun, Naveen and Naresh as guest speakers.  Here is a a little known trivia about Arun Krishnan.. He was part of the first bunch that started running movement in chennai, much before Chennai Runners 2.0 was born.  Naresh, a globe trotter (hiker) is now in US and Naveen is in Canada via West Indies.  Once a Chennai Runners, always one..

The customary cake and

And the customary breakfast at Anna University canteen.  We had KP incharge of distributing coupons.  Also seen are Senthil, Shankar, Shahid and VPS.

Do you know where Chennai Runners celebrated 7th anniversary?

More Photos of the celebrations... here

Tags #Chennai Runners, #Chennai #Running

Chennai Runners 5th Anniversary

Chennai Runners Fifth Anniversary - March 6, 2011

In my earlier post we saw us celebrating Chennai Runners' fourth anniversary and thus commencing an annual tradition.  In today's post we will move on to our fifth anniversary celebrations in our runup to Chennai Runners 9th anniversary celebrations this Sunday, March 1, 2015.

This time also Anna University was the venue for our celebrations.  We had 100+ runners join us for a friendly 5k run.  Can you identify the running trio here? KP, Tiger & Balaji. (Can you spot the other two guys in back ? I see Shahul Hameed and Venkat Rangan - Do you?)

If Harican was walking around with crutches in the CR fourth anniversary, it was VPS's turn this time around.  While on a motorcycle trip in north east (India), VPS slipped while posing for a photo (no selvi then..) and had a bad concussion.  Ramani doing his usual duty, clicking away kodak moments.

Amit Sheth and Jacob Bhoopalan(not in the picture) graced the occasion.  This was when Amit's book, Dare to run had just hit the market.  His Comrades adventure was a catalyst to many in India to try their hands or more aptly try their legs on the Durban hills, including yours truly.

Like last year, we had kids cut the cake and end the festivities with breakfast at AU canteen.  Can you spot a small boo-boo in the cake?  I am not telling.. :-)

More Photos in FB

Tags #Chennai Runners, Running, Chennai

Chennai Runners 4th Anniversary

As we get ready to celebrate Chennai Runners 9th anniversary next weekend, here is a quick look at the fourth anniversary celebrated in 2010.  I start with 4th because that's when we started celebrating CR anniversaries.

We celebrated Chennai Runners fourth anniversary in Anna University.  It was a low key affair and attracted about 50+ runners.  We did two outer loops in AU amounting to about 5K.  Look who is sprinting here.. that too in a 'traditional running shoe'... Preeti - When did you switch to Vibrams?

 Indomitable Harican..  He broke his leg but still managed to crawl in for the celebrations.  That's the first Tshirt we made for Chennai Runners.  We pooled in 30k of our money to do the order and recoup the monies later.

Here is the other guy, Vidyuth and his amazing flexibility.  As usual, Ramani is doing what he usually does when he is not running.. capturing the Kodak moments.  Thanks Ramani for the wonderful memories over the years..  much appreciated..

 We ended the celebrations with a cake and AU canteen breakfast.  Can you spot few known faces here?  Tiger is easy, but how about Srinath?  Both have since moved out of Chennai..

From 50+ runners to over the 1000 expected on March 1, 2015, It has truly been a wonderful ride.  But for a city of 10 million people, we can do more... Can we all do this simple trick ?

Each Get One.. We determine to get our spouse, brother, sister, friend, colleague.. someone, anyone just one person take to running..   If we all could do this.. it would simply double the Chennai running population..

Can we?  Will you?

More Photos from the Anniversary Celebrations here and here in FB

Tags # Chennai Runners, Running, Chennai