- met up with Ram, Vikranth, Narender
- Vikranth got me something to attach that damn tag to my leg. Since I run barefoot, I obviously couldnt use their contraption which fits on to shoes.
- warmed up(not really) and stretched
- and the run started. felt like a long run, nothing more. separated from Ram, Vikranth, Venu, Naren in the first 100 yards
- woman wearing earphones spots me running barefoot. screams to entire race that am running barefoot.
- spotted coach Martina, decided to pace myself by running a few yards behind her.
- not good roads, hurt my feet
- broken glass on the road. stepped on it. thankfully didnt penetrate, got it off before I got my next stride in. Yaay me!
- some folks on the side cheering us on throughout the course, nice of them
- and at los gatos creek trail, familiar territory
- crap! wooden bridge with gaps in between planks. get a splinter in my leg. luckily, this has happened before and I have perfected a technique of running on the outside of my foot and rolling my forefoot over. painful but have only 8 miles to go, so not too bad
- have no idea what mile am at or what pace am running. as always i miss almost all mile markers
- at mile 6, and 59.50 on the clock. pretty close to perfect - 10 mins a mile
- and well, more of the same till mile 11
- bharath, anup and the rest of the asha folk are there at the waterstop. get a big boost there
- and almost there, at the end... some more Asha folk screaming at the half-way mark
- and I finish at around 2hrs and 10 mins to the sound of the announcer mis-pronouncing my name
- wait around for the full-marathoners, stretch
- catch shuttle to go to start-point, and make my way to the first waterstop
- get my sandals and put on my Asha t-shirt, and wait for the Rancho full-marathoners.
- and Ram's here, at mile 25. run with Ram till the finish line
- and Naren came in with Bharath in 15 mins
- and Vikranth with Anup
- and finally Venu with Miheer
- Special mention to Bharath, Miheer and Anup who ran 11 miles with the full-marathoners, which is only slightly less than my 13.1 - they deserve a medal too!
pics on facebook, if you are connected to me.
Thanks to all the donors,and in no specific order
- Mr. Rathnam
- Subbu
- Vishwak Associates
- The Ramans
- Gowri
- Abilash, Hari, V, Vetti, A T, Ranju and all those who tried to read my blog regularly
- and anyone I forgot
And finally, to my fellow Rancho runners. Thanks