As soon as I stepped out of my hotel in Shakespeare Sarani (Theatre Road), I had a great feeling about running the half marathon this morning. The weather was lovely and the climatic conditions ideal to run on.
But from the second I got to Red Road, I had to deal with a bunch of clueless volunteers! And it was the volunteers who proved to be the bane of a chaotic and poorly organised run. (More later).
As soon as the run began at 6 am sharp, the heavens opened up and there was a gentle rain. It felt like blessings from Goddess Kali herself. After all, this is her city! A few roads were totally closed for the run and I thoroughly enjoyed the start as gentle raindrops fell on me. The weather stayed perfect throughout the run.
The route took us through the main gate of the Victoria Memorial, the Esplanade, past the tram lines and through some poorer areas and upto Science City before turning back. Although traffic was open for most of the route, the friendly staff of the Kolkata Police were a great help. In fact, they were the ones guiding the runners as many volunteers did not turn up.
Despite assurances, there were very few water stations. (Once again, thank Kali for the weather). We received a bottle of water after the 7 km mark and then again at two more points. The organises did not offer us electral water till the 18 km mark! And there were no mobile toilets on the route (!) To make matters worse, the few existing km markers were kept at the wrong spots. I trust GPS via my Garmin watch more than I do the spots.
This was the first time in a long distance run, I actually stopped to buy coconut water on the route to avoid dehydration! To make matters worse, I had a few close shaves with speeding buses and trucks! A bus driver yelled at me in Bengali for running on the road! And yes, there was a grand total of 1 person cheering us on the path! Come on, Calcutta, this is no way to organise a marathon. I feel sorry for those who ran 42.195 km.
Anyway I felt energetic and strong and held my nerves to run with relative ease as I passed the Victoria Memorial again and into a closed road before storming to the finish line. Even the post-run logistics were a joke!
Despite the poor organisation, I had a great time. This was my first major run since I ran the marathon in Kuala Lumpur in October 2014. It's good to know that I am still in great shape!
Now it's time to celebrate!
But from the second I got to Red Road, I had to deal with a bunch of clueless volunteers! And it was the volunteers who proved to be the bane of a chaotic and poorly organised run. (More later).
As soon as the run began at 6 am sharp, the heavens opened up and there was a gentle rain. It felt like blessings from Goddess Kali herself. After all, this is her city! A few roads were totally closed for the run and I thoroughly enjoyed the start as gentle raindrops fell on me. The weather stayed perfect throughout the run.
The route took us through the main gate of the Victoria Memorial, the Esplanade, past the tram lines and through some poorer areas and upto Science City before turning back. Although traffic was open for most of the route, the friendly staff of the Kolkata Police were a great help. In fact, they were the ones guiding the runners as many volunteers did not turn up.
Despite assurances, there were very few water stations. (Once again, thank Kali for the weather). We received a bottle of water after the 7 km mark and then again at two more points. The organises did not offer us electral water till the 18 km mark! And there were no mobile toilets on the route (!) To make matters worse, the few existing km markers were kept at the wrong spots. I trust GPS via my Garmin watch more than I do the spots.
This was the first time in a long distance run, I actually stopped to buy coconut water on the route to avoid dehydration! To make matters worse, I had a few close shaves with speeding buses and trucks! A bus driver yelled at me in Bengali for running on the road! And yes, there was a grand total of 1 person cheering us on the path! Come on, Calcutta, this is no way to organise a marathon. I feel sorry for those who ran 42.195 km.
Anyway I felt energetic and strong and held my nerves to run with relative ease as I passed the Victoria Memorial again and into a closed road before storming to the finish line. Even the post-run logistics were a joke!
Despite the poor organisation, I had a great time. This was my first major run since I ran the marathon in Kuala Lumpur in October 2014. It's good to know that I am still in great shape!
Now it's time to celebrate!
The sad thing about Bengal is not that nothing works, but that the people have stopped caring that nothing works.
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