Finishing 6th Half Marathon

 6^th Half Marathon

I finished my 6^th Half Marathon on 12^th October 2025. There is something unexplainable about running half marathons. Every time I finished one, I wanted to write about it. Finally, the stars are aligned. So, it all began somewhere in 2015, I think. One of my roommates Ashfaq was “into the fitness” guy. Just to recollect a funny story, Ashfaq was the owner of our shared washing machine. He washed his running shoe in it. It came out all clean and shining. I took inspiration, washed mine as well. Oops. Ashfaq’s one was expensive pro shoe, mine, just another shoe. It came out in single pieces, alas but with many new feathers! Anyway, Ashfaq inspired me to go for my 1^st Half Marathon. So, I registered for Airtel Delhi Half Marathon. I still somehow remember finishing that one. No planning. Not much practice either. Run all my strength at the beginning, and then just walking and walking and walking. Though I finished in something like 2 Hrs. 45mins. I got the feel of it and was already addicted.

Then the 2^nd Half marathon, I maintained a “pace”. Trying to keep my heartbeat in control and such. This time I was doing a lot better. I was expecting to finish in 2 Hrs. 30 min or so. As part of their planning, half marathon organizers put many cheerful music, dance, band party etc. on the road. I was so excited at 20km mark. Out of excitement, I tried to kneel down and beat one of the “dholak”. Oops, turns out when you are already running for 2 Hrs., any odd sudden posture change is dangerous. Developed a very severe cram in one of my shoulders. The pain so intense, I couldn’t even walk properly. Walking like an extremely sad kid. It took me a whole 20+ minutes for that last 1 km. Finished worse than my 1^st half marathon.

As they say, 3^rd time is the charm! This time, I started practicing 2 moths before. Obviously, the addiction was not strong enough to make me run the whole year. I practice 3km per day. That’s it. But I was consistent. On the race day, this time I paced up quite good. I ran for 12km non-stop from the beginning. Then consistent 1 min run followed by 1min walk. At one point, the pacer (2 hrs. 20 min maybe) I was following encouraged me to zoom past. However, I meet him again near the finish line. And I think this one was the best personal record at some 2 Hrs. 25 mins.

Then I ran 4^th half marathon, my last one from Delhi home. This time, now married, wife came up to cheer up. I finished up again in less than 3 Hrs. Not as good as 3^rd one but still OK.

Over time, I ran 2 10km runs as well. One organized by PSPB. One by someone else. Can’t remember. The PSPB arrangement was really bad. So bad that next year when I received official invitation, I didn’t register. But that year, the arrangement was too good. Even my boss Deepak sir (45+) ran it and loved it. I gave that one a miss. By 2019 I had shifted to Gurugram and the venue was too far away to reach early 4am. So, I discontinued. Then in 2023 gathered courage again. Turns out the Lead sponsor had changed from Airtel to Vedanta. Due to too many people registering for half marathon, they also have implemented a time certificate requirement for half marathon (21km) category. So, I had to fall back to Open 10K (10km) category. Just to generate a valid time certificate to be used next year. One good thing happened was I got my brother-in-law Parth as company. We practiced 2km run daily for around 45 days before race. One more thing I noticed in this race is the change in Starting Point Venue for 10km category. The head count has swelled to 30 thousand people across all race category. They all of them couldn’t start a Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. We started from some new place. Though finishing line was same. Can’t remember which one of the races taught me to change the shoe. I was running using the same sports shoe, I have been wearing daily to office. Perhaps it had become stiff. I bought a new only-for-running shoe after that race. Decathlon KeepRun2 series.

With the time certificate, I registered for the 5th Half marathon in 2024. This time Parth missed the registration window for 10km and didn’t dare to try 21. So, he gave it a skip. Alone, I barely practiced. There is something about practicing together. Helps a lot with motivation. Turns out, just 15 days before race, I hurt my ankle. Was forced to stop practicing. Even brisk was started giving me pain. This was the 1s time, I was toying with the idea of skipping the race even after registration. Fortunately, somehow, I realized that my front part of the leg was still healthy. If I just ran on my front finger part, maybe I could. By this time, Delhi Metro has started operating special trains on race day 3:15am onwards. So, the transport part was solved. I used to take commercial CAB for all prior race. But this time, I could take Metro. So, I gathered all my courage. Decided, if I felt trouble in leg, I better abort the race in then middle, than just not showing up. Took a 2 Lyter water bottle with me, because last time toilet was out of water! I At least they allowed the water bottle inside. They had me drop it in one of the prior races. Took a very slow pace. It was good. Run again for some 9km in initial go. Then walk and run alternately. Trying to avoid hitting ankle on the ground as possible. This was my worst race so far. 3 Hrs. 18 min. Fortunately, I finished before the Timing-Certificate requirement of 3 Hrs. 30 min. Perhaps my increased body weight also played a role.

Then came 2025, my 6^th half marathon. The practice was 2 times a week. And once gain, 15 days before race, I slept in some wrong position, developing cramp in my neck. So, no practice in last 15 days. ☹. Based on the abysmal performance in the 5th race, I was placed in the last holding section “F” for my current 6th half marathon. Anyway, Holding Area is just an alphabet. I took Delhi Metro again. Reached well on time. Even participated little bit in warmup zone. The initial non-stop race (except for 1 toilet break at 8km) was 13km. Somehow, my body weight or the lack of practice, my “pace” had become a lot slower. Fortunately, neck was cured by the race day. This time I also focused on hydration. I took Shashikant Sahu (same building as mine, runs half marathon twice a week) sir’s advice “If you are feeling thirsty, it’s already too late” seriously. I drank 100ml or so water every 2km. The race course amenity was also plenty this year. Afterall, they charged Rs 2600 as registration fee. Even took extra chocolates to maintain energy level in my blood stream. After the initial run for 13km I took some walk. For 1 or 1.5km. Than run again. Around 16km mark, I though to follow 1km run 1km walk, however the energy level was simply giving up. Couldn’t run for more than 500m continuously. At these 17 to 18km mark it all starts to become a game of will power. I had my sight fixed to finish the race before 3 Hrs. At one point, I put up the earbuds. Music gave me boost for next 1km or son. Another strategy I thought and worked quite well was that for the road section which were in shadows, I ran and the section directly under sun light, I walked. I never took the pain-relieving Volini spray at the intermediate medical stations. To me, it is better to be aware of the state of muscles than artificially suppress them. There is something about reaching 20km. They body starts to energize little bit again. The road signs count down starts to show up every 100m. I think I ran most of the last 1km. By this race, I have started remembering the route. That turn just below that fly-over and so on. And finally, I finished the race in 2 Hrs. 55min. It is just awesome. After the race, I tried Ice packs for the 1^st time. They are quite effective. They serve quite good post-race energy meal. Took the metro back to Huda City Center Metro station. Drove Car back home. They charge night charges also I you park that early in the morning. There is something about CAR ergonomics. I could drive easily without much effort on the legs. One thing I noticed after this race was my hunger. I was like always hungry for next 3 days. Eating nonstop, at every opportunity. The pain, in the muscle, start on the 2^nd day after race. When the body starts cleaning up all the accumulated anaerobic respiration generated lactic acid build up in the leg muscle. It’s a sweet pain though. You don’t cry. It’s pleasant pain. Took full 1 week no exercise / walking schedule. Finally, now I think, I should be practicing more regularly. Maybe I can beat my 3^rd race gain. Even chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir Mr. Omar Abdulla participated in this race and finished in 2 Hrs. 15 min or so. I better learn to be regular. For the 1^st time, I have started running 2 or 3km daily after the race. The Delhi NCR is known for winter pollution. So, I just race in the Gym. Let’s see what happens next year. Good Luck future me!