Ask me to stay awake till 2 or even 3 am and I’ll happily oblige; but try and wake me up at 6 am—especially on a Sunday—and all you’ll get is a grunt, a snore and probably a pillow flying at your face. So when we started talking about participating in the dna iCan 5 km Fun Run, my first thought was ‘I CAN’T’, but I still found myself agreeing to run. The fact that I did not have to run alone was reassuring. My colleague, Pooja Bhula (who ran almost every morning) and I registered and there was no looking back.
A hint of excitement crept in as we collected our bibs, though I was still not sure I’d be able to finish the marathon. My last run was one summer, over a decade ago, when I signed up for athletics training at the Willingdon gymkhana. “What’s the most you’ve walked?” another colleague asked. ‘I’ve often walked from Mount Carmel’s Church in Bandra to the station in Santacruz East,’ I quickly told her. “Ah, then you will easily manage 5 km,” she encouraged. 9th March dawned bright and early. Thanks to Pooja, who kept stressing the importance of warming up, I did so before I left home, groggy and sleepy-eyed. By the time I got to Bandra Kurla Complex, my enthusiasm had caught up.
And off we were... women of different ages and backgrounds—dome with posters supporting different causes, some walking, some jogging, some set to win... Supporters lined the pavements cheering us on, whether or not they knew us! “Don’t clench your fists, you’ll get tired,” Pooja advised.
The 5 km seemed never-ending. At the halfway mark, I was tempted to give up and walk. But Pooja, who showed no signs of fatigue, kept going; her determination motivated me to keep up. “Keep your mouth slightly open, breathing will be easier,” she said. 45-odd minutes after we started, we jogged across the finish line. Phew!
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