As always, it was difficult to get out of bed at four in the morning on race day, especially when it had been drizzling all night. I slowly sneaked out of the bedroom so as not to wake Kabir up, took a quick bath and had a big bowl of pasta - my carb load for the run :)
The gun start for the 21k run was at 5:30am and assembly was at 5:00am. It was still dark when we reached the start line which was a five minutes walk from our home. I had trained well for this run so I wasn't nervous like I was during my previous half marathon (Quezon City International Marathon in Dec'10). The weather was cool and hence perfect for the fun that was to come.
While waiting for the race to start, we came across a familiar participant (let's call him Joe) whom we often run into during these sports events in Clark. Joe asked Pratim if he was running 21k and was happy to know that he was. After exchanging boyish high fives with Pratim, he looked at me and asked "10K, right?". "No, 21!" I answered evenly. This evoked what I thought was a snigger, followed by a skeptical "all-the-best" from our friend. I had half a mind to tell him this was not my first half marathon, but I didn't. The thing is, I'm not a competitive runner and probably can never be one. I have no lofty notions of woman power either. But this guy, I have to admit, got my goat. The only thing on my mind was to reach the finish line before he did.
There were over 100 runners for the 21k category. The prayers were said and the Philippines national anthem was sung. (I like the way they stand with their right hand across the chest during the anthem). The run started in the most scenic setting, as the orange of the morning sun blended beautifully with the lush green of the trees. Armed with my new iPod Nano fully loaded with my fav music, I started running at my regular pace with lots of runners overtaking me. And as I always do during long runs, I began blending with my surroundings, taking in what nature has to offer - firm ground, fresh air, various shades of greens, reds and yellows from the foliage, smelling the rain soaked earth. My running in a state of meditation carried on till about the turnaround point at 10.5k, when it was suddenly shattered by the sight of good old Joe up ahead!! Having turned around and running in my direction, I could tell he was some kilometers away from losing steam. I calculated that he was approximately a kilometer ahead. And of course, I waved at him in the most friendly, non-competing way. As soon as we had crossed each other, I started running faster.
At around the 13k mark I began losing steam, but then I saw Joe once again - this time with his back towards me and walking! That's it!! I kept up a steady jog to catch up on him. Finally, I overtook a jaded Joe at around 15k. Very gently, somewhat sympathetically (and of course dramatically) I patted his back and ran ahead to end this race that was going on in my head. (I later realized that I overtook nearly 30 runners in the process!) I waited at the finish line to greet him with a broad smile. I'm not sure I could read his expression...but it didn't really matter. I finished the run in 2:21:38 (Rank 69) and he at 2:27:21 (Rank 88). I had won!
