"Of all the races, there is no better stage for heroism than a marathon."
-George Sheehan
"I've learned that finishing a marathon isn't just an athletic achievement. It's a state of mind; a state of mind that says anything is possible."
-John Hanc, running writer
On 15th October 2011 I went for my first 5K race. The place was awesome, had lots of water stops, volunteers, facilities and the climate was hot. I was training hard for the last 2 months just to run in this event. The training was tiresome, made my will power stronger and just multiplied my stamina. The last two days before the great event i stuffed myself with a lot of carbohydrates. You need carbohydrates in your body before you stretch out yourself a long way whether its trekking, running or swimming.So i was all ready for the game.
Soon, i went to the starting line and was surprised to see more than a 700 people waiting there as participants. Then i said to myself that i am my only competitor, I have to beat myself and that would be the real victory. Then they shot the gun indicating the start of the race. Most people were rushing ahead of me like they are running some 400 metre race. I knew that the ones behind me did a real smart thing by not wasting any stamina. I ran at a constant pace. The sun was heating up everyone since the temperature was really hot. Then as soon as i crossed 1/3rd of the distance, i could see almost everyone getting tired, they just stopped jogging and started walking. Since I was running constantly it was a piece of cake to overtake these people. I just accelerated a little to overtake a huge bunch of runners.
Suddenly i noticed a guy in black tshirt running parallel to me for a long time. He looked like an athlete and his style of running was also very good. Suddenly he passed me and staarted running a bit faster. Soon i saw that guy disappearing. My body said to my mind that it was tired and coudnt bear the heat of the sun. I asked my body to shut up and keep running. At that point i noticed that for winner, the body should respond to the mind but not the other way around. Soon i passed the half way mark and to ensure that the participants crossed, they were handed red wrist bands. I thanked the guy who gave me and moved on. Then i saw a water stop, glided in, took a cup of juice and started accelerating again. Then i drank the orange juice in it and still i was running.
Now the interesting third and final part of the race came. I overtook and accelerated past another bunch of tired runners. I could hear a group of guys saying "eppudi da ivvalvu oaaduraanga!"(Translation: How come they run this much mann!) I just laughed to myself and said to me "move on". Again that guy in the black tshirt came from behind me and we were running side by side. I just told him, you run good bro. He replied that he trained each day in the same place. I told him that i had also been practising hard for 2 months. I also included that "I was running constantly, never stopped in the middle for walking(like almost everyone did). He said with a little surprise "Awesome mann"! Then the last 100 metres of the race came. In my mind I thought, I should beat this guy , then i suddenly started accelerating(like as though i ran a fresh 200 metre race), all in the crowd were surprised.
Suddenly everyone there started cheering me up since my burning desire to win was clearly seen by them. Then i crossed the finish line and still running. I put my hands in the air, pat myself telling "Sameer, you did it mann!!!", You are a champion, you won against yourself! After a little moments the black tshirt guy came and finished too. I congratulated him again and then he left. I was roaming near the finish line in joy. Then after 2 minutes, a girl crossed the finish line, the refree said to the girl who just finished, "You are third finisher in girls"! I was overjoyed. Finally, Something to really be happy about in my first marathon.I made it into the top 5% of all the runners proving to myself that "I am a runner"! I finished the 5.1km race in 24 minutes with an average speed of 12.7kmph! That's a lot lot more than what most people can do. My will power just multiplied so much after I had won against myself in this marathon run.
There are a few wise things which I learnt in this marathon:
1) Mind should control the body and the mind should be strong, should never give up!
2) In life even if many of your rivals start going up really fast, you shouldnt be hasty. You should go up steadily and soon overtake them!
3) I never walked in the marathon, just ran continuously and this just miltiplied my will power!
4) Never forget to thank the people who support you. In my case, the water station guy and the guy who gave me a red wrist band.
Next what??? Another marathon ofcourse. I will be eager to win in my next marathon! Now i know how to run and where to accelerate! I suggest my readers to also take up a marathon if you are feeling weak. It really does awesome job of keeping your energy levels high!!!
https://twitter.com/sameershiraj
