Saturday 6 th February, 2010 , Leisure Valley, Behind Crowne Plaza - come for a 5K, or a 10K
End the Winter Season on a High – The Runner’s High!
The runs will start late - come and register at 8am and run at 8:30am
The runs start and finish at Leisure Valley at the main car park, goes towards the upcoming Westin Hotel, then via the RITES building towards the Park Premier Hotel, U turn at the rear gate of Leisure Valley at the 2.5km mark and then back the way you came. A nice open road to run on with barely any traffic at that time on a Saturday morning The 10km run will follow the same route and repeat the loop.
Leave with a smile on your face, and a few new friends.
Max Health Care, Reebok, Elemention Fitness Centre and the Traffic Police will be there, apart from volunteers to make sure you enjoy yourself. We are grateful to HUDA and the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon for their support.
Sunday January 10 th - Elemention Gym, Tower B, Lower Ground, Green Boulevard, B9A Sector 62 NOIDA - 5 and 10k prep runs for the NOIDA Half Marathon and more on February 14th
Come experience Elemention in NOIDA – a world class Gym, and Fortis medical supervision with their ambulance and medical team and the NOIDA traffic police. Run because ……
Have fun with Red FM RJ's and make loads of new friends
As this is a free run, please e mail contactus@runningandliving.comif you plan to run, to help us plan on the numbers and make it a better experience for you.Red FM RJ’s will be there with you. Fortis, Reebok, Elemention Fitness Centre and the Traffic Police will be there, apart from volunteers to make sure you enjoy yourself. We are grateful to The Gautam Budh Nagar Administration and Traffic Police for their support.
Wasn’t a good experience for me. Though I had enrolled for the full, I
completed only half . Firstly the start time was too late in the day
and traffic wasn’t managed properly the organisers had promised that
the traffic would be closed from 9 am to 1 pm but on almost the entire
stretch we were running with the traffic on both the sides, on some red
lights the runners were made to stop to give way to the traffic.
Also the stretch had two big flyovers and the BRT stretch even
had construction work in progress. Amit Ojha has run 6 half marathons and ranks this at the bottom, Best time 1:50
This
marathon was somewhat typical of other Indian marathons with a late
start (9 am) and course open to traffic after some time (after
approximately 2.5 hours in this case). As a result, I had to somewhat
weave through traffic, ran in between the tourists at India gate, and
even outran an elephant (that would have made for a good picture) on
the course. On the positive side, the water stops had water throughout
and a few of them even had glucose and lemon slices. They also had
medical aid truck on the course. By the time I crossed the finish line
(in 4 hours and 17 minutes), the prize distribution had already started
so everybody was busy in that and therefore there wasn't the customary
pomp and show at the finish which made for the least dramatic finishes
of all the other marathons that I have run.
Recommendations for improvement are
An early start. 6:00 or 6:30 am should be fine.
Course closed to traffic. This should make the run easier without threatening the runner's life.
Increase
the cut off time to 6 hours (rather than the current 4 hours). This
should increase participation of amateur runners thus increasing the
marathon's popularity.
Hire a professional sports event management company.
Amit Kapur has run 5 full marathons, multiple half marathons and
2 Olympic distance triathlons, Half-Ironman: 2 and 1 Ironman
Pune Marathon Dec 7th 2008:
“As
we went ahead, I realised that Pune is a pathetic race to do as an
individual. There is absolutely no support for slower runners. In fact,
I have forwarded you the scanned photo of the goofup the race guys did.
The official car missed the official route!!!! And they disqualified
the lead runners who took the official route”
Madhur Kotharay – veteran marathoner
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon - November 9th 2008
The weather was great, and an earlier start at 630am instead of 730
could have aided a world record. This is something we have been
impressing on the organizers and sponsors but so far they seem more
interested in the numbers for the Great Delhi Run or walk, rather than
on the runners. It is easy to be the “Richest Half Marathon in the
World” because half marathons are never as coveted – they need to
strive to become – “The Best Half Marathon in the World” – that would
require a great change of focus
Announce the event 4 months prior rather than 2 months – a half marathon training schedule is 12 weeks
Have runner relevant communication and inputs – in the media, at the
expo and a warm up drill at the start and a cool down drill for batches
of finishers
Make the Half Marathon
expo running related, where there are relevant products and services at
the stalls with relevant content –talks, printed material, tips,
meeting places for runners– not the tamasha of a low grade Diwali mela
which has no relevance to the running audience, where people were
building pyramids of foil and toilet paper, or making sounds of a cat
or donkey, or trying to hit one tennis ball with another, and so on.
Start the half marathon at 630am since this is a run for the serious
folks – who value cool weather. They are not concerned about which
celeb is flagging off the run. Start the shorter run at 9am to minimise
the overlap of the two runs
The
absence of a sports drink on the half marathon route was noticeable –
surely the richest half marathon in the world should have a sports
drink.
Toilets still leave much to
be desired – the organizers should run the half marathon and go through
the entire experience – that is the only way things can improve on the
basics, and truly make this a world class event.
Send out the welcome pack a month or 2 before the event to the half marathoners, not the day before the expo
Read what another runner had to say – amusing, but a sorry state of affairs–
To me, the Delhi Half Marathon was an event I really looked forward to.
I have run a few half and full marathons before, most of which have
been in the USA. However, for the first time, I was running in the city
I belonged to! Delhi is home to me and having run marathons before, I
can see how fabulous an event it could be out here, with absolutely
majestic roads and buildings.....running up Rajpath towards Rashtrapati
Bhavan, India Gate and more!
Disappointments started from 10 days prior to the event. Everyone I
know had an email from the organisers with a bib number. Well, I could
wait for that. I knew I had registered, on day one itself, hour one. I
had to get a bib number! I get a call informing me of an early bird
registration prize...fantastic, at least I was registered. Could I have
my bib number please. Sorry, maam, no number against your name, but you
can keep the backpack we have couriered to you. You can keep the prize,
and you dont even have to run. Can I exchange the backpack for a bib
number. Sorry, not possible.
Anyways, I was at the expo on day one, at 11am. My enthusiasm for this
event was right up there. Spent 2 hours trying to sort things out and
finally someone "senior" helped me out, understanding my plight.
Someone who understood that if I got an early bird registration prize,
I had to have got a bib number. Phew, now I was relieved...I could
participate. Collected my timing chip and huge goodie bag and began
counting days or should I say hours for the run.
The start
was uneventful, the run very nice for me, thanks to the weather.
Electral handed in a packet, please mix your own energiser. No sweat, I
can do that.I ran well, timed it, and clocked what I had expected...2
hours 9 minutes.
Now to see
the results online, a couple of days later. My bib number shows me as a
male, name not mine, timing not mine. I have photos taken with my bib
number, so I am sure my memory has not failed me in the 2 days post
run. My photos are me, with my bib number....I wonder what I paid Rs
200 for...and worse still, I don't think we can ever make the Delhi
Marathon a world class one, a top 10 marathon, where people from all
over wanted to come.
Anita Bhargava, Delhi
Chennai Half Marathon – August 31st 2008
Here is an e mail I received which says it all. Let’s take running and runner’s seriously
Hi Sir,
I did the 21k at the Chennai Half Marathon today.
a) The way the whole thing was organised from the start was appalling
to say the least !!!!. I had to park my car in Queens mary's college
and had to walk all the way to the Island grounds, the most stupid
thing was that Finish Point was near Queen Mary's college !!!!!.
So in the blaring hot sun people had to start from the finish line and
walk to the starting point and then come back again !!!!. Such idiotic
things happen only here.
b) There were just 7 water points during the run and there were
hundreds of guys around the water holes really fighting it out to get
the water. No way can you expect any decent self respecting individual
to try and get water in such chaotic situation. Going without water in
the hot sun is not easy.
c) Really felt sorry on hearing the news of a runner dying but it was not surprising the way things were handled.
d) There was too much of shoving and pushing going on at the start
point and lot of people suffered including some foreigners. I guess
they would definitely carry lot of bad memories. Lots of guys passing
some bad comments about girls etc..
Regards
Mir Ali Asgar
The Greater Noida Fun Run was on APRIL 5TH 2008. It was a 10 km and 5km run through Knowledge Parks and other parts
of Greater Noida. There were a large number of participants and
cheering crowds. The Greater Noida Fun Runs was open to all age
categories who want to run/walk/jog. While most of the participants
were students in the Greater Noida Colleges there were also plenty of
other residents of the area. The run was a huge success with over 1000
participants.This run was organised by NIET and Running and Living.
Chennai Marathon and other runs Feb 10th, 2008:
Another last minuter. Poor information for participants.A super
enthusiastic running group in Chennai did not have adequate information
a day before the event and I quote from an e mail
"Hi Chennai Runners
Nothing has come up in the Hindu about Chennai Marathon.
What about
timings/route/traffic regulations, water points etc.When do all the
chennai runners meet and place.
regards
Mahesh".
And another from a disapointed runner who came to know about it, too late - "How not to organize a marathon!
I believe there were 5,000 runners (i guess all from State Sports
associations), looks like it's an all sports bodies affair, the
public were not welcome.
FYI,
Regards
Siva"
This says it all.
Mumbai Marathon and other runs Jan 20th, 2008:
This was well organised for the sponsors as the coverage was good and
the participation of the runners was good too. But as usual - the
toilets were bad and missing in the most part, lines were long to get
the timing chip returned, water was missing towards the last 10km for
those taking longer than 4 hours to finish. We need to pull up our
socks if we are going to be setting standards for the CommonWealth
Games. It would be good to make it mandatory for the organisers to
participate in the full marathon they organise
Bangalore Ultra Marathon Dec 16th, 2007:
This was a run organised by runners, for runners and was a great experience.
The first of it's kind - 26km, 52 km and 78 km runs along a scenic 13
km loop on the outskirts of Bangalore near Hessarghatta. A must for any
running enthusiast every year
The Bangalore Marathon that was not. Also December 16th 2007
The
headlines in the Times of India the next day said it all. DOGS, TRAFIC
HALT MARATHONERS.. It's a pity that the organisers put this up in such
a hurry. It takes at least 6 months of planning to put together a
decent marathon, and a year , for a world class marathon event. I would
not recommend the Bnagalore marathon or half marathon to any running
enthusiast unless there are some drastic changes in the way it is
organised. This was it's third chaotic year. See what a world class
event should offer, as a benchmark 'Running Events' The
7km run should be fun. The marathon would be OK for die
hards as it is unlikely that it will be well
organised.
This was a run for the organisers and a few elite athletes. This should
definitely not be a run that any running enthusiast should try to take
part in - either the full, or the half marathon. The Pune Newline the
next day said it all - "The same old story:
Event 'mis-managed' this year as well". No information on anything, no
signage, hap hazard management pre event and during the event and....
The qualifying time for being allowed to go beyond the half marathon
mark was 1 hour and 20 minutes!! The last female winer clocked 1:19, so
why have this open to the general public?
I carried a water bottle with me, being aware of the illustrious
history of this marathon. I saved another 4 runners from dehydration as
I caught up with them at the 30km mark. Anyway, I made 4 acquaintances.
This is another event I would not recommend for a running enthusiast
unless there is a serious change in the way things are run - definitely
not recommended for the marathon or half marathon.
The Vodafone Delhi Half
Marathon October 28th 2007. A success in numbers but a
disaster in participant satisfaction
Pre event, event and post event
operations were poor from a runners perspective. Several
mishandled registrations, no communication, leading to
painful delays at the expo, were common. The runs were
at a terribly inconvenient time for runners - great for
those who were flagging them off. The half marathon
should have started no later than 630am and the 7k run
no later than 830am, but they were both 1:15 hrs later
than that. Toilets were conspicuous by their absence
with people peeing on the cloth dividers in the holding
area as well as other areas, with women painfully
looking around for a quiet spot. This was 'sick' for
"The world's Richest Half Marathon" Would be good to
have the organisers and race oficials run these with
their family members- not as a VIP, but experience what
each of the 30,000 runners experienced. Maybe that will
get them to focus a bit on quality next time around. The
queues for the medal, certificate and chip return were
horrendous. It was gruelling for the 3 hour runner to
stand in a q for another 2 -3 hours, the so called
refreshment kits were well hidden at another end of the
finish area. Quite clearly showing the inexperience as a
participant, of the organisers.
I am copying a
letter received from an 11th standard student and his
younger sister who were to take part in the 7km run but
along with hundreds of others, were flagged off at
around 8:40 and they ended up running the 21K!!!
"hi im ishaan arya
today me n my sister
(mallika arya) went for the great delhi run and well
there was a major screw up we were sent to the holding
are at 8 40 as was scheduled but we werent tod wat to do
where to go etc and ppl just ran
so our event started
at 840 instead of 9 45 we started running on the 21km
path as officials told us(they were standing outside the
gate 2 where the race was supposed to begin) so we
continued down the route for the 21km runners there were
many hundreds of runners we all kept runinng
there
was supposed to be a U-turn of some sort at safdarjung
bridge but there was no one to point us in the right
direction or tell us what to do so we continued on the
route for the 21km runners
at india gate we realized
what had happened and since the officials said they
cudnt help us we continued on the route for the 21km
runners there were a few hundred of us we continued and
completed the 21km race even though all of us had
registered for the 7km race me and my sister mallika
completed the race(21km) in 2 hrs 10 mins"
The 1st Delhi
International marathon: that wasn't: Feb 2006
This event in mid February
was a disaster in every which way. The dates were delayed
at short notice, the route was modified the day before
race day, marathon participants had to climb over a gate
at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in the dark to get to
the starting line, women had to pee in the open, water
points toward the end were devoid of water, traffic was
not regulated in the 2nd loop of the full marathon, medals
were not available to the finishers, signage was not clear
along the route and a cousin of mine was lost for a while,
the finish line was not clear ...
It is a crying shame
that event organisers in India still think of organising
events like marathons - like organising a party for 15
people. It's high time they realise that it takes 4-6
months for someone to train for a marathon and takes at
least 9 months for getting the macro and micro organisational
aspects to execute this event, in place. A good way is
to ensure that one of the organisers takes part in the
full marathon just like any other participant and realise
the pain and the issues involved so that it can truly
be improved upon the next time around.
It's time that organisers
realise that there have been over a 100,000 marathons
conducted so far and it would be good for them to learn
from the best practices of some of the big ones and use
them as a benchmark. Excuses that this is the first time
this is being done in Delhi are just not acceptable! With
the 17 marathons I have run in different parts of the
world, there are some tips listed for organisers, which
runners should use as a guideline of what to expect in
a run. If this is not provided, feedback must be given
in to the organisers, so that they can improve.
Marathons
in India should be held ONLY in the Winter months -
Nov-Feb and that too, should start no later than 7am,
and if possible 6am.
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So
Get Fitter, Younger, Refreshed and Energised, to Unleash
your Potential
Or to cut a long story short
Get FYREd UP!
Start running and living today!!
Copyright Running And Living Infotainment Pvt. Ltd 2008
Cancer probably affects every single household in this country - pretty directly or perhaps in the extended family for sure.
End the Winter Season on a High – The Runner’s High!
