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The day started out to be quite nice. I woke up around 4:30 a.m. after a restful sleep. I was quite surprised that I didn’t wake up earlier considering the time it took for me to adjust to the Australian time zone. The previous night I had eaten a pasta dinner in the hotel restaurant and still felt quite full.
uding the Australian Premier’s residence. As you would exp
ect there were throngs of runners getting ready going through their routine on my arrival. It was a little nippy in the morning so a windcheater came in handy. The drop stations for the clothes to be picked on the finish line were easy to access. In the process, however, I lost my earphones. Not to be too discouraged I was able to convince myself, that I should be able to complete the run without listening to music considering that while I had been running in Sydney I enjoyed the sounds of the city and I thought it may not be an issue. Fortunately, I had my cell phone with me. I e-mailed my friend, Ajay, asking if he would be able to get me a pair of earphones when I would be near his house at around the 11th or 12th mile. My thought was that maybe by that time I would need the assistance of music . The full marathon was the last to be flagged off at 7:15 a.m. after the 10K and the half marathon runners were se
nt off. At the starting lineup I asked a fellow runner about the steep uphill climb right at the start and he just grinned back mentioning that this was a better version as the event organizers had changed the course over the last several years trying to avoid similar hills. He assured me that it is not that bad as the run progresses. Soon we were on the way. Within a mile I was over Sydney Harbor Bridge. I made sure I took pictures. This was the first time I was carrying my camera/cell phone with me. I was happy I could do this. I have to say, however, this was a distraction. Now that I think about it, I was too casual starting off the race. Immediately off the Sydney Harbor Bridge we were in the area called th
e Rocks. This was the first area to be colonized when the First Fleet arrived from England. Running on the Cahill Expressway going downhill, a very beautiful view of the Sydney Opera House is seen and gradually we entered the city at Macquarie Street, then into the Royal Botanical Gardens. This is an expansive greenery right at the edge of Sydney Opera House and is an amazing place to run. At around the six mile mark, I ran past the Sydney Cricket grounds. Growing up in India, I watched many games on television played at this venue. The next few miles were run in the Centennial Park, which is a beautiful park in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. So far the run had been smooth, although not entirely flat, I was feeling reasonably well. Once through the Centenial Park we looped around into Allison's Street and close to around the half mark. As I had hoped, Ajay with his whole family was there. It was nice to hear my name being called from the sidelines and of course he had brought the earphones, which by now I badly needed. I also felt very touched that Ajay had found time with his family on a Sunday morning to come out and support me. I crossed the halfway mark in around 2 hours and 15 minutes, which was close to the pace which I wanted to be at this stage. I have to say, however, going up and down the hills was beginning to take it’s toll. I did not, however, realize that the worst part of the run lay ahead of me. The course headed back to the Central Business District of Sydney. I tried hard to keep up with my pace 
with the steep elevation that lay between the 14th and 16th mile. There were some interesting runners though who kept me company including a couple from Japan who were running the race in Mickey Mouse costumes. Minnie was getting a lot of compliments from the onlookers. The crowd support was sketchy. Maybe I was spoiled by running in Paris as I has assumed that most of the marathons would have huge crowd support. This crowd was proving to be similar to my previous experiences in Rio and Marrakech were the crowd support had been poor. The water stations were w
ell manned , but there was no solid food like fruits available. I have to say while going through downtown Sydney for a moment it did come to my mind that maybe I should give up and just walk to my hotel and call it a day. I think this thought crosses the mind of a lot of runners once they are approaching the last third of the race and I was no exception. The next 6 to 6 ½ miles were very arduous. It involved a long loop into the western suburbs of the city over the old Glebe Island Bridge. This is a beautiful bridge, which links the Pyrmont area with Rozelle. On one side of the road there were runners going towards to the end of the loop and on th
e other side the people were returning after they had completed the section that lay ahead of me. It was quite sobering to know that there were so many of them folks at least four or five miles ahead of me, running strong and fast on the other side of the road. This was one tough portion for me. There was a lot of steep terrain. Many of us had to resort to walk the last few hills. In the latter part of the marathon one generally hopes for a flat course, which was definitely lacking here. Once this long arduous loop was over I knew the end was near. There were some runners still on the road and I was comforted by the fact that there were some behind me. After I crossed the 37th km marker I knew I wouldn’t be taken off the course as the city marathon has strict time limits to finish the marathon in a specified time. The last few kilometers were better , back into the beautiful part of Sydney Harbor running on Hickinson Road, looping around the circular quay onto a finish at the very inspiring Sydney Opera House. Total net time was 5 hours. This was my slowest ever run, but I was
happy that it was over with. Hard work still lay ahead of me as the marathon chip returning booth, the medal collection, finisher’s tee shirt were all spread out. I got a picture holding the medal and then just walked up to the Royal Botanical Gardens and sat down on the very well manicured grass . I called my wife, Anu, informing her that I finished the run and then dozed off into a nap. The warm sun, close to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, served as a good anodyne.There were mixed feelings. I felt elated, that I had finished running on four continents, but also disappointed at my turtle pace.
I am zealous of Sidneysiders, but glad that chose to run in such spectacularly beautiful ci
ty. As you would guess I have been visiting all the 
major attractions in the city and that included the famous Bondi beach. Fortunately my hotel is in downtown so transportation is easy to assess. Yesterday evening listened to Sydney Symphony supporting Grammy winner, Jazz artist Dianne Reeves at the Sydney Opera House. Not to be side tracked the training schedule continued, the last run was yesterday evening around 6 miles, probably through the most picturesque urban route I will ever run. It went through the Royal Botanic Gardens, the trail is right at the edge of Pacific Ocean and affords some amazing views of the Sydney Sky li
ne and Opera House. Early in the day picked the Bib number from running expo. Tomorrow some light stretching and hopefully will take some rest before the big day on Sunday. There was one more incentive visiting Sydney, got to meet Ajay a college mate who now lives in Sydney. He has been a very generous host.
A few hours after I get on with my run, 3 of my friends back in US are running th
eir maiden Marathons. Bharat Pathakjee is my senior colleague, planning to retire next yr along with Mohit Uberoi and Ravi Vir are all running the Fox City Marathon in Appleton, WI. Good luck to all of them.
I am in Minneapolis waiting for a flight to LA and then onto Sydney. Leaving home was very tough. I have to admit felt somewhat skeptical of my mission. Is this insanity or what, training at odd hours, keeeping up with a hectic pace at work, lack of sleep and now leaving my family behind an all this for a "Run". One of my close friend Uday called me in the morning to wish me well, he comforted me and encouraged me to get the job done. My wife narrated all the benefits I have reaped since I got into traing for marathons. I got up around 2 am, did some errands around the house, was in my office by 4 am to complete some paper work, returned home at 7.30 am only to head out for quick run. Ran 8 miles @9.30/mile pace. This was the last long run, a few hours later I was headed to the airport.
Many will ridicule at my perception on the enormity of the decision I was faced with last week. For me it was do or die. I had lost precious time near the acme of my training following the fall at work. Some crucial runs were missed. In my effort to catch up, I was left with no choice but to go for the long runs without building an adequate base. On Saturday, 8/15/09, I attempted an 18 mile run on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive. The prior week I had been traveling through Canada by road fulfilling one of my long-term intentions of taking my parents to Niagara Falls. The run proved to be a disaster. I was able to somehow complete 18 miles. However, I felt extremely drained and fatigued like never before. I tired to blame the poor performance on the extensive driving I had been doing and also possibly to the weather. I felt desperate while on the course. It was a pity that not even well sculpted beautiful bodies, which is a regular feature on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, failed to inspire me. I just felt miserable. The fear of not making a successful attempt at the Sydney Marathon loomed and the dreaded"DNF" (did not finish) sign came to my mind. Once back in Green Bay, it was time to counsel. Faced with the dilemma on when to attempt my second long run, at least 20 miles, I spoke with my colleagues and mentors, Gail and Sarah, who are both seasoned runners. With the added pressure of being on call over the weekend, I would have struggled to find time. The consensus was to go ahead and do the 20 mile run last week. That would have put me at almost 45 miles for the week, which I have never attempted, so last Sunday I woke up, the weather was nice and I set out at around 6:30 a.m. with some skepticism of being able to pull off this long run off. To my surprise I felt quite good at the half way mark and was able to keep up with the time I had allocated for this run through most of the run. Fortunately, I was able to complete the 20 miles as planned. I have to say I was in bed for three to four hours following my return. However, there was a huge sense of relief. Surprisingly, I didn't get too many body aches and was back to normal within 24 hours. This week I did a short four mile run near my house, running deftly through some hills. I was able to keep a good pace and posture. My confidence is back.
