Tag: Hyderabad

Reached Hyderabad by Spice in the morning and went straight to the event organizers (Catpro) office for collecting my running number. Met Vivek from Pune there, who told me about an interesting theory on running long distance with the front of your foot landing before the rest. Went to Hotel Raj Classic Inn, located on MG road from there.

In the afternoon, went out to catch some Hopman cup tennis action at the LB Stadium. It was crazy out there with all the Sania-Mania, entry being strictly on passes which were hard to come by, and with droves of youngsters creating a ruckus at the entrance gates. I had to finally shell out a 100 bucks to get hold of the pass, just as I was going to leave. Inside, India trounced Japan comfortably, with Sania and Rohan winning their respective matches.

Went to sleep early by 10:00 pm as the race was to start early at 6:00 am.

My running season just got a big boost as I have registered for the Hyderabad Half Marathon for Nov 26th. I also registered for the Mumbai Marathon, I’ll be doing a half there. So, in all, lots of good times ahead in the coming days!

I have’nt been to Hyderabad yet, so it would be nice to wander around a bit, take a look at the Charminar, wander about the Golconda fort, and round it off with a visit to the Salarjung Museum. Another bonus from the trip which I recently found out would be an opportunity to watch the Hopman Cup qualifiers going on at the same time in Hyderabad. With Sania Mirza and Leander Paes playing together, I am sure there are going to be a few sparks flying around! The finals is there on Nov 26th, same day as the event.

I am training (well, if you can call a single long run in the week that) with a mental target of 6min/km, i.e. overall 2:06. Not sure if I will be able to hit that, but lets see, I will try to give my best. The Hyderabad route and its peculiarities is completely unknown to me and will be a wildcard, though the start time of 6:00 am would definitely help.

Mumbai is still distant on the horizon, Jan 21st, but if I stay motivated and train well, I may be able to break through the 2:00 hr barrier. And if I do that, I would surely run a full marathon next year, otherwise, it would be more practice till I break the 2.

UPDATE: Some updates on the Hyderabad event from the online running community:

Dharmendra D says : There is one long flyover just like in Delhi and Mumbai. Otherwise, the course is great. Mostly flat and the best part about last year’s race was the weather. It was as if, the sun was waiting for us to finish.

The running spirit is yet to catch on big time in Hyd. So people give you a mostly bewildered look. The finish area is a little crowded and the start is fairly messy. Make sure you get a good start. There are fewer runners than in most events.

I am thinking of going for the Hyderabad Half, scheduled for Nov 26th, 2006. The website for the event is at http://www.hyderabad10k.com/. Should be fun, an I’ve never been to Hyderabad before.

The site mentions “online registration” availability soon, though I am always cautious about these things never making it at all. The entry fee is a bit steep at Rs 350/-, but if they organize it well, it would be worth it for sure. The weather of Hyderabad should give me an added incentive to run my best time.

I was also thinking about the Pune marathon which should be early December, but attempting a full there might be too much with the limited practice I have. And going to run a half in an event where the main event is the Marathon does not appeal to me too much. I also have my reservations about events which do not put available resources to good use. Pune is a well established event but it is yet to see a decent website. The one which is there http://www.puneinternationalmarathon.com/ still seems to be suffering from the hang-ups from 2005.

It is now confirmed. The Hyderabad Midnight run has been postponed to November 19th. It was originally scheduled for September 24th.

BTW, the Delhi marathon has also been rescheduled to Dec 11th, 2005.