Tag: Delhi

Just got the breaking news on the registrations opening up for the Delhi Half marathon from a friend at Delhi Runners, and believe me, I was really surprised beyond my wits on hearing this news. Since the press conference for the event launch is tomorrow (i.e. Aug 27th), I was expecting the Delhi Half Marathon registrations to start right after that, maybe by Aug 28th, but for this to happen a day before the event launch is a real surprise.

Register Now!!! Registrations close on Oct 4th, but my guess is that the available places will run out pretty soon, maybe within a couple of weeks, so hurry!

Website: http://adhm.indiatimes.com

Entry fees:

I have been given an invite to attend the event launch in Delhi tomorrow, so that should be a fun experience which I am looking forward to. Expecting to see some sports personalities at the launch. Jackie Joyner Kersee was there last year, so maybe some greats this year too.

It is good to see that ADHM folks have made the timing chip compulsory for the Half Marathon. Finally, some real statistics will be available after the run, instead of half-baked numbers from previous years.

I believe the ADHM folks just setup the website today (I checked yesterday, and there were no updates), and brought it to working shape so that when the event launch happens tomorrow, it will all be working and people can register. But then, there are crazy folks out there sniffing for clues, and well, we have this breaking news one day before the event launch.

Update: Registrations have started. Register Now!

The good news … I have heard from the ADHM folks that the event launch will take place on August 27th, and the registrations for the event will start right after than. The event is on Nov 1st and is India’s only IAAF Gold Label race.

Event website: adhm.indiatimes.com

Photo: Tashi Tobgyal


Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is India’s premier and top rated running event which has been accredited with IAAF Road Race Gold Label for 2009. It has grown in stature over the last 4 years, with half marathon participation numbers gradually increasing from 4,000 in 2005, to 8000 in 2006, 10,000 in 2007, and probably more in 2008. Total participation figures reached 30,000 in 2008, including the other runs besides the half marathon. Over the years, the title sponsor for the event has changed from Hutch to Vodafone, and in 2008 to Airtel. This year will be a new milestone for the event, being the 5th edition of the race.

The Delhi Half Marathon also has great significance for me. Besides being a local event, it was also my first run and pushed me into running, and there has been no going back. I have run this event from its inception, and this will be my cool 5th Delhi Half Marathon. What is surprising is that my best performance of 2:12 has been in the first year, and I have found myself not in the best shape health wise around the event the past few years. This year, I will be pushing all the way and try to get a sub 2 hours for the first time. This will also be my attempt to put some speed into my legs before I attempt the Comrades 2010 qualifier in Jan at Dubai Marathon.

The event has seen participation of some of the best names in world running. Last year’s race was run at a blazing pace, and was probably one of the fastest races of the year with all the top three places going within the 1 hour mark and Deriba Merga (winner of the 2009 Boston marathon, and 2009 Sunfeast World 10K run in Bangalore) getting the top place in 59:15, a new event record. The womens race was won by Asefelech Mergia (also winner of 2009 Sunfeast World 10K). Also, check IAAF report on the event.

Okay, coming to this years race, it will soon be time to start training for the half marathon. Decent training requires two to three months of sincere effort, and you would find a variety of training plans on the web to help you train for the event. Here is a good list, choose the plan which looks good to you! I have personally stuck to the Hal Higdon plans over the years.

*** 5:11 ***

And thats a PR for me in this 3rd marathon of my fledgling running career. From 5:55 in 2006 to 5:25 in 2007, I think the simply the experience of running marathons makes you do better in the next one. I was nowhere close to the practice I had done for my previous two, but more awareness, plus a great weather resulted in the perfect conditions (and the late start of 9:00 am did not probably have much impact, since it remained cool almost all the way).

The run started sharp at 9:00 am, flagged off by Vijender Singh, India’s Olympic bronze medallist boxer. Saw a few old timers at the starting line, though most of them were doing the half. Met a few DelhiRunners as well, Rajat and Saleel (and we almost like finished together). There were separate holding areas for full and half marathoners, and it was the 42K guys who were flagged off first, about 200 plus from what I reckon.

The route was basically a double loop, with the half marathoners finishing at the first loop. There was good company for the first loop because of them, but the second loop was a totally different story, since with just 200 or so runners left and that too spread wide apart, it was basically running on your own, asking for directions from the policemen on the suspect turns, and trying to stay away from the traffic. It was good that the organizers had placed traffic cones to create a very narrow lane for the runners, but there were places where even that was not there, so the second half was tough.

This was my first marathon where I could say that I almost ran the whole way. The first half was done in 2:23, which was exactly the same as what I had done in the ADHM 2008). It was only in the last 3-4 KM that I had to do a lot of walking, otherwise, it was just running. I guess the strategy to take it real slow, and to walk for about a minute at every water stop helped. There were no water stops to be found in the last hour, and I had to depend on a couple of 200 ml bottles which I was holding in my pockets. I also bought a packet of biscuits on the way, and I guess they provided some relief, and some bananas offered by some generous citizens helped as well.

So, overall a great experience. This event is nowhere organized at the level of the Mumbai marathon, and the decision to run it was a tough one, but I am glad that I made it. I was particularly afraid of not being able to find my way when the support system was to be taken off at 4 hours from start, and I was also thinking of doing about 35K or so and then going back home, but in the end I just went the distance. I was also running after a gap of 2 weeks, been out on vacations for the last week.

I am sure Mumbai will be a very different experience, and a much tougher one. I hope I will be able to do that below a 5:30. Lets wait and see.

Intermediate times:
10K: 1 hr 6 mins
21K: 2 hr 23 mins (exactly same as ADHM 2008 21K)
35K: around 4 hr

Event results from The Hindu.

I will be testing the waters tomorrow with the Indian Open marathon starting from India Gate and doing a double loop covering some of the prominent landmarks of Delhi like Connaught Place, India Gate, Delhi Gate, Purana Quila etc. Beijing Olympics bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh will flag off the run at 9:00 am.

This should be a good test before Mumbai, but the problem is with the cutoff time of 4 hours, so I will have to take care of the some of the things myself for the last hour or so of my run. I just returned from a week long trip to Rajasthan and immediately went to Guru Harkishan Public School near India gate to collect the running number, which was being handed out with an event T-shirt. The running numbers for the Full Marathon looked to be in the range of 1-300, which means just about 300 participants in the 42K. The 21K will probably see around 1500 participants.

Below is the Gmap Pedometer route for the run which I just drew, and sure enough, it comes out very close to the actual 21K distance for the loop.
     http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2454648