Mumbai marathon: Sidelights

HelpOn a Sunday morning 39590 runners participated in the 11th edition of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon SCMM With the sun yet to rise volunteers participants and spectators made their way from all parts of the city to the start line at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus CST A group of spectators walking towards CST from Colaba were calling out to lone walkers and asking them ldquoAre you going for the marathon Letrsquos walk togetherrdquo bringing the helpful nature of the city to foreRunners eat up the Sea Link with their strides PicSayed Sameer AbediAnticipationElite athletersquos coordinator Jos Hermens of Global Sports Communication Netherlands said at the post race conference that the race went smoothly and the only hurdle faced was due to amateur runners He says ldquoElite runners need space and this was not possible for the elite groups at the back ie the Indian men and women and International women as the amateur runners kept crossing their pathrdquoBabbarlosophyLetrsquos raise our glasses in a celebratory toast to Lalita Babbar setting the new course record at 25031 among Indian women athletes Winning the Indian elite runnerrsquos race for the third consecutive year Babbar managed to complete a hattrick Breathless Babbar said ldquoThough I havenrsquot made the target for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games I am happy I could achieve the target I had set for myselfrdquoMotivationThe crowds at the finish line cheered loudly and the music roared through the bylanes of Fort As the elite runners were about to approach the finish line a standing advertisement of DHL fell over Fortunately spectators quickly realized what happened and with some help from the police they lifted the advertisement and kept it back in its place Even during the race the lead car tried to get the amateurs on one side to make way for the elite runners by honking at them but in vain Again the spectators called out to them and cleared the way A special bow to themEarlyThe 42195 km is a brutal unforgiving distance Just as one started amateur runners on the loop at the NCPA near Oberoi gave each other highfives shouted wow and screamed encouraging words Apparently it was early days yet and the course was yet to take its tollSpiritMumbai showed its spirit with cheering spectators which are always such a boost for runners Some were gracious saluting the spirit of amateur runners struggling through the full marathon course ldquoWe love your spiritrdquo they shouted Others at Peddar Road actually sprayed runners faces with water encouraging them to go on The marathoners love your spirit too spectatorsCarnaameWhile it is important that roads are opened it was difficult for amateur runners to wend through the traffic after a few hours The cars choked the streets of SoBo and the junctions especially proved precarious for runners Mumbaikars must try to keep their vehicles off the roads till noon at leastClearThe marathon course started getting cleared quickly while runners were still on the route Hoardings and kmmarkers were being put into vans and water stations were shut down making it difficult for the slower runners Let organizers spare a thought for the tortoise not just the hares