Infatuation to Obsession: SCMM (Full) 2008-17

(A Decade @ Standard Chartered Mumbai Full Marathon)

“Important Events in Life have small, inconsequential and often unrelated beginnings”

: Anonymous

IIT Madras, December 2005, Schroeter (Athletics Championship)

Friend: “Niro**, aaj kitne se harega Naresh se”

(I had a good little rivalry with Naresh across middle distance Athletics events – 400m, 800m, 1500m & 5000m during Inter Hostel (Schroeter) Championships in final years. Barring one eventful 1500m, I collected Silver Medal every single time. While Gold usually becomes the symbol of a “Job Accomplished”, Silver is often about an “incomplete story”)

IIM Ahmedabad, December 2006, CV Discussion

Placecom Member to me: “Bambu, Many folks have your background, will get similar grades & organizational positions in Campus Activities. To differentiate, your CV should have a spike. Something different that can be talked about”

(There was a time when primary objective of most activities was to add new feathers to appease the day zero firms.)

D18 Grounds, IIM Ahmedabad Campus, December 2007

Batchmate: “Bambu saale, kitna bhagega, mein movie dekh kar bhi aa gaya aur tuun still en rounds pe laga hua hai”

[Niro** / Bambu were my nicks at these institutions. Have another two from my school days. One of the many traditions of boarding institutions that I adore. In case of confusion, nicks are a good way to recall caller’s background.]

Somehow the competition in IITM had ensured that I never got bored of running despite long training hours during the four years. Later, “Great CV Point Rush” gave me an excuse to get back at it in IIMA. Seeing a few seniors attempt a marathon in Mumbai in 2007 only reinforced my thought. This cocktail of events started the phase of long distance running for me and more importantly my introduction to SCMM – Standard Chartered Mumbai Full Marathon.

1) SCMM 2008: Debut Marathon!!

After mostly running with spikes, running with regular shoes did come as an interesting change. More difficult job was to accept that running hereon would be less about speed and more about stamina. Telling your mind to run slow when you are used to sprint sessions was undoubtedly a tough job. Some practice in odd hours (allowed by the MBA curriculum) with a handful of long runs (at best of 20km) is what I could manage before landing up at the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) starting line-up of SCMM 2008. (Decked in its colourful lighting, the structure is a beauty for the eyes. Unfortunately, only few runners till date are with their phones to click.) For me, marathon had to be about the “longest run” in that event and so it was always going to be “Full Marathon” even if it was without the requisite practice. Energy and Enthusiasm of the youth hardly takes “Not Possible” as an answer.

Only vague memories of that run remains today… but the spectator support while trudging up the Pedder Road was unforgettable. (Over the years, this continues to define the very essence of SCMM. The sizeable crowd has also started coming up at Marine Drive, Worli SeaFace, Shivaji Park and obviously the finish line) Clear and Clean Mumbai Roads were surely a welcome surprise, not to forget the awesome goodie bag. In complete contrast to the conditions today, there were people who registered just for getting their hands on goodie bags in those years. (Though I find the tee quite handy, reduction of goodie bag only to bare minimum bag and pain relief spray has caused angst among few runners in the light of increasing registration fees.)

Notwithstanding the harsh weather, novice mistakes (clothes, shoes, water consumption, quick start) and early wall, I finished at the then considered respectable 4:49. (In hindsight, I could significantly improve over that timing only six years later). What I do remember was the encouragement from WIMWI (IIMA) batch-mates on my return the next day.. Undoubtedly, that was the medal to savour!! As a welcome bonus, 50% of my then day zero recruitment interviews did ask/discuss/mention the run!! J

From starting out for near-term tangible gains, running (in a big way courtesy SCMM) is now a way of life. Added bonus has been the chance to interact closely with an unbelievably diverse set of inspiring people. A fairly large section of this set of people are on the other side of 50 and still growing strong by the year. To mention a few: Large framed well-accomplished 55-year-old doctor devouring ironman(s) for fun, another two in early 50s running hundreds of Kms in India and South Africa with the same smile as a half marathon, 60+ lady redefining what is considered humanely possible for amateurs and 50+ housewife silently rising from half marathon to marathon to Ultra marathon to Ironman consistently clocking podium finishes. Well even without any near-term benefits, I would take the deal if running can take my performances anywhere remotely close to these folks at that age.

Having served its original intended purpose, this infatuation with running could have very much ended in 2008. Backdrop changed as I moved between jobs, between cities, between phases of life, between practice regimes et al. Surprisingly, the runs only continued to get more and more interesting. Ten editions later as I look back, each of these runs combined with the prevailing circumstances have been mini stories in themselves.

2)  SCMM 2009: Succumbing to Expectation!!

Doing an encore on limited practice was appearing difficult and there was this added bonus of being in “first year” at my “first ever job”. A few months earlier during my 1^st International offsite at Budapest, Indian arm of my then firm had sent in my nomination as “marathon man” under “Extra-Curricular Awards” section. While I did bow out in the nomination stages, it was a pleasant surprise to see the “respect” attributed as a runner by International peers. Closer home, over a dozen of my batchmates / colleagues had already asked me to keep them posted on the start of registrations. With so much riding on, “chickening out” was just out of question. So I ran (on even lesser practice), just about ensuring that I complete in relatively poor 5:07. As a luxury of first job, I bought the then best in class “Nike” shoes. Being unaware of the need for buying “one” size bigger pair, after every long run I had blisters to showcase!

Interesting tit bit about SCMM 2009 is that at ~12% it continues to have highest fraction of female finishers. Despite multi fold growth in total finishers over the years, fraction of women finishers continues to be abysmally low at ~8%.  

3) SCMM 2010: Diversion from Recession!!

Professionally, the previous year had been a tough one as winds of “Lehman Crisis” hit hard even in the Indian markets. Most companies either considered us “over qualified” or considered themselves “over staffed”. While I did have whole lot of time at hand, it was difficult to focus on any kind of practice regime. With the addition of Bandra-Worli sealink, the SCMM route had also arguably become tougher. (Over the years, the course has also been reversed to minimize inconvenience to runners in the open Sun towards the later stage of the run). Come January and two welcome surprises came in. Firstly, I came across a girl who was equally passionate (if not more) about running and was excited about her first Half marathon at SCMM. Secondly, I got a joining date with another firm on the very day after SCMM. So yeah with these additional motivations, I did run, not surprisingly clocking my worst ever timing – a lowly 5:21. Contributing to my performance was my attempt to run with “music” nowhere in sync with my struggling pace.

4)  SCMM 2011: Established Prioritization!!

By this time, I was dating the girl I had met before SCMM 2010. Not surprisingly, she had graduated from being “excited about half” to “let me give full a shot” mind-frame. The practice had been nominal as consulting life kept me on almost perpetual travel between Mumbai, Baroda, Delhi and Kolkata. In the last month, a board meeting was unfortunately scheduled at our Kolkata client in the first half of Monday right after the race day. Faced with a choice of “dropping out” or “slogging out”, I took the latter even at the risk of inviting Partner’s ire. Irony was when the same Partner boasted about the work-life balance of our firm after a successful meeting. On a personal front, this last minute travel-slog combo assured the firm of my commitment giving me very healthy returns in the near term. J However, to be safe, I have now made it a habit to inform my bosses much in advance that 3^rd Sunday of January is non-negotiable. 

5)  SCMM 2012: Intra Family Competition!!

The girl I had been dating before SCMM 2011 was my wife now. She had moved further on from “let me give full a shot” to “let me kick your butt” mind-frame. The rivalry did bring me closer back to my original time levels. At 4:48, still well away from the then considered respectable 4:30s. This year, it was quite satisfying to have the growing participation numbers at Mumbai (and Delhi) from both my firm and family. As the saying goes, the group that runs together, stays together. J Though the same dozen which had started in 2009 didn’t ever repeat, I have continued to have a consistent 6-8 runner friends across most of the SCMM editions. SCMM had grown multi-fold in size from its relatively humble beginnings.

6) SCMM 2013: Move-on from Participation!!

“Gardening” leave is one of the best aspects of our professional life. With no “responsibility” of the next job and limited “accountability” of the existing job, this is the closest to “free lunch” in the corporate world. Time constraints never allowed me to join any specific running group. So, it came as a welcome surprise to be a part of “Bhakti 4ce” – Motley group of runners from Bhakti Park in Mumbai (even if originally only for the pasta party prior to SCMM race-day).

My primary running objective remained to finish within 5:00 to showcase that 2012 result was not a fluke. With a bit of assistance from the Weather Gods, I clocked an average 4:55 still lower than my original expectation. However, it did irk me that despite six years of running I was not moving forward and vowed to take the structured route hereon. The key was to incorporate variations centred on speed, tempo and overall strength development through a gradually built up practice schedule. The event though was quite exciting with course records set in both the elite men and women section. Latter still holding today.

By the 2013 edition, I had definitely moved beyond the objective of “only participating”. Observing the number of runners (old and young alike) seamlessly clocking sub 4:30 (even early 4:00) was becoming a difficult pill to swallow as I continued to stagnate in 4:50s. Quick inwards evaluation suggested that since 2008, I had barely had any focused practice. Most of my race-days had been based on “giving it all” on the final day rather than “smart training”. Inevitably in all my runs, I was starting at a fast pace, slowing in the mid part and struggling towards the finish.

7) SCMM 2014: Prelude to Comrades Marathon!!

With an aim to run Comrades Marathon in Africa, my preparation for 2014 version was perhaps the first structured and well documented regime that I followed. It is amazing how simple things such as recording daily mileage and regimen type brings about a sea change in the performance. I improved over marathon Personal Best (PB) at the arduous Hyderabad marathon in Aug’13 and cut down over ten minutes in half-marathon PB at Delhi Half (1:43). Come January, I was the best prepared for SCMM and an improvement of over 50 minutes to 4:03 only reinforced my belief. This was followed by our debut Comrades Ultramarathon at Africa where my wife finally did manage to beat me on net timing. Luckily, the race took into account the “gun time” so my rank continued to be better. J

8)  SCMM 2015: Another go at Ultra Marathon!!

Attempting an encore on the Up Run in the commemorative 90^th Comrade Marathon, our practice regime by now was fairly standard and structured. Key now was to sort out the food and water intake through the course of a run to get optimal output. Despite the plethora of literature around this topic, this still works best through hit and trial approach as human bodies respond differently to the same product. An essential surprise package for me at all previous runs had been the finish time at the end of it. This was the first ever race, I ran with a watch essentially replacing “surprise” with “calculated irritation”. Despite my best efforts, the time remained stagnant at 4:04. Along with the arduous 72Km Khardungla Challenge in Ladakh, we ran our highest ever number of races (8) across Half (2- Delhi / Thane), Full (3- Hyderabad, Mumbai, Vasai-Virar) and Ultra (3 – Comrades, Khardungla, Mumbai Ultra) in the calendar year leading to coveted top slots for “Running Family” at 2016 MRR Award Ceremony.

9)  SCMM 2016: Attempt at PB Reduction!!

It is easy to draw a parallel of cricket to long distance running. Test / ODIs / T20s have a fair resemblance to Ultra / Full / Half Marathon. Quite like cricket, a good ultra-runner can do fairly well in Full and Half Marathon. Reverse is usually not an obvious correlation. Concentration, discipline, intensity and right technique required for Ultra are also the hallmarks of quality test match players. At SCMM, the overall timings have already improved by leaps and bounds by 2016. 4:00 is the new 4:30 while 3:45 is almost the new 4:00. 

At my end, after focusing on ultra-marathon in the previous year, I targeted improving timing in half / full marathons at 2016. I decided to make a serious dash for a sub 4:00 time. Confidence also arose from having run multiple distances over the marathon distance in the previous year. However, despite some well calculated and healthy (taking care of diet alongside physical activities) speed regime, I could only clock a 4:08. The target survives to challenge another day.

10) SCMM 2017: Nostalgia – Decade Long Recollection!!

My 10^th SCMM is fairly nostalgic. During the 2008 start, I had never anticipated coming back so many times. 3^rd Sunday of January has become synonymous with SCMM. Over the last decade, I have run more difficult runs (Comrades), more scenic runs (Khardungla), faster runs (Delhi) et al; however, SCMM continues to be the common string.  

Personally, I have tried to contribute towards improvement of SCMM (Can take a consultant out of consulting but impossible to take consulting out of a consultant!!) on the basis of my experience elsewhere. Heartening to see that Procam (Organisers) has steadily implemented few aspects (special number, running years’ count – segregating full from half runs) and is on course of adding many more changes to improve runner’s experience.  Sanitization of running data would go a long way in additional customization and developing a whole new range of publicity campaigns over next few editions.

Coming to the run, once again I missed sub4 clocking 4:03. But as ridiculous as it may sound, this was the first time I got my race strategy right which is evident from the average speed and rank graphs below:

All these four speed charts gave me almost similar end timing. Controlling speed in the starting phase goes a long way in helping to maintain consistent pace over the mid part of the race and also assists in reducing the dip in the last segment with Pedder Road. Not just that, the pacing strategy is much easier on the body and enables much faster recovery. That most runners continue to start fast and fade is evident from the rank chart at specific distance markers.

Mix of experience and practice combined with some hit & trial have enabled me in making step jump in average timing (working hours still don’t allow the luxury of a running group!!). Having reached 4:00 level, the quest now is for 3:45 and then probably for 3:30 or longer races. While objective continues evolving, hopefully this journey will run over few more decades. In slightly updated words of retiring Captain MS Dhoni (told to Mark Nicholas in 2014): 

“.. Process is more important than the result; If you are fully engaged in the moment, then outcome will take care of itself...”

PS: Before I pen off, a few lines (will leave details to her) about my other half at SCMM 2017. After having run only full marathon since 2011, she took it easy and participated in half. Not just that, she finished this half marathon clocking her worst-ever timing!! Well can’t really blame her for non-performance, despite over 450 Kms mileage in last 3 months, it is obviously difficult to run when you are only 3 months away from what probably is the greatest race in a women’s lifetime.

As things stand, following is the count @ SCMM, DK – 10, KV – 8, XXXX – 1 :) 

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