Strides of Hope: Dallas Whiterock Marathon

I finished the Dallas Whiterock Marathon on 14th Dec 2008. This is my 5th marathon and second one running with Team Asha and raising funds for Asha. I finished in a time of 4hrs 14mins. Even though this is not a PR, I am still very happy, given the conditions of the day and also my training being sub par.

The day started at 5am. I took the train along with my wife at 6am to reach the marathon start area (American Airlines Center) by 6:45am. The temperature was good but it was way too windy (25+ mph). I met other Asha runners and we were getting ready for the run. There were long lines for the portable restrooms and I almost missed the start.

The race started at 8am and it was great to see 15000+ runners lined up and ready to run. I started off at a steady 10 min/mile pace for the first couple of miles. I was feeling good and did the next 5-6 miles closer to 9 min/mile pace and was feeling great. I saw the Asha volunteers at mile 6 (Asha had a water station) and it felt great to see so many familiar faces cheering for you. I next few miles went by fast. The weather was getting better as I felt it to be less windy. I had to take a potty break at around mile 11 and then I met another Asha runner, Cnu and ran with him for a few miles. I had already started to feel stiffness in my right calf muscle and also my left IT band. I was a little worried as it was a hot day and I had a bad feeling that I might struggle in the last few miles. Cnu wanted to walk a little at mile 14 and I went ahead at my own pace.

I reached mile 15 in about 2:15 which was where I wanted to be, to finish under 4:20. I was already feeling a little tired and seeing more Asha folks at mile 15 gave me a boost. At this point I have already realized that I will not be able to speed up the last 10 miles and have started running ~10 min/mile pace. Also, as the temperature was creeping up, I started to drink Gatorade at every water station in addition to my intake of salt capsules every 45 mins. I reached 20 mile mark in 3:10. I have quite happy with both my timing and the way I felt, tired but not fully drained.

The few miles between 19-22 have some hills, which we have run a few times during training. I just slowed down a little and those hills seemed quite easy even after 3 hours of running. I hardly had to walk for those 3 miles. At around mile 22, I started to feel some pain in near my right ankle and also some stiffness in my left IT band. I was telling myself just to keep moving one step at a time and in another 40 mins or so it will be over with. I started to walk a minute at every water booth and felt good when I reached mile 25. I was amazed to realize that I did mile 25 and 26 in about 9 min/mile pace. In no time, the finish line was in sight and for the last few hundred yards, no matter how beat up I was, I sprinted towards the finish line and had a strong finish. I finished in 4:13:46. I saw many Asha folks at the finish line, including my wife. Even though, this is not my first marathon, it always feels great to finish a daunting distance 26.2miles and especially if it is done for a good cause, to support the less fortunate children.

It was a very hot day to run a marathon and the temperature was 79F when we finished. I have seen many people cramp up and struggle at finish. I think I just caught a break as I was running a little slower and also took plenty electrolytes and salts. The other Asha runners also finished in good times and high spirits. A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped me and many other runners to finish. It is lot of hardwork and it needs to be appreciated a lot. I got a nice complementary massage for my aching legs and my stiff IT band. We had a nice photo session for all the Asha runners and volunteers. We all (30+ people) went to Roti grill and had nice Indian food, before we called it a day.

My first part of the commitment to Asha is complete with running the marathon and now remains the more important part of raising funds for the less fortunate little ones in India. Now that the marathon is over, I am in the process of reaching out to my friends and family to spread word about Asha and raise funds to help them continue the good charity work. I would encourage you to visit my Asha fundraising page and donate and be part of this worthy cause.