IDBI Federal Life Insurance – New Delhi Marathon (26th
Feb 2017)
It was around the
end of 2016 when I learned about Sachin Tendulkar’s association with the NDM
event. For the first time, a running event was going to be more than just a
running event for me. I was charged up to give my best performance on the big
day. The months of January and February were largely focused on speed work with
tempo and interval runs forming a significant share of weekly running mileage.
The days passed by
and then comes the big day - 26th Feb, 2017.
The excitement was
in the air. As I entered the Stadium, I continued
performing my ritual warm-up drills, but my mind was elsewhere. I kept scanning
the sea of people to catch a glimpse of my childhood Hero – the Master, the Blaster,
the God – the One and Only, Sachin Tendulkar.
All warm-up drills
performed, pre-run banana eaten, pleasantries with fellow runners exchanged –
still no sight of Sachin Tendulkar. I was disappointed at the hype I had
created in my own mind. For the last two months, all I had thought about during
my personal time was the sight of Sachin Tendulkar flagging-off the race and I
achieving my best ever half-marathon time on that magical day!
But, alas - that
was not to be..
With a feeling of
despair and utter disappointment, I accepted the fact that Sachin had not come.
I bent down to tighten the shoelace for one final time before the run
commenced. Just as I gingerly tied the shoe-lace knot, I heard a loud
boisterous eruption. Even before I got up to see what it was – a broad smile had flashed on my face; I knew the master had arrived.
What I saw next
was intense, emotional, nostalgic and beyond words. With a large flag in his
hand, Sachin stood just a few meters away from me (the fact that I made it to the
first few rows from the start-line helped!).
The first thing that struck me at seeing
Sachin was the radiant glow on his face – a glow that one cannot be born with, a
glow that certainly cannot be acquired through the use of cosmetic creams – a glow
that one attains through single-minded focus and dedication and going through
the grind for one’s quest for excellence day after day, month after month – for
almost 25 years!
A few moments
later, I felt a sudden turbulence of thoughts and flashbacks from my childhood
days. It was almost like the sight of Sachin had nudged a few blocks of
nostalgic memories that were comfortably placed beneath the layer of
sub-conscious memory, and were now trying to regain equilibrium. Some moments
that instantly crossed through my head:
- IIT Delhi second year, Karakoram hostel (2002): We were watching a one-day international match in the Hostel common room and Sachin got dismissed cheaply. The gentleman sitting next to me (an M. Tech student three years senior to me) was visibly disappointed and started abusing Sachin like crazy. After exercising restraint for a few minutes, I decided enough was enough and beat that senior like a mad man. Subsequently, I was banned from the hostel common room for six months. Well, I was a kid back then with limited maturity (but in no way suggesting that with the advantage of maturity that I have gained over the last 15 years, I wouldn’t do that again – I still believe that the gentleman got the treatment he deserved!)
- The day of my Roka ceremony (2nd March, 2008): I was getting engaged to my would-be wife! Everything was great – all relatives were ecstatic, grand preparations had been made at a Banquet Hall. The only little bit of a concern (at least in my mind) was that the day coincided with Common Wealth Bank Series, 1st Final – India vs. Australia. As the function progressed, I kept furtively escaping every few minutes (on the pretext of feeling hungry, nature’s call, need water and what not) to catch a glimpse of Sachin on a large screen where the match was being telecast in an adjacent restaurant. The master scored an unbeaten 117 and the auspicious day became a little more auspicious.
- Sachin’s retirement day (15th Nov 2013): As a kid, I always feared what would I do when Sachin retires. It almost felt like I would not have anything to look forward to. But of course, those were thoughts as a kid. Now, I had grown up – in fact, I was a father of a 3-year old kid. When Sachin walked back after getting dismissed for 74 for the final time, I just couldn’t hold back tears. Yes, I cried like a kid (yes, it was embarrassing, but so be it!). My kid was visibly concerned to see me weeping and looked at his Mom to explain what was going on. My wife explained to him that Papa is sad because he will not be able to watch Sachin’s batting anymore. The three year-old kid came to me after a few moments and said – Papa, Youtube pe dekh lenge (we will watch him on YouTube). As innocent as it may have been, it did give me a lot of comfort!
There were many
other spontaneous flashbacks, but these were the prominent ones – all within a
matter of few seconds.
The run started..
Sachin was
cheerfully looking at the passing cavalcade and cheering the runners. What
happened next was magical. There was a brief moment when Sachin and I made an
eye contact. Sachin smiled and showed me a thumbs-up. Of course, he was doing
that to the crowd but for that brief moment it felt like it was a personalized
good-luck gesture for me.
The energy level
went through the roof. After that magical moment, there was no way I was going
to settle for anything less than my personal best.
The challenge for
me was to hold the nerves and run as per the plan. I often make the mistake of
running the first few kilometers faster than the desired pace. I had planned to
take at least 20:30 for the first 5 kms. At the end of 5 kms, I realized that I
had deviated from the plan by good 45 seconds and finished it in 19:45. I did
manage to get back on the plan after around 8th km mark and by the
time I finished the race, I had managed to achieve a new PB for half-marathon distance
– 1:28:33 (bettering my previous best by 1 min and 6 seconds).
Clearly, it was a
race that I would remember for reasons bigger than just my personal best
timing! My tryst with God was magical and the lucky charm seemed to have
continued into the next big event too.
Urban Stampede 10km run (5th March, 2017)
Managed to secure
second rank with my personal best timing of 40:47 for 10 km run.
So, back to the
original topic - The Tryst with God.
What next
now? The desire to meet Sachin remains and meet in a more personalized
manner. But, it should feel like a meeting earned through hardwork, discipline
and elevation of self to a level where the meeting makes sense not just for me
but also for Sachin - and, I have miles and miles to go before even remotely entertaining a thought like that!
Sundeep Singh
+91 - 98181 19794
#TomTom
#GetGoing
About the Author: By background, Sundeep Singh is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi and holds an MBA
from IIM Kozhikode. Given his flair for mechanics and passion for running,
he loves to analyze and write about the finer nuances of running
techniques / strategies. Sundeep’s best run till date is NDM 2017, which he
completed in 1:28:33.
