Sunday, November 4, 2012

Nike Run to the Beat – Running a half marathon in 3 degree Celsius – There is always a first time


Having run 6 full marathons and 11 half marathons I have come to accept one fact – there is always something new that happens in a marathon.

After all 42.195 Km or 21.095 km is a longish distance to cover on foot. It is for the first time that I have penned down (or rather typed out) my experience on any one run (I did a compilation earlier).

“No one can possibly know what is about to happen: it is happening, each time, for the first time, for the only time” – James A. Baldwin.  

Guess the British Culture has influenced me - I had run a half marathon on the 30th of September and not followed it up with any long runs beyond a 10K; so on the 21st of October I can't claim to be feeling upbeat about running another half marathon in a week's time. The weatherman had exactly the kind of information required to lift the spirits – the temperatures were expected to plunge through the week and Arctic winds were expected from Thursday onwards. As the week progressed, the weather went from cold to colder. As the weekend came by so did the rains, adding a dash of depression to the cocktail.

The Saturday before a marathon should be a relaxed one with little physical effort; but it almost never has been the case on any of my previous races, and this was no exception. The Saturday was spent at Winkworth Arboretum with Manish and Savitri and 4 hyperactive kids. But what was troubling me was the weather. The fact that I was concerned about the weather more than the lack of mileage clearly indicated that I had gotten into the “British way of life”.

Most of my marathons have been in temperatures in the mid 30’s with humidity in the 80’s atleast and it is the first time I was attempting to run a half marathon in under 10 degrees. My mind was racing back to Amsterdam in 2008 when I ran a full marathon in 10 degrees and struggled to keep my toes warm!!!! There is always a first time….

Yes the clocks change – It must be the British sense of humor that makes an organizer choose the date when the clocks change, to organize a half marathon. Since it is only the second experience we have had with changing clocks, I decided not to trust the “electronic” clocks on the i-phone of the wife or my own Blackberry. So I set the alarm on a good old battery powered “alarm clock”, a throw back to college days.  

I woke up at 7 AM according to my body and the “alarm clock” but 6 AM according to all the cellphones and laptops at home. The sun peeped out adding to my confusion – was it actually going to be warm, had I overslept. Instead of intellectualising I decided to get out of bed and check the time on BBC morning news!!!

I’ve never run after having slept an extra hour thanks to a clock change. There is always a first time…….

No running bib – Any race is associated with the ritual of attaching your running bib to your running vest so that the marshals can identify you as a legitimate runner and the site race-photos.com can charge you for wanting to see your photographs from the race.

I opened the packet from the organisers on Saturday night after the Makhijani’s (and Swaninathan’s) left after an action packed Saturday. I was perplexed and a tad worried about the fact that I could not find a running number. My panic was checked by the discovery of a band to be worn around the wrist. The band would suffice for the marshals at the starting line but what about the commerce of selling race photographs? Surely the organisers were not going to inflict further wounds on an ailing economy.

I finally realized that the running vest had the number on it!!!! This was clearly a first for me.



While it could be argued that it reduces the opportunity to express your individuality, you cannot argue with the choice of a Nike Dry Fit as a running vest. In any case, the organisers had given you no options.

Mr. Brand Manager at Nike – wonderful touch to give the event an even greater feel to it, atleast on photographs that you will use for your presentations to your bosses.


Vanity thy name…. – Having put on 3 layers for warmth and re-inforced it with a pair of gloves to ward off the biting cold, I reached the Wimbledon station at a little before 8 AM by my watch. Seeing no one on the platform,  as I waited for the train, my mind began to wander off into the dark area where I had woken up at the wrong time; and either there was another hour to kill or the race was starting in another part of town.

Finally a few minutes later, people starting trooping onto the platform in the unmistakable yellow t-shirts. So atleast, I was not the only one who had made a mistake – the comfort of numbers…..

Finally the 0807 to London Waterloo arrived and we got onto the train. Surprisingly, so early on a Sunday, the seats were all already taken but then there were 18500 of us headed to the same venue so it should not have been a surprise.

There were two women sitting opposite where I was standing and both had the Yellow t-shirts. I could not avoid overhearing their conversation but I must claim it was completely unintentional, despite my profession of market research. One of them was running to raise money for Leukamia research (good on her) and had raised £730 so far and was expecting another £80 to come through from colleagues. So far all good. The train reaches Earslfield and by then, the overcrowding on the train makes a Mumbai local at 9 AM on a weekday appear empty!

At this point, the above mentioned fund raising woman takes out a compact and a brush and starts painting her face. I am sure there exists correct terminology for the products and the process used but having had no professional experience in skin care products, I can manfully claim complete ignorance. Why but why would you need to paint your face when you are going to subject yourself to the task of running 21 Km?

The mystery deepened when after a few minutes, she took out a wavy brush to do something to her eye lashes and followed it up by taking out a pencil to paint her eyes. Never in the earlier 17 experiences of running long distance races (I don’t count anything less than a half marathon as a long distance race), had I noticed women with make-up.

As we disembarked at Waterloo, I was convinced that I had observed an aberration. The market researcher in me decided to test the hypothesis on the Jubilee line to North Greenwich. Lo and behold ! The train was jam packed but the first woman I observed had the yellow vest on and her cheeks were painted pink. The second woman I observed looked “normal” but the third woman (again with the yellow vest) was busy applying her lipstick.

Why but why do women need to be “made up” at the start of the race? Must be the same psychology which makes the choice of their bras determine their level of confidence for the day.

“Without vanity, without coquetry, without curiosity, in a word, without the fall, woman would not be woman” – Victor Hugo.

The ultimate oxymoron – British indiscipline – During our stay in London, I had the opportunity to fulfill a long standing desire to watch a football match in a stadium – England vs. Ukraine (World cup qualifiers). The match itself was a reminder of why the weak-hearted should not support the English football team. What was striking to an outsider like me was that despite there being 61000 fans in the stadium there was no pushing and shoving. Everyone stood in queues, obeyed the rules displayed and even after the match, stood patiently in queues to board the trains. That experience confirmed that my British friends in office are not the exception when it comes to discipline. One in particular would never occupy a meeting room for more than 60 minutes because that is what the notice on the door says; while yours truly being an Indian has no such moral scruples in occupying the same room for a full day.

We reached the O2 arena and headed to the starting area. Sure enough there were marshals checking the wristband and screening out supporters. The route to the baggage area had the toilets enroute. I looked around for the shortest line for the toilets but I soon noticed a board which said “Men's wall ahead”. Intrigued I walked ahead only to find literally a wall for the men to pee against  - never had I come across this concept in any of the earlier races and I wonder why it is not more widely used given how effectively it serves the purpose and given it is considerably quicker in turnaround than unisex portaloos. 

The baggage drop area was quite crowded as would be expected not just because there were 18500 of us trying to drop off bags but also because it was considerably warmer inside the tent. Anyway, there was one exit and there was a long line to get out. Someone realized that an exit at the other end could be opened and so it was. What followed was a stream of people (yours truly included) charging towards this illegitimate exit and then climbing over barricades to reach the start line. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed that a bunch of Brits would ever break the rules….

The start was uneventful but the ones like me who were aiming for a 2 hour finish reached the start line about 18 minutes after the official start. Since we weren’t in the race for the prize money it did not matter.

About a mile into the race we came across a garden by the road and promptly a steady stream of men dashed across to relieve their bladders, prompting groans of “men are so lucky” from the women. I was wondering where the fabled British discipline had disappeared and concluded that physiological needs had trumped psychological conditioning. The gardens seemed to appear after about every mile and the stream of men never ceased. After mile 4 we came across a garden tucked away at an angle and suddenly a stream of women runners were heading to the garden…..clearly the indiscipline is not the remit of the men alone.

“Green marathon” – The event brochure mentioned something about it being an environmentally friendly marathon. Nice touch Mr. Brand Manager at Nike, I am sure your Marketing Director would be pleased.

The first sign came just before the first water station where a board said, “littering is not allowed”.  Inorder to achieve this objective, giant dustbins were placed about 30 metres from the water stations. Also to help, water was dished out in plastic cups. Never mind the fact that anyone who can run and drink from a cup deserves an extra medal for the achievement.

Judging by the number of cups thrown into the bins vis-à-vis the numbers outside, I would say that approximately 30% of the cups were disposed off in the bins but I’d guess about 60% of the runners noticed the environment message. Mr. Brand Manager, I am sure you will turn to your conscientious market research team to generate the exact numbers and I am sure that the recommendations for future initiatives would include having bins spread out to atleast 100 metres away from the water bin and ensuring that the energy drinks are also served in cups and not in the 500 ml bottles since no runner would drink that quantity and the bottles would never reach the bin.

Murderous rage – The race was clearly designed to create maximum audience participation and hence involvement with the Nike brand. Nowhere was this more apparent than at the end of the race.

After completing the race, we had to meander around several corners to reach the medal distribution point. The corners were created to allow friends and family to cheer the runners and create more “contacts” for the event sponsors i.e Nike. Never mind the fact that it added another kilometer for runners who had already covered more than 21 Km.

One feature that did stand out at the end was the presence of a DJ belting out songs and engaging the audience. As I made my way past the finish and started to negotiate the series of turns, I heard the song – it was none other than “Why this Kolaveri di” (why this murderous rage). I never understood why the song became a rage in India but I could not believe I was hearing it in London, in the presence of some 25000 odd people which hardly included any Indians.

This was not just a first but clearly a “na bhooto na bhavishyati” moment (never before never after).

Mr. Brand Manager, overall an excellent job done. I can picturize the presentation you would be making to your board on the success of the event and the lessons for next year. Well done. Unfortunately for you, I will not be deciding on your bonus for the year so good luck with your presentation to the board.

As I head off to Singapore I do hope that you share some of your success formulae with your colleagues in Singapore so they can replicate it there.