Chennai Marathon 2006

It sucks not to reach the finish point after four months of dedicated and painful prepration. Rotary club along with primary sponsorer Temenos organized the Chennai marathon this year which was a representation of total chaos.

Thursday Feb 2 2006

We were asked to collect our chest numbers and a t-shirt from Nehru Stadium. I reached there at 2:00 p.m to see the a few others waiting but there was sign of no volunteers. Finally, we saw a school kid who was assigned to come there representing the rotary club and Temenos. On questioning him, he said he is waiting for his "seniors" who apparently never made it that day.

Friday Feb 3 2006

After unlimited emails and telephone calls to friends in Temenos, I got to understand that they are distributing the chest numbers on saturday. I was also informed that runners had to undergo a mandatory medical check - up.

Saturday Feb 4 2006

I reach there at 10:00 a.m. sharp as per instructions to be informed that my credit card payment has not come through and I had to re-register again. The one doctor who was assigned to check approximately 300 runners did not show up until 11:00 A.M. The medical check - up was completed at 1:00 A.M. and the spot registration was done by 2:00. We were made to wait in the scorching heat with water packets being distributed. I wish I could have got the picture of the organizer who was a fat man clearly with no marathon experience.

Sunday Feb 5 2006

We reach the venue at 5:30 A.M. hoping that the run will begin by 6:00 A.M. However, after a lot of confusion the run started at 6:35 A.M. and the runners were stopped at 9:30 A.M. after the organizers got their winners. The objective somehow seemed the prize distribution.

Marathon running is not about winning. It is supposed to be be a communal event and it is about endurance. Having a marathon in Chennai is no big deal, but conducting is efficently is something we could definitely improvise upon.