SCMM 2013 Full Marathon 05:26:04. I dedicate this run to my family Shameem Hameed, Shoaib Hameed and Shumail Hameed. I ran for them, it's that feeling made me go all the way.

My Daily Mile update on Friday 18th " Recovery from the injury is not 100%, Absolutely Nil training from Nov 18th till date except for the rehab part. With High Spirits, Confidence, Blessings from Friends I WILL run to completion of SCMM Full Marathon" <break>

It has entered the records books as the northern most marathon.

It is the coldest of all marathons.

It is an all-night marathon, bathed under silky sunlight.

It’s a marathon that takes you on the top of the world (pun intended).

It is the North Pole marathon.

There is another marathon of superlatives

It has entered the record books as the southern most marathon.

It is the driest and windiest, if not the coldest marathon.

It is a marathon that takes you to the bottom of the world.

It is the Antarctic Ice Marathon.

Two marathons separated by a distance of 20,000 kilometers.

I was fortunate to run in both.

North Pole entailed funny gear. Heard of a balaclava? Mittens, Snow-shoes, Snow goggles, Ice cleats? There were three layers each covering the head, torso, lower body and feet. Plus body and toe warmers. I did several practice sessions just getting in and out of the gadgets. Most formidable were the snow-shoes. Walk with the likes of a mini-ski hitched under your shoes, and your feet stand separated by twelve inches and the gait betrays hyper-herniated hydroceles. No snow where I live. So I practiced on beach sand. Half hour past, my sides were in splits. Do 42 km strapped to this thingummy?

It all started with a dream, A dream to run d Mumbai marathon 2012... A week before the Mumbai marathon2012,  I felt I should register and run d marathon, only to realise that the registrations are closed months in advance.. I then decided that I will keep looking for the registration dates for 2013.. In d mean time I had started working out in the gym,  I had started running, after running a couple 100 mts, I would run out of breath.. Slowly this moved to a few km and by June 2013 I could run for 30 mins at a stretch... Believe me not many in the gyms could do that so I was very contended with this effort.. 

Finally the registrations were opened in the mid of June 2013, only to realise that you cannot register for the Mumbai marathon if you have not completed a marathon event before in a stipulated time.. I could see my dream getting shattered again... I did not want to give up so easily and found that the earliest marathon in India is in Hyderabad on 26th aug.. Without a second thought I went ahead and registered for the run...

Who says marathon is all about running. It’s all bloody mind games buddy, there is no physical activity involved in it, at least after 30 kms, But that is for everybody, for me it is the 22 to 30 kms that plays havoc with my brain. Post 30 kms i get stronger and more determined like a demon, well not exactly like Ravana but more like Ram possessed!!

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2013 was my fourth full marathon and the 2013 edition was the 9th year in succession that i was participating in. A journey which started in 2004 with a bludgeoning, bedraggled 3.45 hours in the first ever half marathon with barely any practise and not having any concept of what a distance of 21 kms entails. Well 21 kms was daunting those days.

2012 was a relatively quiet year for me in terms of the number of events that i took part in, Auroville was more fun and adventure, while Ladakh was challenging in brutally tough conditions. A couple of smaller distances like 5K, 10K took place in between and there was a training run of 42 kms while Mumtaz Qureshi was attempting his first 100 kilometers and the first Ultra distance of 50 kms along with the Navi Mumbai runners but that was again spaced out throughout the day and not a continuous effort. But Vasai Virar Marathon was the game changer during the year. Last minute entry with barely any preparation for a full marathon to speak about, i still managed to carve out a huge 27 minutes slice off my previous best from SCMM 2012 to return in 5.07 hours when the conditions on the return leg of the marathon was brutal with sun beating down hard and massive traffic snarls along the route. It was a tough marathon to conquer.

I never thought i would be running marathons. And yet here i was! The day most awaited and for which i had been preparing for 8 months! Although i have done many other marathons, this was indeed the best experience i ever had! 

The best thing about Mumbai marathon was the support of the people and the cheering throughout the event which gave me motivation to run and a never ending ZEAL ! It felt like the world had gathered at one place to encourage human kind and their ability to RUN !   Thanx to all the press reporters for the live coverage! Specially the chopper who came down so close the marine drive road just above the sea just making the participants go crazy!!  The dancers, the singers and the music to which i danced too! 

SC 2013 Mumbai Marathon was an amazing experience of my lifetime! 

The time now is 9 pm on the 21st of January 2013. 31 hours have passed since I completed the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2013 but I still cannot seemto get over the feeling of adrenaline rush. I have been running the race over and over again in my mind, sometimes with running commentary by myself. I am so hooked to it that I literally want to rewind time and run again .. sadly that is not possible till next year so here I am putting down my experience on paper(figuratively :) )

The morning of the 20th , azad maidan was alive with the energy of thousands who have come to run at what can be called a pilgrimage of runners all over the world - The 10th EDITION of the STANDARD CHARTERED MUMBAI MARATHON . The chill in the air was not enough to cool down the heat of boiling blood that was rushing through their veins ... through my veins .. as I took up my position along with them .

For me the race was not against those who were running with me, it was against myself.

5:40 the race starts amidst tumultous applause of the spectators.

Somewhere near the 6th Kilometer, dawn broke with the thunder of a thousand feet rhythmically hitting the asphalt. I was doing good. Being an asthmatic and also suffering from an injury on my right leg, initially, I had my fears which ran alongside me sometimes overtaking me and then looking back to mock me in my face , but as the miles climbed and the sharp pain became dull and then vanished , I knew that fear had lost the race to me and it was just me and the road.

Have you ever tried running? If you haven't, then you should definately give it a try now. You will be surprised to discover so many new things about yourself. I never ran in my life until, I decided to register for Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2013. This was my first half marathon and I was super excited for it, so excited that a day before the SCMM run I even dreamt about missing it. But luckily for me nothing like that happened and there I was at 5.15 a.m all ready for my run to start from Bandra Fire Station.

Finally, it was the moment I was waiting for, the moment I had been training for, the moment to make myself proud. After meeting my trainers and wishing my running group and other friends, I headed to be in my running section that is C. As, I headed towards my start line, there were two guys walking behind me, chit chatting, suddenly I felt one of the guys face brushing my shoulders. Though the guy said sorry, I thought to myself, "How some people can't see and push you around? He must be one of those perverts and so on. Anyways, I cleared my thoughts and moved ahead to the start line. And, as I stood there with so many other runners, all I could see was “EQUALITY.” It was so wonderful to see everyone running together without any discrimination. There, no one was divided on the basis of money, religion, gender, hierarchy, caste, age etc at the race everyone was equal, everyone was a runner. 

Final day the SCMM or standard chartered Mumbai marathon. The biggest running event of India My second full marathon and first in road running. Started preparation for the same in October but due to many reason can't continue it for long. Heard a lot about SCMM and how good the Mumbaikars are, so want to feel the same by my own. So even after very less training was desperate to do the run. Reached Mumbai on Saturday and went to the bib collection. Meet so many friends from across India. Collected the bib and enjoyed the day in the hotel. In the eve went to Marine Drive to feel the weather. Enjoyed there for few hours with some of the running buddie and then headed to hotel to take a good sleep. Wake up early morning and leved the hotel at around 4:45 in the morning. So reached at the venue 40 mins before d start time did some stretching and warm up. Joined the few groups and chat with them. Enter the holding area at the scheduled time. Finally the run begins. Started at a very normal pace for the first 3 k as was feeling some pain in the calf but increased the same as the weather was very good and the pain reduced after first 3k. In the big group of runners I was feeling so comfortable while running and the stretch of Marine Drive was really wonderful. I set the 4:30 hr target for me initially but when I saw that I was going very good so was sure that could complete it within 4 hr. Running on the sea link was an amazing experience. Tried to give many poses to the cameramens. After 20 k mark I was even more confident about sub 4 but after 26 k it feels like a very tough job to do. But I tried to push my body as the crowed was very gud and whatever I heard about Mumbaikars was true.

Run Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon

Write just 100 words about your Run Experience

Walk away with prizes up to Rs. 50000.

Marathon runners have never had it so good!

Contest Opens:  January 20, 2013 at 12:00 pm 

Contest Closes:  January 28, 2013 at 12:00 pm

What should you do?

1. REGISTER at www.marathoninmarathon.com right away. You can also register through Facebook. Please ensure to fill in MAILING ADDRESS (click on ‘Profile’ and fill details - optional), so we can courier winners their award cheques.

2. As soon as you finish your SCMM run, write out how (Min. 100 WORDS) you enjoyed the run at:
http://www.marathoninmarathon.com/node/add/blog/88

3. Publicize the link of your ‘Run Experience’ through mail, social networks and other means amongst all your friends and goad them to read your write-up and “Vote” for it (before 12 noon on 28, January, 2013) at:
http://www.marathoninmarathon.com/marathon/stanchart-mumbai-marathon

4. Walk away with Prizes.

The Dead Sea Marathon is run in Jordan. It starts from the capital city of Amman and finishes on the shores of the Dead sea.  It takes runners to the ‘Lowest point on Earth,’  The cause the shores of the Dead Sea plunge to 483 M or 1400 feet below sea level. The start line is in Amman city, which has an elevation of 780 M or 2500 feet. Marathoners cascade down almost 4000 feet in the first 24 K, after which the track levels off. I ran this on 6^th April 2012, the first time I ever ran a marathon on a Friday. But remember, this is an Islamic country.

While collecting the bib number on Thursday, I paid the registration fees.

“US$ 110, or if you want to pay in Jordanian, it is JD 78, Sir.”

My ventricle missed a beat. The problem was, as I found out later, though the registration fee was one of the highest for any marathon (and I have run all around the world), arrangements were pathetic. We were to report to the ‘Sports City’ at 5 am, wherefrom buses will leave for the start point at 6 am, and the race will start at 7 am. That means kick yourselves awake at 4 am, and keep waiting three full hours for the gun to fire. The start point was on a congested highway with vehicles plying at high speed just on the next lane. There were two mobile toilets to lighten 30-odd marathoners who had held their bladders for the last 2 hours. We had reached just in time from the Sports City for the race to start. So many in the line before the box had no option but to pump the countryside.