Ran the Rupee For Humanity (RFH) 10K this morning in Cubbon Park (Bangalore, India) with about 550 other people! In addition to the 10K, they also has a 3K and 5K distances start at the same time.
The 5K winner and I had the lead after about the first mile, and we helped each other navigate the course until he turned to finish the 5K. I completed another lap for the 10K. My GPS watch said the distance was closer to 5.95 miles instead of 6.2. My time was 38:20 (6:34, 6:15, 6:22, 6:28, 6:31, 6:09). I feel good about that time given the altitude (3000+ feet) and having this race cap off a 46+ mile week (last week was only 31.5 miles).
The course started at an engineering college across the street from the park. The street was probably a good 100 meters across. No police to stop traffic, so...the volunteers just walked out and stopped traffic.
The course wound through the park nicely. Most of it was on the roads within the park, but part of the course was on a cement path through the trees. Thankfully I had studied the map, because the course wasn't marked clearly and some volunteers had not reached certain turns to help direct runners. The race director was eager to hear my feedback, so better markings was one suggestion along with marking each 1000.
Karan Rayadurg and I hung out after the race. He came in third and is training for next month's TCS World 10K. (Carl Lewis is going to be there.) People were disappointed when I told them I was not going to be in town for that race.
I enjoyed how people asked to have their pictures taken with me. And I hope to see some more pics taken from photographers on the course. Here's one I finally had someone take with my phone:
India treats its runners well. They had good snacks, finisher certificates (all individually signed by the president of RFH), gifts for the sponsors, and awards for the top 3 male and female runners in each of the distances.
Bottom line: I'm looking forward to running another race in India.
The 5K winner and I had the lead after about the first mile, and we helped each other navigate the course until he turned to finish the 5K. I completed another lap for the 10K. My GPS watch said the distance was closer to 5.95 miles instead of 6.2. My time was 38:20 (6:34, 6:15, 6:22, 6:28, 6:31, 6:09). I feel good about that time given the altitude (3000+ feet) and having this race cap off a 46+ mile week (last week was only 31.5 miles).
The course started at an engineering college across the street from the park. The street was probably a good 100 meters across. No police to stop traffic, so...the volunteers just walked out and stopped traffic.
The course wound through the park nicely. Most of it was on the roads within the park, but part of the course was on a cement path through the trees. Thankfully I had studied the map, because the course wasn't marked clearly and some volunteers had not reached certain turns to help direct runners. The race director was eager to hear my feedback, so better markings was one suggestion along with marking each 1000.
Karan Rayadurg and I hung out after the race. He came in third and is training for next month's TCS World 10K. (Carl Lewis is going to be there.) People were disappointed when I told them I was not going to be in town for that race.
I enjoyed how people asked to have their pictures taken with me. And I hope to see some more pics taken from photographers on the course. Here's one I finally had someone take with my phone:
India treats its runners well. They had good snacks, finisher certificates (all individually signed by the president of RFH), gifts for the sponsors, and awards for the top 3 male and female runners in each of the distances.
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