The Hyderabad 10K Run & Half Marathon this morning is a huge success. I was a little tired during the previous week and wanted to skip the event, but Spurthi expressed strong interest on the previous night. So I did a last minute registration for Spurthi, Surya and myself. Surya opted out of the event though. Here is our gear check on the previous night.
This morning we reached People’s Plaza, the venue for the event, by 5.10am and watched the start of the Half Marathon. Spurthi’s classmates came a bit later and we waited through the proceedings. The star attraction of the day is patriotic songs by singer Karunya. Closely followed are the songs by Aadil and warm up session by Dinaz. The event is started by the Chief Minister of the State, Dr. Y. S. Rajasekar Reddy. Other popular personalities during the event are House Speaker Suresh Reddy, movie actor Venkatesh, movie actor Sunil, etc. Producer Suresh Babu is the most active of the lot, roaming on the streets and cheering people.
The traditional Health & Fitness theme of Hyderabad 10K Runs of the past took a turn towards Patriotism this year. The Hyderabadis’ solidarity with Mumbaikars and rest of the country during the tough times is very evident in acts and words of the gathering. Such a good turnout to a public event within days of Mumbai attacks means people want to show their unity and they don’t get deterred by acts intended to induce fear. Here is an example:
The crowd is huge. Once the run started, it took us more than 20 minutes to head to the track from the venue. The streets are filled with people all the way. The organizers ran out of water supplies through the first half of the track. Closer to the end, the amenities improved. The local music bands and country drum players have setup special booths through the entire track. Enthusiastic runners took short breaks to dance at the music bands.
With the streets full of people, the run turned out to be a walk rather. It took us a bit more than 2 hours to complete the 10K distance. A very pleasant and meaningful morning indeed!
