2010 | Its that time of the year when the Delhites get off their vehicles and join together to run across the streets of Delhi, Delhi Half Marathon is back!! This blog post is on my observations during the last run.
This post is adapted from an earlier entry of mine that I had written for ‘Our World’ (an internal magazine of PwC).
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It’s a 21 km race, probably would take me more than 25,000 steps to complete, but still each step is as important as any other. I realized what people mean when they say each small step brings you closer to the finish line. And that’s exactly what I tried to do, jog and enjoy the atmosphere around. I had driven on these roads numerous times, but never before had I observed the things that seemed to have suddenly sprouted up that day. I actually realized the small slopes and took no distance for granted. No longer was I measuring distances in terms of red lights I would have to pass, but in the terms of number of water stations I would encounter.
As I began, I started on a wrong foot, literally, and resulted in an acute abdomen pain after 3 km. It was then, I had to stop jogging and start walking, and question now was not about the timing but focus shifted to completing the race itself. I decided to walk one km and then start afresh. People passed by me as I walked, but I had no choice but to cheer for them. I saw some people just zipping past, making it seem like a 100 meter race rather than a marathon, getting the fame while they can. What were disturbing were not the people who zipped past, but seeing fellow runner disturbing their own rhythm just to compete.
Marathon for a common runner was not about relative ranking. Everyone was challenging himself, trying to get past his own limits and that was different for each one. It was a great place to be, where despite being in the same race, it was still all about you, a thing very desirable in real life but is still so elusive. As I continued to jog, concentrating on each small step and on my body, I passed many people who had earlier left me behind. It was then that I really realized the message of the story of the tortoise and the hare. It is not about who can get ahead first, neither is it about the one who remains unhurt. But it is about the person who continues to perform, about the person who learns from mistakes and gets up even after the pain.
Life doesn’t have the ultimate moments. No success or failure can be greater than self-confidence and the ability to continue to perform under all kinds of circumstances. It is easy to ride high on a particular success or to get overawed seeing others perform well.
As I finished the race, I was not happy because I had finished before many of the people, and neither was I sad because many finished before me. I was happy because I finished.