Run is Done

25,ooo registered runners; maybe 3 dozen ran the half marathon, while the rest of Hyderabad decided on the 10k. So a little less than 25,000 participated in the latter of the two.

Did I say the 10k was a run? Not necessarily. Maybe for those more competitive types looking to improve miles, body tone, stamina (did I mention body tone?), and sprinkle a little torture in the final stretch where the sun is beating down and the water you're carrying inside has made its way downward...

...as I was saying many participated. It was a fair-grounds feeling, a festival of sorts. The skydivers, the stage with the MC hollering and cheering, the police-in-training with their uniforms tight and their hair cut short and flags waving as they ran. There were the school buses unloading children in short-shorts and matching t's, families with small children, handfuls of foreigners, and coffee, tea and potato chips sold from hawkers. There were women in jogging pants, others wrapped in head scarves, men in shorts, men in jeans, t-shirts, jackets and Ked-like shoes. One man ran barefoot.

Dodging people was part of the fun and part of survival to run past the thousands who generally ran or trotted or walked or danced. Every few miles a band jammed. The military teams stopped to dance, clap, cheer for one another. What a party!

People having fun, not taking each other or the run too seriously, making new friends, slapping the hands of the children living in the slums we ran by and coaching one another on. My favorite cheer came from an older man who cheered with pumped fists, "Come on Hyderabad! Lets go! See the half glass filled!!"

My friend Rudy and I finished in 50 minutes. Not bad for "Runner Mom" as he called me. As we walked back to the car, the air held its crisp edge from the early a.m.

...and I wished to myself that every morning could be like this, where I wake up and feel the excitement of what's to come, to challenge myself for one more step that's a little stronger, to pause to dance with the band or at least laugh with those who do, to high five the people I love, and to finish the race surrounded by thousands of people who share a common goal.

Today was definitely a "half glassed filled" day.