and what a RUN it was!

And this was an extraordinary weekend for some of us!  It was the culmination of many weeks of hard work and determination. For me personally, it felt like it was the end or maybe the start of a new phase in my life!

(L to R: Smita Govil, Mohan Srinivasan, Badrinath Veeraghanta,

Neeti Raina, Anu Gupta & Aditya Gupta)

All of us (in the pix) ran  The Straits Times Run 2014. I took the plunge and ran my 1st 10 km marathon and all the others ran the 21km (half-marathon).

So what's the big deal? So many people run marathons! Yes that's true, but in this case, it's the closest I have come to seeing life change and it stands true for me too!

For some of us who ran yesterday, this was our personal best and for others it was another race to the list! I was amazed to see the sheer excitement that all of us had in common! The excitement of seeing weeks of hardwork paying off I guess is a great feeling!

L to R: Smita & Neeti

Let's start with Smita & Neeti who I think have come a long way!  Just two years ago, they were both home-loving mothers , very content with their roles. 

Smita managed to go a step ahead and convert her passion into her profession. Today, she has transformed a lot of us around her. She has been able to infuse some of her passion into a few of us as well! Her venture Salveo Mantra is proof to that!

Neeti of course, is by default the expert adviser in our gym. You can often see people asking her for advice on training/ exercises or how the machines work!

Both of them ran the Shape Run 2013 (5km marathon), just a year ago and at the ST Run they ran their first half-marathon! I know preparing for this wasn't easy. It involved early morning wake-ups for runs (sometimes even weekends), strength training at the gym , and more importantly a lot of mental strength.

Now let's talk about Adi. In 2007, Adi used to weigh close to 90kgs. When he ran his 1st full marathon (42.195kms) Standard Chartered Marathon 2013, it shocked us! Life has come a full circle for him. Today he can proudly claim to have run 2-half marathons and 1 full! 

Badri & Mohan can be called 'veterans' in the marathon scene amongst all of us here. They are 'serious' runners with several half and full marathons  on their side. Mohan too has run 2-half marathons and 1 full. 

Badri is always on a roll! After running about 10 half marathons including the ST Run and 1 full marathon, he is now preparing to run his 2nd full marathon!

At the end of it, it was lovely to see each one of us as excited for one another. Guess we all understand that each race brings with it its own share of dedication, perseverance and hard core training!

My 10-km run seemed meager in front of these guys! Though it surely wasn't meager for me in anyway!

I think the thrill of crossing any finish line is the same whether its your first or your umpteenth race and that was evident on all our faces! And for my fellow ST runners, I salute each one of you and only one word stands true for you all- RESPECT!