On Dec 11, 2010, I ran with Sharmila in the 23rd Jingle Jog 5K race in Atlanta. We finished at 39 min 37 seconds. It was really cold but very festive. Runners had come with great festive dresses and there were a lot of decked up dogs!!!

After the run, my group folks from office got together for a great Starbucks get together!! Had a lot of fun!

On Nov 20, 2010, I ran back to back 5K and 10K in Braselton to raise money for Gwinett Children’s Shelter. Matt Semrad came too. He was blazing fast and came 2nd overall and got the Masters Champion trophy for the 5K. However, he pulled his hamstring in the 10K and had to pull over. Todd joined us for the 10K was very strong. Also ran into Erica from office in the 5K run. She did a strong sub-30.

If you wanted to know more about Gwinett Children’s Shelter, you can go here.

For the 5K race, I did 26:30 which was nowhere near my best but I did conserve enough energy to post a PR for the 10K after that at 53:30. Ironically, I got a 3rd place trophy for my age group!! I was 37th overall in a field of 350 runners. For the 10K, I was 54th or so among 180 runners.

On Nov 6, 2010, I ran in the 4th Annual Special Olympics Forsyth run. It was very cold – 32 degrees, with wind chill 29. And the course had a few hills. None of my friends showed up – including Anastassia who got us into the run in the first place! I finihsed it in 24 minutes 58 seconds. Add the 8 seconds it took me to get to the starting line and I was clocked at 25:06. My thumbs were badly cold in spite of the gloves. The lady had to help me fill up race card at the end of the race!!

Starbucks felt awesome after that 🙂

Update on 11/13/2010: Seems like I came in 57th out of 334 runners. And 10th in my gender/age group.

On Oct 16, 2010, I ran the 2nd Milton Mayor’s 5K challenge. This is in the horse country town that we live in. The money we raised went to help out a kid’s favorite place – the Birmingham Park. I posted one of my career best runs – 23:38. It was a cool (42 degrees) morning and relatively flatter route. Plus there were a lot of my friends who came out to run.

Speedy Gonzalez Matt led the way with a little over 19 minutes. Chris, Eddy and I came close to each other. The great stories were from the three ladies of the group – Melanie who did a first time sub-40, Traci who ran after 6 months ran her PR in the high 30-s and a great run from Anastassia. This is the third consecutive race I have run with her. She shaved off 1 minute in the previous race and 3 more minutes in this one!!

The best part was the Starbucks and the chatting after that!!!

There is one of those life’s little anecdotes that came true today. 5 years back, I used to come to Milton since we had a customer here – Exide Technologies. When I went out for the runs in the morning from the Courtyard on Deerfield Parkway, I loved the rural beauty of Milton – the trees, dirt roads, horses… I remember how I wished I had lived here with the family. As it turns out, 3 years back, I got a job in Atlanta. I had no difficulty in choosing where to live. We looked at houses in Milton only. Today was the same Milton city’s run. Now, look at the backside of the T-shirt. This was (partly) sponsored by the same Exide Technologies!! Seems like life has come one full turn…

P.S. Oct 23: The results are out!! Anastassia and Matt came first their category. Matt was sixth overall. Melanie came third in her group. The rest of us came fourth or fifth in our groups. I was overall 22nd with fourth in my group. The total numbers of runners were a few below 100.

On Sep 25th, 2010, a few of us from Equifax ran in the 5th Roswell Rise and Run 5K race. This race was to raise money for North Fulton Community Charities. Half the route was on gravel and thru the park. Speedy Gonzalez Matt Semrad came. So did Anastassia, Shannon and Megan. I posted 26:28. Matt pushed his 6 year old 60-pound son Carter in the stroller. And he still beat me by over two and a half minutes!!

Update on 10/1/2010: I got a call that I came in second in my gender/age group!!

Surprise! Surprise!! I found out the next day that I stood second in my age group! This has never happened to me before. PRobably will not happen again either. I have never been exactly the athletic types ever in my life!!

On Sep 11th, 2010, I did something I had never done – ran two back to back races – 5K and 10K. Matt got me hooked on this. Matt, unfortunately had to walk in the last quarter mile of the 5K race after sna[[ing his hamstring. Anastassia came out to run. Kumar and Joyce came to cheer us up!! I kept up with a steady 9 minute pace for both the races finishing at 28 minutes for the 5K and 56 minutes for the 10K,

On May 22nd 2010, we ran in the Children’s Restoration Network’s First Sunset Celebration 5K run. This is an organization dedicated to the cause of homeless children and their mothers. You can find more details at http://www.childrn.org. Sharmila ran too. In fact, I ran with her from start to finish. We completed in about 38 minutes. After that there was a 1K run/walk for children. Both Nikita and Natasha went for the walk. Amitesh and Esha also showed up for the race and the run.

On May 1, 2010 – we went out to run at the 4th Run for Life to raise money to fight Lou Gehrig’s disease. Ran into quite a few friends. Amitesh and Rupak were there from our Sunday running group. Harold and Carol from office were there. It was gret to see so many people – especially so many kids – come out for a great cause.

I finished a shade below 25 minutes. Still 2 minutes away from my PR. It was hilly and it did feel great though.

On Feb 27th, 2010, I ran the 30th Charles Harris Run for Leukemia. Charles was my friend Scott’s dad. I ran for charity after a big gap of almost 4 months. It was a 10K and there were almost 1600 runners. Nice course with only a couple of hills.

Did a PR of 54 minutes, 19 seconds. That is more than 5 minutes off my previous PR. Negative splits helped. Details of the day below…

As I saw it…
I had not run in charity for almost 4 months. And then jumped on to a 10K run. This was in memory of Charles Harris. Charles played for New York Titans (before Jets) and Cleveland Browns. That was a long time back. That was when they did not wear helmets in NFL games! Charles was lost to leukemia 30 years back.

Charles’ son Scott is a good friend of mine and we live close to each other. His wife Denise works in the same group as I do in Equifax.

This explains how I got the chest number of 18. I am neither a Speedy Gonzalez nor did I pre-register very early. In fact, just yesterday Denise asked Scott to make sure I am registered.

It was a cold freezing day with a lot of wind. It was so cold that most of the runners were crowded in a hall to stay warm. Needless to say, I was totally bundled up. But there were runners in shorts and half sleeves. How they survive, I have no idea.

Anyways, it was great to meet Scott’s brother Charles (Jr), his sister and their family. They do this every year for their dad.

I had forgotten how great these runs feel. It wasn’t like I was trying to win the gold medal. But watching people of all ages and color and creed come out on a cold morning and pay money just to get a chance to run together, get a free T shirt, may be a banana or two – but above all be united in the spirit of celebrating life and defeating the causes of death – there is no way one cannot get an adrenaline rush. Just the spirit of it all would shave off a few minutes off your run.

There were these kids who ran past me very quickly and then got distracted by a dog watching them. They stepped off the run, petted the dog, had fun with it and then came back to run. Needless to say, they speeded past me the second time!

After I finished (almost dying) at 54 minutes and change, I met up with Scott and Denise again. (Scott finished in 46 minutes and change). I was introduced to this gentleman Michael who turns out is the neighbor of another colleague of mine from office. He was talking of his birthday party yesterday. He turned 50. And I am like – wow! I wish I can be in that shape when I turn 50. He mentioned how his wife warned him at 1 am that he is partying too much for a 10K run the following morning. And I am like – wow! you party, drink and then in a few hours come out to run. You are a good guy.

Of course, had he not finished in 41 minutes flat, I would have been very embarrassed 🙂

Well, I picked up my T shirt and then started for home. As I drove down the road, there were still a few runners finishing. There were some really elderly people – at this point they were only walking – not running. There were people out there waiting for the last person and cheering them up. There were the cops, ambulances etc at the end picking up the cones. They still had a couple of miles to go. Probably 30 more minutes. Back in the hall, the winners were being announced already.

As I stood at the traffic light, I was lost in my thoughts – These folks would rather walk slowly to the end than step aside and give up. And everybody was waiting there cheering them to the finish.

I realized that is what the human spirit is all about – Not Giving Up!!!

On Oct 31st, 2009, I ran the Big Pumpkin 5K Run 2009 in Roswell. This was after quite a gap – due to injuries. The run was organized by World Harvest church. It was a terribly rainy day. We were all soaking even before the race started!
I posted a 25 min 38 sec run – still about two and a half minute away from my PR. But the good news is I was able to do negative splits for the first time in my life successfully!!