Thirty odd people from all age groups were standing right
outside the Nehru Place Metro Station on a cold wintery morning. The excitement
was plentiful, and between them they were putting turbans and flowers on their
heads while also distributing flags amongst themselves. It was 7:00 in the
morning; the few bystanders glanced curiously at the bunch bursting to ask what
all this was about. The preparation was for the Airtel Half Marathon in Delhi, organised by Concern India Foundation. The
temperature was just right and even the people who thought that they couldn’t
do it were excited and warming up. The temperature was slightly low but not
freezing. The excitement was pretty high.
ETASHA Team members and Friends were all getting ready for
the 6 km run to help raise funds for a 100 girls to train in The ETASHA IGNOU
community college. After about 2 months of effort we did come quite a way. The excitement was sky high. So was the energy.
With bright yellow T-shirts, colorful turbans, flowers, Yellow flags, sport
shoes and big smiles, we all walked into the station.
The number of people in and around Jawahar Lal Nehru
Stadium, where the race began, were all teaming and talking about what they
were expecting. Music was playing inside the stadium. And everyone was dressed
to look like teams. It was so much fun watching people with different kinds of
clothing and costumes, with weird hair, or pom-poms to cheer on the others. The
21 km Half-marathon had already started and some of the cheers for people could
be heard from a fair distance. 9 of our students and 1 of our facilitators were
running in the half marathon so it was quiet exciting to go over to see how
they were doing too. We saw them doing the last 500 meters of the race. Being
cheered by the bystanders who were encouraging clapping all the runners. These
runners have done their personal best for this marathon and I believe they will
do even better next year.
The 6 Km Great Delhi Run was about to begin. The shouts and
screams made the enthusiasm palpable to even the nearby residents. The
musicians on patios around the race track were singing peppy music and there
were cheerleaders dancing to music on other platforms… Radio jockeys were
talking about the event too.
So many teams had participated that even after the beginning
of the run we had to wait at least 20 mins before we saw any of the
participants from TEAM ETASHA. And when they came we were screaming as if it
was celebrity… it was so much fun watching everyone cheer and wave while they
were running by. Some of the students couldn’t hold their excitement and
sprinted by, dodging many-many other participants, while waving to everyone or
anyone who looked and smiled at their costume.
About an hour later I saw some of them coming back…
surprisingly not looking tired at all. In fact, looking all the more energetic
than they left. They were talking to people around them. Answering questions to
bystanders and also looking forward to finishing the run. With some 10 thousand
more people running too, it looked like they had mingled and yet managed to
stand out.
Lots of smiles and Photographs later, we were all sitting on
the stairs to the entrance of the JLN stadium, Sharing experiences, and talking
about how all of us came together well. The students who ran the half marathon
also talked about their achievements. It was a great and successful event where
more than anything else the entire team had a sense of camaraderie.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Signing off…
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