Running….aaaah…. can be fun!!!

18th May 2008, actually put Bangalore in the world “running” map. The “Sunfeast World 10K” run was one of its kind, drawing crowds of all ages, of all colors and for all causes.  Congratulations to each and every one who participated and made this event a success(Gobar that was for you).

Well, speaking all of this, i actually found myself in a ” Event Crew ” tee, with a walkie-talkie in my hand, trying to coordinating stuff a day before the actual event, yep that ‘ d be Saturday 17th May 2008. I had actually signed up for volunteering in the “elite athlete management” section, so me and a bunch of few other volunteers gathered Saturday evening, ( to collect our instructions and also the tee ) inside the Kanteerva Stadium at 5PM. We were supposed to escort the internation ( and national “elite” athletes ) from the moment they stepped down the BUS ( on their way from the hotel to the stadium) where the elite athelete room was setup, till the end of the race, to the media centre for their press releases and back to the elite athlete room. But, coordinating all this was no easy as a lot of running around was needed to be done.

Once the race began, i was taking care of the “chip timings”….based on the timing chips which the athletes were asked to put on, that gave the exact time of their run. And i was supposed to coordinate with the volunteer at the linesmen who would have the results , as seen with the naked eye, and come to a common conclusion as to who the winner was. It was great fun doing all the running around from the timing room to the finish line, and the sneek-peak into the VIP lounge that boasted the presence of Vijay Amritraj, the event ambassador, along with the likes of Suresh Kalmadi,IOA chief, Rahul Bose and Dino Morea…. . The Media Centre was no different with reporters from the local as well as some renouned media channels.

But what the biggest take away from this experience for me was that, in this country  where Cricket is the God of all Sports and a religion, some of the not as much popular sports also do attract a very good number of participation and public support. I know being on the tracks is a totally different experience, but then being a part of the organizing team was equally relishing and a novel experience. The challenges that one who is actually organizing such an event can face, is actually enormous and most of the times goes unnoticed. I sincerely would like to appreciate the efforts of each and everyone who was involved with this event being a great success…(hehe…including me..i dint sleep the whole of Saturday night…came back home on Sunday afternoon and crashed from 3-7pm…that part of my life is blank….absolute delirium…had to wake up at 7 cz i was cheering for Mumbai Indians).