Will you please let me run ?

The first and the last time I participated in an international event was on May 18th in the Sunfeast World 10K. Since then, I had dreamt of running so many events lined up in 2008. Unfortunately, I was not able to participate in any of those. 

I missed the Hyderabad Hi-tech Marathon on 16th August purely because of negligence, I was totally unaware of the date. From that day, I closely followed the Run calender. 

The second one I  was Chennai Marathon on 31st August. Sadly, I had to go to Mumbai for the 1st death anniversary of my grandfather. 

The third one I missed was, Portsmouth Seacoast Marathon. Yes, This one was in UK. I was supposed to go to UK for a business trip, and I had plans to run this one while I was there. Unfortunately, the trip got cancelled, and so were my dreams of running a marathon outside India. 

The 4th one I missed was Kaveri Trial Marathon. The actual venue was very far from my house. Also, I felt very insecure to travel that far, run for a minimum of 21 Kms and come back. I voluntarily dropped out.

The 5th one I missed was, Bangalore Ultra Marathon. As the name suggests, Its ultra. 25Kms, 50Kms, 75 Kms, or 100 Kms. You decide where you fit. I didnt fit in any of these. I had already made up my mind to skip this one as Hyderabad half Marathon was lined up next for me.

The 6th one was Delhi Half Marathon, I opted out as it was not worth traveling till Delhi and running.  

The 7th one I missed was Hyderabad Half Marathon. I was fully prepared for this one. Had booked return tickets for Hyderabad too. But for these fuckin' terrorist attacks on Mumbai, My mom advised me to skip this one. Last moment I had to cancel my tickets, and stay at home in Bangalore. 

The 8th one I will be missing is, Pune International Marathon. I had waited for a long time for this one. Unfortunately, it clashes with my cousin's marriage date.  Sadly, I will me missing this one too. 

Bad luck or bad timing, whatever you call, for a  passionate runner, this is enough to bring his spirits down. Enough to make him disappointed for the rest of the year. But as one of the marathon says, "Keeping the spirit alive, year after year", I am not one of those who will give up. I am not a professional runner, I am not 100% dedicated to running. I have a family for which I earn. That is why I am here in Bangalore. I have to respect every word what they say before I decide what I do. I had to skip some of the marathons for them, there were times when I was frustrated, angry on people, my job and sometimes myself. Running alone in the silence, cool and pleasant weather @ 6 am makes me calm down. It makes me realise, there are so many good things in life you need to pay attention rather than taking out your frustration on someone else(especially my mom). Running is one good habit I have put in myself, and I don't want to lose it.  This is just the 1st year I have started this craze. There is no point getting disappointed, there is no reason to lose hope.  There are at least 50 more years I will run, 300+ more marathons I will participate. 

The next in line are, Bangalore Midnight Marathon on 13Th December 2008 and Mumbai International Marathon on 18th Jan 2009.  Will you please let me run ? 

Dec 9th 2008 : Just an update : Bangalore Midnight Marathon is postponed due to Govt ban on public rallies till 15th December :x :X :X