Yesterday was the 3rd edition of Pinkathon, Chennai. It was my third Pinkathon as well and also my third 10k this year. Pinkathon holds a special place for me because it was my first ever official race. Training for this race back in 2014 is how I got infected with the running bug. I remember I was so excited at the finish of my first 5k. However, each year the race seems to become a little less enjoyable. The standard of organization has waned from previous years, and it seems like the enthusiasm of the organizing team has also dwindled. This year, race-day was coloured by a terrible mishap where a wooden bridge leading from the parking facility to the event venue collapsed before flag-off, injuring several women who were crossing at the time. There were snippets of it on the local t.v channels, in the newspapers and of course on social media as well...
The event went on as scheduled and most of the participants were blissfully unaware of this until possibly after the race. The flag off was late - this, I had expected since it was the same last year - and at 6:10 we were off. Shortly before the flag off, I discovered that my mp3 player had conked and the realization that I would be running the entire 10k with nothing playing in my ears except my own random thoughts was terribly off-putting. Honestly, I don't know how some runners do it. I found the run quite boring and tedious without the music to distract me.
It was a steady, uneventful run. The heat was taxing, I was bored, I just somehow wanted to get to the finish line. The route was same as last year and most of it was along the marina beach - my usual training run route - so there wasn't even a change of scenery to perk me up. I got to the finish line in a time of 1:11:36 and it was so anticlimactic. In the past, after every race - no matter what my finishing time - I have experienced the runner's high. I always get an overwhelming sense of euphoria and achievement that transmutes to a ear-to-ear grin on my face that usually lasts the whole day. For the first time ever I felt - nothing! I was mildly in a good mood for the rest of the day but thats it!
I had also opted out of a timing chip so I'm not sure how my timing compares with all the other 10k runners. Considering there weren't many elite runners who took part this time, I'm thinking it would have been a decent rank.
The high point of the race was catching up with two of my friends who ran the 5k distance and the yum breakfast we had post-run.
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