My Lost 'Heroes' in 10 K Run in Hyderabad

At 5 a.m. on Sunday, with the sky dark filled with heavy patches of cloud and the road slippery due to cyclonic rain (Helen), I drove through Hi-Tech city to  People’s Plaza, Necklace Road, close to Hussain Sagar Lake, Hyderabad. Heavy rainfall a day before made it seem impossible for me to drive smoothly due to potholes on flyover and road, near Hafeezpet. 

I was a bit hesitant to go for the Hyderabad 10K Run due to scary weather, but I mustered some courage over my "drooping spirit" to get ready for the marathon. I defied the weather and cold to hit the place where thousands of participants were already warming and gearing up for the run. I too felt some sense of pride in myself to be the part of this crowd by defying my cowardliness, and felt that all these people might have come here facing similar adversity to run for the charity. I had my personal agenda too, as I wanted to demonstrate my grit in staying fit despite my recent diagnosis of a higher glucose in my body. Blame my gene that has caused this, but I’m determined to betray my gene with routine exercise.J  

I parked the car in a lane opposite to NTR garden, and set my foot ahead for People's Plaza. The atmosphere was awesome with some hip hop music and dance being played and performed on the stage. I saw from a distance, some people of Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Arts (SPIDA) were performing stage shows. It was a great fun to see a massive turnout including social activists, athletes, police, media, celebrities, artists, politicians, school children, corporate employees, NGOs, charity organizations, amateurs, and many others. Really, this shows the ‘Unity in Diversity’, the true spirit of India. Never saw such a festive mood among all. I also saw some athletes from Nigeria, who ran as fast as light at the flag off, and thus clinched the honors in the elite category. 

One of the winners in 10K Run

I met some of my office colleagues and the management of our company who were ready for the 7 K Run, and enjoying the festive atmosphere. Hundreds of participants also came from different companies to run for the noble cause. Hats off to corporate employees who really mesmerized me with 'positive sporty' attitude to show their fitness, and actively participated in the 10 K Run!

I saw how the AVP HR of my company encouraged his teenage son to be with him for the cause. I sensed a deep cultural value in him in upbringing his offspring. It was truly a father-son bond which I never saw in such a high spirit.  Unbelievable though, I saw some more people came for the cause with their children. Among amazing and spectacular crowd, I also saw a man putting his child on his shoulder, and he was running faster than the average person like me.      

While chatting casually with my colleagues, my eyes fell for a group of physically handicapped group who were taking all big leaps for the 10 K Run. I quickly followed them, as they were real "heroes" for me who came for the cause to show their fitness. In a rush to go for a 10 k Run, they were quick at disposing answers to my short questions, and a few photographs with them made me almost cry. My heart felt for them. A big salute to these heroes for their encouragement, their love for their life, and eagerness to stay hearty and healthy! 

My Heroes

At the flag off, we were all set for 7 K Run. Running for a mile in group, we all lost, and then I aimed at finishing the run as quickly as possible. I ran, walked for a while, ran again, took water, and finally completed first 5 K in 25-30 minutes. 

Finally, we hit back the door from where we started. Soon, our colleagues and corporate associates met together. We took some group photos, and then set for the final departure from there. It was all fun, and awesome experience. Hope to attend the same event next year as well!  

Forcefully, I had to walk up to my car, as I was sweat, and very tired.  

While driving back my home, I was thinking about my heroes who in a short meeting left an indelible remark on me, and changed my vision towards life. The next day, I saw some online media and newspapers covered a story about a handicapped man on wheelchair that drew all eyeballs. Salute to him for his courage and determination to run that has really promoted hope and self-reliance to make a positive impact on all of us. 

However, I got little upset when I did not see my ‘heroes’ again who came and lost in the crowd. Hope, someone would find them some days! 

My Heroes

Thanks to 'them' for letting me discover a new fitness avatar in me. Truly said, every step counts and so does every good moment!

Note: I could not resist myself from covering the recent 10 K Run event on my blog because of the ‘spirit’ that I have seen among thousands of participants who came from different social strata for the noble cause of charity. Though, I have never written off-track topics such as this post, but the event has so positively been perused that I can’t escape from writing about this, as my journalistic instinct demands me to cover the event regardless of the theme of the my blog. No theme is greater than sharing personal experience on an event organized for the noble cause. Hence, bear with me for this post.