First Monsoon Marathon

Shedung Village, Navi Mumbai.

By Veloscope

July 20^th, 2016

THE FIRST RAINS.

Maharashtra as a state has been hit by severe drought this year. The crops have fallen victim and so have humans. Rains have eluded the state and the water levels had decreased drastically. From piped systems for transporting water to the farms, to train bogies serving as water carriers in the drought hit areas, extreme measures have been necessities. Over 9 million farmers were reported to be affected by the droughts, that is more than the whole of Switzerland’s population, just to put things into perspective. The state had waited and waited some more for the first rains and finally they did arrive. The Rain gods, finally gave in. We arrived at the venue, the evening prior to the race amidst slapping rain and zero visibility. Monsoon was here.The first of the four monsoon marathons, marked the beginning of relief, joy and a state getting back to normalcy.

LET'S GO, LET'S GO!

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REFLECTIONS.

Photographers love water and they love reflections in the water even more. Constant rainfall for the past 24 hours in the lowlands, just under the mountains meant fields covered in pool of water and puddles on the roads everywhere.

THE MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING.

Crossing the initial 2 kms. mark opened up the gorgeous freshly drenched mountains to run to right in the direction of the runners. Just at the foothill was the 6 kms mark from where the runners shall take a U turn and then take a diversion on the way back. The morning fog and cloud cover made the initial part of the marathon pleasing.

the spectators.

Running through the country side and through a village always makes for the most interesting audience. Excited, joyous, dis-concerned, confused, the expressions are in abundance. It is a once in a year thing to see and talk about later for the villagers.

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BLUES AND GREENS.

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THE VILLAGE ROUTINE.

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SINCE THE SUN IS OUT.

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strength of a woman.

The Mumbai-Pune running circle has been known for producing women athletes of steel; strong, willing, trained,challenging and raising the bars constantly. The route was scenic and pleasing to the eye but demanded a lot technically and pace wise, with constant changes in the gradients and extremely wet patches due to the rain. The best timing of 1:58:20 from Sayuri Dalvi attests to that.

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bricks in the wall.

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the pain is real.

The rain gods might have been more than generous the previous days, bringing down the temperatures and enhancing the visuals, but the post rain humidity and the terrain’s arduousness ensured that it wasn’t all very pleasant.

THE FINAL tree.

Run Buddies Club, continues raising the bar with the best locations and occasions for the running community. Routes and views keep getting better and the challenges stronger. The first marathon of the season was a prodigious opening to what is definitely the most awaited marathon series of the year. 3 more marathons from the series to come, we can’t wait to be on the route again.