Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon 2020

Oru Sakthi Pirakkudhu Moochinilae

By Veloscope

January 23^rd, 2020

Everything a marathon can offer

A marathon, a 20-miler, a half marathon, a 10k taking you across the city of Chennai.

The option to run and raise funds for causes.

The 8th edition of a popular race - so popular, that the numbers tell the tale. The second largest race in the country, and the largest in South India.

So, what's new, Chennai Runners?

Read on, to find out.

Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon 2020

Remaining volunteer led in the face of growth

The heart of the race is the volunteers.

Think of it as the difference between a heart that beats for a beloved cause and a heart that has been paid for. With the latter, there is a matter of waiting and watching... of extra training... of errors made and not spoken of.

With volunteers, you get passion, commitment, enthusiasm and an eagerness to contribute. There is an energy of everyone pulling together, that is missing in any large city marathon. At the Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon, people directing others are runners on a busy-with-work break, those handling aid stations are injured runners told by their physios to sit this one out. Not being satisfied with watching social media feeds of their friends, they're voting with their feet to contribute. Volunteers inviting runners to dispose of bottles with care are pre-teen children of runners... you get the idea.

This is one for all and all for one. In action. #BecauseYouCan

End in the ocean... start in the streams...

Chennai Runners leads the way in the country currently, on being a not-for-profit running organisation. With its dozen or so neighbourhood-based chapters, where tenured and experienced runners slowly bringing up new runners to speed, they are contributing to the sport of running, to wellness in India, to emotional well-being, literally, one runner at a time. Their insistence on training hard and right for the event is to be appreciated. Too often, just the existence of events in the neighbourhood spur people on to feats they are not ready for; too often people burn out, lose enthusiasm, or being unwilling to go through the pain all over again, get seriously injured, and fall off the wagon. The idea of year long engagement with the community and responsible miling up is a refreshing change, and harkens back to the halcyon days of south India running. #TrustTrainTransform

...Carried along by the river of dreams

What makes the Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon so loved, is that no matter how many double digit thousands, participant numbers run into, the individual touch is not lost. For an event so big, that it comes in only second to the Mumbai Marathon, eclipsing all other city marathons, to achieve this level of ownership and love among participating runners is extremely hard. The only way it's possible is through the heart of the community - which is the various chapters of Chennai Runners.

A song for the unsung

The unsung heroes get their day in the sun too. The police, for one, is out in full force to help organise the route and the people during the race. They also send a contingent to participate, which has to be inspiring. The folks helping to organise the event, the food arrangement, the ones responsible for safe waste disposal, all of them are noticed and appreciated.

The army behind zero waste!

It takes exceptional courage to get into the area of social work. It takes even more courage to get into the space of waste management. To decide that someone needs to give attention to and find solutions for everything the rest of our city is casually discarding - that takes the kind of courage and resolve evident in the eyes of these two folks. This is a lovely story of what happens when the worlds of running and social justice collide to bring about a worthy collaboration. You can rest assured if you ran the Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon 2020, that you contributed to a zero waste race. #BeATrooper

Crowning Glory of the Coromandel Queen

A city that takes its dignified place among the oldest on earth, an ever questing and curious mindset, where "information" reigns supreme (Not just for the laptop-toting techie. Please! Information has been the province of the everyday person - from the retired thatha on that easychair reading The Hindu at 5am daily, to the maami next door who's been drying Aavin packets in the clothesline since the 90's), this unifying event brings together the various walks of life in one glorious celebration.

Helping the city take its rightful place, once again as one of the most progressive cities in the country, is the new surge of connectivity, thanks to the Chennai Metro. Not only is it possible to live in Anna Nagar and head to ECR for a taper run, it is also possible to head back home, get into mum's vintage Kanjeevaram, and head to Mylapore to take in a kutcheri. Chennai Metro has been a vital part of the marathon providing the fastest and the most convenient mode of transport for the participants to reach the venue early in the morning and making them reach back home missing all the traffic. The smarter way of travelling? Definitely!

After all, along with Calcutta/ Kolkata and Bombay/ Mumbai, Madras/ Chennai is among the grand old dames of all Indian cities. To take on the might of that other marathon on the shores of the Arabian Sea, coming up a mere fortnight later must have been a racy move, 8 years back. But now, there is no need to compete. People run both, and run both with love given in equal measure. "Finish the Madras party, then go to the Bombay party", right?

Raising funds for causes

Over 15 lakhs were disbursed (no, not just raised) to participating charities by the time this article came out. Well done Chennai Runners and Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon 2020. More power to you and your giving hearts.

The strongest of them all.

Other races do a 2k or a 1k race for the differently abled. Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon does all four categories, with priority start and a 21k wheelchair runner as a pacer! They flag off 30 minutes before the on-foot runners. Kudos to the organisers for bringing the idea of equity into a mainstream race.

Running is addictive in its ability to reduce negativity, boost confidence and bring about a feeling of well-being. If this is the impact on people at the 100% end of the physical mobility spectrum, would it not have the same effect on those elsewhere on the spectrum? If we are to see an Indian Tatyana McFadden anytime soon, efforts like these will go a long way to provide platforms and provide hope.

Put yourself in his shoes

Anyone who's run a race (and not podium-ed) knows the feeling of being left behind at the race. There is a time - sometimes a fraction of a second, when the others have gone, and you are alone with your doubts. "Will I finish?" "Will I reach my running goals in this race?" "What if I gave up now?"

Without saying anything more, here's a call for inspiration.

A world-class race for world-class folks

A race that's got everything right - accurate markings on the route, different distances for different running needs, a well-organised expo, local partners for everything from registration to training to timing chips, a zero-waste organisation effort, a breakfast tuck box and t-shirts for all finishers, charities to run for, a partnership based on respect and understanding with various sponsors... Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon 2021 is all set to be even more epic.