What a morning it was! It opened to clouds and mist, with a hint of rain in the wee hours. This gave way to a drizzle that went on unabated for a good half an hour. The Athletics Stadium looked a treat, with no sign of sunrise - just a bunch of tables decked up in white cloth lined up in the field, with volunteers standing devotedly beside them, handing out chest numbers to the steady flow of participants as they made their way to the starting arena.
With an introduction to the organizational matters concerning the event, given by the Institute Sports Secretary Varun Gupta, it was time for the Dean Students, Dr Idichandy, to deliver a welcome speech. This was followed by the Chief Guest's address. Mr Santhanam, Managing Director of Saint- Gobain, nicely set the stage for the Golden Jubilee Run to begin.
Begin it did at 7 sharp. The rain had magically cleared up, almost as if the brief shower had existed for the express purpose of giving the athletes lovely weather to run in. Participants ranged in age from below 15 to above 40, with young girls and boys running along with veterans. There were separate categories for male and female runners across different age groups.
Matt Barrett, part of the Chennai Runners (www.chennairunners.com), breezed through the 9 km to finish first inside of 32 minutes! It wasn't all that easy a run, though, considering that others followed close behind. On the other hand, some of the group had already run 12 km outside prior to arriving at the stadium, in effect achieving something like a semi-marathon.
The check-posts were kept busy as 300-odd runners went past, in varying moods and at various speeds. Many expressed their pleasure at this sort of event having been organized. This despite some confusion with water and glucose in a couple of places, though this was soon sorted out. All in all, a chance to run amidst the beautiful environs of IIT-M made it well worth anyone's time who took the trouble of waking up early on a Sunday morning.
The Bihar flood relief campaign remained active in the background. At the end, certificates and limited edition GJ Run t-shirts were awarded to a substantial number of winners, besides medals for the podium finishers. People snacked and sat around, cooling down and taking in the glorious day while the organizers checked and cross-checked lists to ensure fairness.
There were some reporters from the press waiting to lap up the news and get in a couple of good shots, but the day really belonged to everyone who came and joined in the occasion.
Chennaionline was the official online media partner for the event.
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