Auroville Marathon- THE runner's Heaven

Auroville is a place everyone seeking peace should be in. Basic living, no hype, no big requirements and expectation, hence everything is as basic as it can be. To commute people use cycles. Everything is oriented towards being green, clean and more connected to nature.

People who organised the run were all runners themselves and most of them from Auroville. Makes a HUGE difference when runners organise a marathon and added to it was the fact that the caring people were from Auroville, the green community.

Result- GREAT GREEN TRAIL MARATHON.

Started with previous night (Sat night) a great pasta party where we could meet people from the running community. Good food to start with and sensibly organised for runners to carb load themselves.

Me and Praveen all set to run

Chennai Runners at the start line

Personally it was a great run for me, clocking 2 Hrs and 18 min. For sure I could have done better, if not for my 3rd consecutive ankle injury. Damm....not AGAIN!

Senthil (runner, biker, Motorbiker, trekker) pushed me till the 12th KM and it was real fun run with him. Then I had to slow down a bit with my stomach discomfort. Then caught up with Karthik Vijaykumar (IBMer) and did 2 or 3 kms with him. Then started pushing myself leaving Karthik behind with his knee pain(he said some IT band, which sounded like some music band). At 18th KM met with Rajesh (Satayamyte) when I was walking from 17th KM. He pushed me not to walk just push myself to the finish line running. Then started running again.

Didn't stop after that. The best run I have ever had. Amazing trail. Mongoose crossing me at 15th KM, seeing horses grazing ( thought I was in some other part of the world), smell of eucalyptus trees. Cant ask for a better place to run. Everything was JUST right for a runner.

Inspiring runners included a gentle man who was 69 years old and running his 614th marathon, oldest runner a 71 year old lady.

Oldest runner of Auroville Marathon.

Kids from Sagrolli Sunrise...we called them the Elite 5, the international runners in the making.

Thanks to Balaji for co-ordinating everything for us. The entire marathon was really well organised, the breakfast after the run is a luxury not seen any where except our own ECR runs. Icing on the cake (or legs should I say) was the salt water soaking place for your legs.

Thanks to Auroville. Thanks to Chennai Runners for supporting the Sagrolli Sunrise Project and the 5 kids. The half marathon men's 1st was one of them. And the women's 1st, 3rd and 4th was again from Sagrolli. I will give you guys the exact details about this shortly.

Great show by all Chennai Runners :)

Comments

[Tanvir]

Well done Venkat, hope your ankle heals soon. It is just so refreshing to read about the Auroville marathon online, I have to be here some day.

[Venkat]

Thanks Tanvir. Yes my ankle is healing slowly now.

Please include Auroville in your running calender. I swear it is a place every serious runner should see himself running in. Nature at its best. Possibility of PR is very high with everything JUST RIGHT for a runner.

And one more thing I should say, I just switched off my ipod in my 6th or 7th KM. Birds and the insects were a better music to my ears which you hardly get to hear in any city today.

[jordan retro 5]

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[marathon 10k]

Great to know that your family are also their to support you.