which we were to wear on Sunday...
This is what we thought our T-shirt should look like...
Actually the longest it took was at the counter to get the parking ticket in advance for the car parking...
But even this took no more than 5mins!!!
With a Bib each for ourselves.. and a parking ticket for our cab...
we were all set for the run next morning.. MEOW :)
However, as we walked out of the expo, we noticed that CAT Rajpal
was limping badly. Apprently, his foot had been bothering him all day
in the 10k worth of shoes he had purchased a month ago, worn every
single day to the office to ensure they got broken into and ran 20kms
in the same shoes a few days previously.
We could not figure out what was wrong, but we chose to look into his foot
upon reaching CAT Monica's home.
We called up both Nilimesh and Anita as we left the expo who were on the
way to CAT Monica's house to get us settled
After getting directions from both to reach CAT Monica's house just as
Anita herself pulled in.. Nilimesh came a minute later with a huge
bunch of keys in his hands... He explained which key is for which
lock and that is when we realised that he had already been here in the
morning to deliver a fresh supply of fruit, vegetables, milk, bread etc for us!
Anita brought in delicious packed lunch for the hungry CATS to pounce upon....
We were left flabbergasted..
Such a warm welcome in a city we did not know..
by people who barely knew us..
for them it was enough that we were CAT Monica's CATS from Chandigarh!
As CAT Rajpal got busy with his notes for his forthcoming interview,
CAT Guneet and I quietly left the house in the evening to purchase
some last minute supplies as sustenance during the run the following day.
After enjoying the dinner cooked by Monica's maid, we asked CAT Rajpal
to wear his shoes once again to figure out if all is well.
Unfortunately, the pain returned as soon as he slipped the shoe on!
It was 10.30pm and there was no way we could nip out to buy
another pair of shoes. I called up Nilimesh who said that he wore
size 8 and his son wore size 9 while we needed size 7 for Rajpal.
Anita was already sleep and not aware of the trouble we were in.
Suddenly it occured to me that Monica may have gone to US,
but she would not have taken her shoes with her! A quick call to
her and she told us where to look for the shoes in her pantry area
and said just one thing, 'Do whatever, take whatever, wear
whatever you need.. just make sure Rajpal and all of you have
a comfortable run tomorrow!'
Monica... since words are failing us... a BIG HUG is due to you when you return :)
and with a midnight goodluck call from a fellow CAT, we decided to call it a day!
I heard the phone beep what I assumed was the crack of dawn...
somehow the fear crept into my bones that none of us woke up with the 5.30am alarm
and that we had missed the marathon!
Fortunately, my fears were completely unfounded as the alarms
dutifully rang the day in at 5.30am :)
By 6.15am we were ready and giving final touches to our preparations for the run...
We were terribly missing all of our fellow CATS from last year..
Mr Bhatia's commanding orders.. Mrs Bhatia's lovingly prepared cuppa-cha...
The drama of getting Aman ready!!
Please cast no doubts over the bottle CAT Rajpal is holding...
It is nothing but what CAT Monica had advised him to drink during the
run last year and he's dutifully following her instructions this time too..
with a bottle of sugar-free apple juice :P
With our waist belts packed and hooked, breakfast of toast and tea..
all that was required was to tie the timing chips on to the shoes of each one of us...
Monica... aap ki duty hum ne nibhaayi iss baar :)
6.35am and were out of the house to head towards the marathon venue...
We found ourselves in a serpentine queue by 6.45am, wondering how long
would it take us to reach inside the holding area given how slow the queue was moving!
It was sheer delight to bump into Anita in the queue who was also running in
the half marathon... but only uptil the point her ham string started bothering her...
Waiting.. Waiting and Waiting in the LONG LONG queue which CAT Rajpal got us to
hop scotch our way through.. like a true CAT ;-)
One last shot together of the '3 musCATeers' before the run began... MEOW :)
and here we GO :)
can you spot CAT Rajpal at the starting line up?
Though the original plan was that the 3 musCATeers would stick together
throughout the run, we changed the game plan in the morning.
Given that CAT Rajpal did Chandigarh Half Marathon in 2hrs.12mins,
CAT Guneet and I suggested that he should not spoil his timing because of us tortoises!
Reluctantly, he agreed and sprang ahead of us :)
CAT Guneet and I chose to stick together for the run...
and boy.. what fun we had all along ;-)
Pulling a leg here.. Waving a hand there... Sharing a joke all around... it was fun all the way :)
CAT Rajpal's foot gave no trouble at all till this point..
though the 500ml bottle of apple juice was a task to deal with ;-)
However, being diabetic he did not have much choice as everything being
offered by the organisers along the run counters was sugary :(
ahem... even I wonder now what were we running on ;-)
When we were at 9.5kms point, CAT Rajpal was a km ahead of us..
can you see the little paws climbing up the shoulders of a grey T-shirt???
CAT Monica, do you remember this exactly was the point where
you were last year when CAT Rajpal and I were running together?
Deja vu :)
Honestly, even I don't remember the joke now..
the guy in blue next to me might remember ;-)
Or perhaps I was basking in the glory of wearing a cap which was given to
me with such love and affection by someone so dear that I could not help grinning from ear to ear :D
Our T-Shirts were such a HIT that strangers along the way were cheering us,
'Come on CATS... RUN'
Little did they know that both of these CATS were running on painkillers :(
CAT Guneet deserves a standing ovation for completing the run with an
extremely painful vericose veins in her leg and I was running with a debilitating stomach ache!
Despite respective pains, we finished our first 7kms in 58mins
(our target was each 7kms in 1hour)... however, as the pain rose for both of us,
our pace slackened as it was very important for us to finish..
we did not want to drop out midway!
CAT Rajpal was expected to finish within 2hrs.10mins at best, finished much to
our surprise at 2hrs.47mins.. His foot had started hurting around 17kms mark and that slowed him down as well...
Despite our best intentions and efforts, we respected out protesting bodies and
finished at 3hrs.15mins rather than the target of 3hours...
CAT Guneet stepped on the finishing line mat with me.. one second later...
to immediately turn around and say, 'Thank you so much Supreet for making
sure that we participate in this marathon!'
It was madness at the finishing line... a near stampede!
The task now was to look for CAT Rajpal.. we found him sitting upright just
feet away from us but he neither saw us nor could he hear us...
Eventually we had to ask these people eating at this roadside hawker,
'can you please ask that man wearing the same T-Shirt as ours to meet us over here?'
See, T-Shirts do provide practical solutions too ;-)
Same spot as last time for a photograph before we head towards the medal counters
through the gate that you see behind us...
3 MEOWs to the 3 musCATeers :)
As Airtel claimed that 20,000 of their medals had been 'stolen' and that
they would courier them out to us, we were too tired to argue with them...
We were tired and all we wanted was to get some grub at the picnic organised by Anita and her Gang :P
Like lost lambs, we ventured through Nehru Park to look for food and friends :P
yeah... FOOD glorious FOOD :P
It is amazing how this gang of super energetic friends come prepared with
delicious and nutritious picnic lunch for everyone after the run..
with CATS being merrily adopted :)
There was plenty to choose from fresh fruit, juices, sandwiches, salads, pulaos,
pastas, idlis, paranthas, dhokla... atleast these are the ones I remember!
As you can see the evidence.. itna khaaya ke billiyaan waheen dher ho gayeen ;-)
We got home by 12.30pm and given Guneet's condition, she was asked to have
the shower first while Rajpal and I had some masala chai with some more grub :P
CAT Monica's maid massaged legs and feet of CAT Guneet and I while
CAT Rajpal opted to just rest his foot.. with food for company :)
By 2pm we were all ready, packed to lock up our home in Delhi and leave
for Chandigarh. Nilimesh came to see us off and we could not leave without extending
an invite from CATS to our Delhi Gang.
Words can never express how much care they took of us while in Delhi.
Though at one stage we nearly called off participating in the marathon since
we had not practiced much and all three of us had one emergency or another at
our respective homes to take care...
and we all felt over the moon after having completed the marathon.
And Monica... participation in this marathon would have been impossible WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT!
and if you think CATS' affair with marathon for this season is over, then think again!
Mumbai - here we come in January ;-)
MEOW
- CAT Supreet
Does anyone remember on which trek you met him last? Go on, scratch your head.... still can't place him??? OK, allow me to re-introduce CAT Ravinder to all of you again. This polite but young CAT was very actively involved with our activities, right from blood donation to doing the ground work for our treks so that everyone on the day has a wonderful time.
