Category: TCS W10k

 The Runners from Analog Devices India, were an awesome bunch of highly energetic people who ran for Akshara. While most of them were first timers, they all conquered the 10kms within the stipulated time. The inspiration, the music and the dhols kept them going! Sridevi Warrier, Garima Bansal,Himanshu Srivastava, Manu Nair and Dhirendra Tiwari share their experiences.

The energetic Analog Devices India Runners Team

Sridevi Warrier says “Out of 25 who registered for the TCS10K, 23 participated in the race. For most of us it was the first time and all of us finished the race well below 100 minutes target time. Those who have participated in earlier runs clocked their best timings at this year’s event. The crowd and energy at the event was unbelievable. You have to be there to feel it. We hope for many more participants in the coming years”.

Himanshu Srivastava, who participated for the first time says:
Any kind of athletic event attracts you to participate in it and when it gets combined with the charity, it almost become impossible to give it a miss. So when ADI collaborated with the Akshara for this year’s TCS world 10K event, I gave my name as soon as I read the information mail.

This being my first 10K run, I knew that I had to practice a lot. I started with small runs like 2-3K and then increased it to 5-6K. A week before the actual run, I did my longest (and last) practice session, that being 9K.I was bit nervous before the event because practice had made me realized that 10K is lot tougher than the 5K run but then this is how we can test ourselves.

The race day environment was just electric. Seeing the elite athletes flying towards the finish line gave the required motivation. And then finally our race started. First half of the race was more or less smooth. As it became little tougher, the other participants kept cheering each other to keep running till the end point. Finally I finished it in 71 minutes, not a great timing as such but good enough for first timer. The experience of running with more than 10K people was worth the effort. Other than the actual run, the cause people were running for were really superb. The best message I read on someone’s t shirt was “Don’t let your maid’s daughter become your daughter’s maid”

  Manu Nair who also ran last year says “TCS 10k 2013 was my best run so far. It was my second TCS 10k run and like last year, the best part of the run was the crowd. It was so colourful, noisy and happy that I could not help but smile stupidly for most of the race. Drummers, dancers, celebrity look-alikes, and music simply made me forget that my legs would really really like a break. Even the sun who has been particularly horrible this summer decided to give Bangalore a break, hiding behind the clouds for most of the run.   I even managed to grab some eyeballs because of the Akshara T-shirt I was wearing. I was “almost” interviewed by a TV reporter who was interested in my T-Shirt! Unfortunately the
Interviewer lady got a call and she probably forgot I was waiting. So it never was actually aired”.

 Garima Bansal, who ran her first long distance run by participating in  TCS world 10K Majja  says “This run was my first long distance run and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 5.7 km seemed to be a tough task in the beginning but being amid an overwhelming crowd made things easy and fun.  It was a pleasure meeting Arvind, Megha and all other Akshara enthusiasts and get insights of Akshara Foundation.  It certainly was very motivating to see Akshara coming up with solutions to fight the root problem of India – Education. I am looking forward to be of some help in fighting for similar cause and also of course the next 10k run.”

 Dheerendra Tiwari shares his experience “It was my first time running 10 kms which by my standards is quite an achievement. I was never sure that I will be able to run and finish the distance but still held on to the thought of participating and I feel really good that I did. On the race day I was fascinated to see people gather in such large numbers, all enthusiastic and enjoying but still I was wary of the distance that I had to cover as I had never managed to do so in several trial runs. Then it began and a surprise was waiting just at the start point.

 It had been a long time since I had heard some good Punjabi ‘dhol’ and that was when my attention drifted from consciously running to just enjoying the scene. I saw people cheering all around and the runners showing dance moves on music that was there all the way long. Throughout the run people kept on motivating runners, who might have stopped if not for the cheer and I wondered what is driving them to shout and clap and cheer everyone they can, for hours. I had heard about collective conscious of masses as if all the emotions and thoughts of a mass form a big pool but this was the day I realized what it is. It was the one that made people cheer, run and dance all along  and it was indeed that drove me to the finish line quite surprised and happy in the end. And the cherry on the cake, it was all done not just for fun but for a good cause as well”!