Bangaloreans have the run bliss

Bangaloreans have the run bliss
Deccan Herald

A Bangalore youth did the City proud by claiming the honours in the face of stiff international competition.

The stars failed to sparkle but Bangalore found its own son shining brilliantly on Sunday morning.

In an amazing and welcome twist to the tale, Kennedy Chinna Ramu upstaged his better rated rivals from Ethiopia, conquering the city’s roads for his maiden triumph in an international marathon.

Hailing from Bangalore and with “Army” boldly emblazoned on his back, Ramu made the first Bangalore International Marathon his party. Across three races on the day, his was the performance that stood out when all did not go according to the plans laid out by the organisers.

Blame it on inexperience or quite simply on lack of proper planning, it wasn’t a perfect morning for many who made it to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium at the crack of dawn. Positives were there though, mostly in the spirit shown by those who took on the challenge of tackling the course matching with their capabilities, be it the 42.195-km marathon, the 21-km half-marathon, or just the seven-km celebration run.

Celebration time

As Ramu led the marathon field in, coming ahead of Ethiopia’s Abebe Seyoum and Tesgaye Desalgne, it was a signal for the celebration runners to march towards the start.

The sporting champs of the city led the way, with badminton legend Prakash Padukone and international athletes Uday Prabhu, Ashwini Nachappa and Arjun Devaiah joining hands with leading lights from other fields to head a massive throng of nearly 10,000 runners.

“It’s a big event happening in our city and we want to support it,” said Padukone, who had along with him 15 trainees from his badminton academy. Similar sentiments were expressed by other sportspersons.

“It was my life’s ambition to run a marathon. But I could not do it. By running here, I at least became a part of the big event,” said Uday Prabhu, Asian Games silver medallist in 1978.

The urge to be part of the event was visible along the full marathon route earlier in the day, though not in a big way. Early risers of Bangalore lined up in many residential areas to applaud the runners as they passed by.

A few stopped by to take pictures, while others who had little clue about the event, wondered what the buzz was all about.

At the end of the day, despite all its troubles, Bangalore had finally joined the big worldwide family bound by one common passion — the bliss at the end of the long road.