Team Inventure Rocks At The Urban Stampede 2010

The Urban Stampede (gotta love the name!) is an annual relay race in August in Bangalore and organized by the excellent Runners For Life (RFL). Four runners form a team, with each runner completing 5K, for a distance of 20K for a team. The event is primarily aimed at Corporates, as the concept of a relay run appeals to the team building aspect that companies love so much. However, RFL also kept the event open for non-corporate teams to participate, which meant that any group of runners could form a team to participate in the event. The 2009 edition of the Urban Stampede was a really successful event with around 159 teams taking part. I participated in the 2009 edition of the Stampede in the Corporate category, and it was so much fun that I knew that this was an event to be repeated annually.

As 2010 rolled around I asked Megha, who has shown some interest in distance running, whether she would be interested in getting a team together with her friends in school and running in the 2010 edition of the Urban Stampede. Megha loved the idea. When I broached the topic with Kishen he loved it too and blessed the idea of an Inventure team for the Urban Stampede. As the registration deadline approached I asked Megha to finalize the Inventure team with Kishen’s help. It was a pleasant surprise when Megha told me that there was so much interest in the event that two teams would participate from Inventure for the event! Megha was most excited that Maya, a girl that Megha admires hugely, was one of the runners.

The teams formed were:

Team 1: Maya Sanaba, Tanish Kharab, Tej Rekhi, Megha Srinivas
Team 2: Anish Sen, Anusha Ramji, Deeksha Verender, Pranav Prakash

I registered the teams and a couple of days later picked up their race day kits which consisted of a really cool T-shirt for each runner, and a timing chip for each runner (the timing chip is a huge innovation in a tiny package. It is typically fastened to a runner’s shoe lace, and it allows the runner to be timed at the start and finish of a race automatically, eliminating human error and increasing overall accuracy). ArvindKrishnan (or A1 as he is affectionately known) – the founder of RFL – was thrilled that a bunch of middle-schoolers was going to be at the Urban Stampede. I was informed that our Inventurers were to be the youngest runners in this year’s Stampede.

The day before race day (Aug 8) brought a change to one of the teams. Tej was down with the flu and running high fever. He kept trying to persuade his parents to let him run on Sunday, but he was obviously in no shape to be straining himself. Tej’s mom called to say that Tej was going to have to pull out of the race (against his wishes!). By prior agreement with Megha, I agreed to be Tej’s standby runner. I was also running as a part of one of my company teams, so I was lining myself up for twice the fun!

We were up at 4 AM on Sunday, and were on the road at 4:45 AM for the venue. We reached the venue at 5:45 AM, as dawn was breaking. It was a crisp, cool morning that looked perfect for a running event! The venue - Clark’s Exotica - is a sprawling property close to the new Bangalore International Airport. The usual RFL suspects were at the scene – Atul MC’ing the event, Arvind Krishnan (A1) and Arvind Bharathi (A2) making sure of last minute details without really breaking into a sweat.

The running order within the teams was decided, and we setup the Inventure runners with the appropriate running bibs and timing chips. With the bibs pinned to their chests, and the timing chips secured to their shoe laces, the Inventurers started to feel like runners, and their excitement grew. Here’s what the running order looked like:

Team 1: Megha, Tanish, Mahesh (substitute runner for Tej) and Maya

Team 2: Anish, Deeksha, Anusha and Pranav

As the 7:00 AM start approached, the organizers announced a staggered start to the race, with the Corporate Open category runners going first, with the other categories following shortly after. Since I was the first runner in my company’s team I headed off at 7:00 AM when the starting gun went off. I decided to pace myself for a finish just under 30 minutes, since I had to save enough when I ran third with the Inventure Team 1. The course was an out-and-back one, with a turnaround point at the 2.5K mark. I reached the turnaround point in 13 minutes, which was faster than I had planned, so I decided to go easier in the second half. A little while later I spied Megha motoring on. We did a quick high-five, and I was glad that she was looking strong and ready to take on the course. Some time later I spotted Anish on the course, also looking strong and determined. The kids in bright orange and blue were doing us all proud!

I crossed the finish line in ~27 minutes, where my baton was grabbed by my impatient teammate Manav, the next runner in my company team, who was then out of there like a bat out of hell. After catching my breath for a couple of minutes I positioned myself to get pictures of Megha and Anish as they came through. They did soon enough, and I was happy to see them both looking great at the finish, hurrying on to pass their batons to their waiting teammates – Tanish in Team 1 and Deeksha in Team 2. Anish’s T-shirt was soiled from a fall he sustained during the run, but he just picked himself up and hit the trail again – what a trooper!

It was now time for me to change from being a runner in my company team to being an Inventure Team 1 runner #3. Changing to the Inventure race bib and swapping my timing chip for the one that was a part of the Inventure team completed the transformation. Being in the team with these wonderful, bright-eyed and eager seventh graders magically turned me into one too. Actually it didn’t, but never mind. Soon enough Tanish burst around the corner, his face flushed and happy as he passed the baton to me. Off I went for the second time on the course, this time as an Inventurer. This time the run was more difficult, as the sun had broken through the clouds and there was no tree cover to provide any shade. Maybe because of this I saw more people walking than during Leg 1 of the event. A while later I spied Deeksha heading in the direction of the finish line, with her Dad Viru pacing her. Her face broke into a smile as we exchanged a high-five, and off she went towards her rendezvous with Anusha. Sometime later, after I had made the U-turn at the 2.5K mark, I saw Anusha running by, paced by her Dad Ramji. Anusha had never run this distance before, but she was not going to let that stop her from taking on this challenge as well! She looked every part the determined runner! A quick high-five was exchanged, and I hurried on to finish my leg so I could hand over the baton to Maya, the fleet-footed anchor of our team. The final uphill leading to the finish line was lined with Viru (Deeksha’s Dad) and Kamal (Deeksha’s uncle) cheering me on, as I crossed the finish line. I ran the extra few meters to the Inventure holding area to see Maya eagerly waiting to begin the final leg of the relay. I had barely handed over the baton to Maya, and off she went on the trail, speeding like a bullet.

At this point I headed off to join my company people. I managed to catch the finish of the last runner in my company team, but missed the finishes of both Inventure teams. Later, I was told by the parents who watched till the end that both Maya and Pranav, the anchors for the two teams, finished the relay for their respective teams brilliantly!!!

Some of the kids had to leave right after the race, but those that were there got on stage and got to pick up their finisher’s medals and pose for pictures. It was a proud moment for all of us to see our little champions – the youngest in the Stampede – get acknowledged. They did everything right on Sunday morning – they ran their hearts out for their teams, they supported and cheered their fellow Inventurers on, and they had the time of their lives soaking in all the energy at the Urban Stampede 2010!

A Personal Account By Mahesh Srinivas (An Inventure Parent)