Mittwoch, 27.01.2010 | von: af

Mumbai Marathon in Indien

Captain Leutnant (KaLeu) Günter Heyer (Retired) runs the Mumbai Marathon.
Makes headlines in Mumbai

Sometime in 2007:
Mario Sagasser and I were driving together to one of the marathons that we both wanted to participate in. We got around to talking about the Mumbai marathon and Mario suggested that I organize a club trip to Mumbai. I had been participating in Mumbai since its inception in 2004 and was aware of the teething problems that the Mumbai marathon was going through, I told Mario that Mumbai was not yet ripe for runners from Europe where marathons were very well organized and most things worked with the precision of a Swiss watch. While it was a great fun for me running in Mumbai, runners from Europe were likely to be disappointed. Moreover, after a few lean years following the terrorist attacks, the good hotels in Mumbai had hiked their prices sky high so that going to Mumbai was an expensive affair with the air ticket and hotel expenses.

04.04.2009 - Lothar Gehrke Birthday Marathon, Öjendorf, Hamburg:
The 100 Marathon Club had been facing problems getting helpers to assist the organizers Lothar and Rita Gehrke before, during and after the race. I had volunteered to help on that day and was there early. After helping them build up the tents and put up the tables, etc. I was sipping at a cup of Rita’s hot coffee before changing into my running clothes. (It was beginning April and there had been frost overnight.) At that point Günter Heyer came up to me and said that he wanted to go with me for the Mumbai marathon next time and if I would fix up the things for him. My first thought was “the guy must be kidding”. I looked up at him and he shoved his visiting card under my nose with his address and phone number. “Call me if you need any information”. Aware of the fact that he was an ex-marine officer all I did was to answer “Aye Aye, sir!” It was early days yet. Next Mumbai marathon was 9 months away in January 2010. Maybe he will change his mind by then or just forget about it.

31.05.2009:
Mario and I were on our way to Kiel to a marathon organized by Harald Petersen. For some reason we again got to talking about the Mumbai marathon and Mario again suggested that I should organize a club trip to Mumbai. I informed Mario that Günter Heyer had expressed interest in going to Mumbai in January 2010 and that he seemed to be quite serious about it. If everything went well with Günter Heyer, I told Mario, I would fix up something for the club members in January 2011. We left it at that

.

02.08.2009, Ostrohe near Heide:
Although I did quite a bit of running between April and July (14 marathons and ultra marathons to be precise), the next time I met Günter was at the Ostrohe Marathon on 02.08.2009. I asked him if he still wanted to go to Mumbai. There was a look of disbelief and he almost seemed to be offended at my question. Of course he wanted to go to Mumbai was his laconic response. I told Günter that it was still early (I had registered myself for previous marathons about 2 months before the actual date) but that I would start organizing things.

09.08.2009:
Because I was busy with my work during the week I looked up the Mumbai marathon website on Sunday. It told me that the registration for the marathon to take place in January 2010 was already closed. More than 5 months before the marathon! Holy shit! How do I explain this to Günter? Well, better do something about it so that I don’t have to explain anything. On the next day I called up someone I knew in the organizing team for the marathon. “I am in New Delhi right now. Please send me an email with all the details and I will fix it up when I get back to Mumbai”. Now that sounded very promising indeed.

A few days later I received an email with the registration form. Since the online registration was already closed, we were required to fill out the forms and mail these to the organizers with the registration fee for the marathon. If everything could be so simple.
About 4 weeks after I had sent out the registration forms with the cheque, I received a confirmation by email that our registration request had been accepted.
During September I made the flight and hotel reservations for Mumbai.

When we met again in Öjendorf on 03.10.2009, 14.11.2009 and 28.12.2009, Günter and I went through a few minor details but basically everything was set for January 2010.

In November Christian Hottas and in December Horst Preisler had also expressed interest in participating in Mumbai. I told them both at the time that it was too late for January 2010 but if things went well in 2010, I would organize a club trip to Mumbai in 2011.

Günter Heyer
Year built: 1938
Age group: M70
First Marathon: Hamburg, 16.04.2000 (at the age of 61!!!)
Personal Best time: 4:31, Hamburg 16.04.2000
Total marathons/ultra marathons so far: 191 including Biel 100K, Rennsteig 74.3K, North Sea – Baltic run 108K, Ellerdorf, etc.

THURSDAY, 14.01.2010:
Departure by Lufthansa from Hamburg via Frankfurt for Mumbai.

FRIDAY, 15.01.2010:
0200 hours arrival at Mumbai Airport
0400 hours arrival and check in at our hotel in Mumbai
0830 hours breakfast
1000 hours meeting with one of my suppliers at the hotel
1130 hours – Günter has his first appointment of the day





View of the Arabian Sea from Günter’s room on the 27th floor
About a week before leaving for Mumbai I had spoken to a couple of people and told them that I was coming with Günter Heyer, who at the age of 71 planned to run his 191st marathon. Now this may not sound very impressive by 100 Marathon Club standards but the print media in Mumbai appeared to be quite keen to talk to Günter. To their knowledge, nobody with so many marathons had participated in the Mumbai marathon so far. (In fact Dr. Jürgen Kuhlmey with some 300 odd marathons, who had participated in Mumbai in 2004 holds that distinction. I am sorry, Jürgen!)



1130 hours - Günter being interviewed by Times of India reporter Venkatraman Anand in the hotel lobby (not on the photograph – Günter’s translator who had to temporarily take over as the photographer)



1300 hours – Interview by MiDDAY reporter Harit Joshi in the hotel lobby
(Links to the various newspaper articles are at the end of this report.)



Around 1400 hours – Günter being photographed by MiDDAY photographer Bipin Kokate on the Marine Drive.
As I had been making and receiving a few phone calls between the interview and the photo session my attention was diverted. When I saw Günter being photographed in shirt and pants I thought this is ridiculous. I told them “Look guys you can’t photograph a marathon runner in civil clothing.” I sent Günter up to his room (our hotel was on the opposite side of the road) to change into 100MC shirt.



After changing things looked a lot better.



Hard work being photographed in the Mumbai sun - Günter relishing coconut milk
Once the two interviews were over, we went over to the Exhibition at the World Trade Centre to pick up our race numbers.

 

Günter in front of the exhibition hall
After picking up the race number, Günter and I had one further appointment at the “Janmabhoomi” offices. A newspaper in Gujarati language.
After the third interview of the day we headed back to the hotel for a dinner meeting with another of my suppliers.
It sure was a long and busy day.

SATURDAY, 16.01.2010:
Saturday was basically planned to do some sightseeing in Mumbai and to relax. We were picked up in the morning by my brother-in-law who took us around in his car.



Günter in front of the Gateway of India



In front of the Hotel Taj Mahal.
On the left is the old structure which was attacked and taken under siege by Muslim terrorists on 26.11.2008. The grey sheets on the left part of the old structure cover the area which was set ablaze and damaged during the attacks. On the right is Taj Mahal Towers which came up sometime in the 1970s.



Günter in front of Mani Bhavan. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi) lived here from 1917 to 1934. Behind Günter is my brother-in-law Rajesh



Dhobi Ghat in Mumbai. A lot Mumbai’s dirty laundry is washed here by people who live in the slums. Incidentally, this photograph is a familiar sight in Mumbai where posh and luxurious high rise buildings and slums exist next to each other
At this stage Günter insisted on breaking up the sightseeing tour. He wanted to do buy a “small” gift for his wife Christa he said. This was something where my sister could help. We therefore dropped my brother-in-law and my sister joined us instead.

 

Günter at the jewellery store with my sister Madhu.
Due to a phone call my attention was diverted again and the next thing I saw was:



I asked Günter if he was considering taking up as an intermediary for the horizontal profession. Nope he said. He was still looking for something for Christa.
Well so be it. Mine is not to reason why, …….
After Günter had found something appropriate for Christa we went to my sister’s place for tea and to continue with carboloading (which went on at the hotel restaurant in the evening).

SUNDAY, 17.01.2010 – RACE DAY:
It’s always a good idea to start the day with a good breakfast. The elite runners from Kenya and Ethiopia, who were at the same hotel as we were, apparently were of the same opinion.








After breakfast we were joined in the hotel lobby by Gabriele Hauser from Ulm, who was also at the same hotel and together we walked the 2 Kms to the start.

Start: 0645 hours (0740 hours for runners who need less than 3:30)
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (more commonly known as CST) – Mumbai’s main Railway station. Weather: Clear skies with temperature around 19°C. Relative humidity 70%.
Finish:
CST – Weather: brilliant sunshine with temperature around 29°C when I finished just before 1100 hours and around 32°C at around 1230 when Günter came in.
Marathon Route: A link to the marathon route is given at the end of this report. Briefly, the route takes the runners from south Mumbai to the north Mumbai suburb of Bandra. The old route involved running back on the same route on the other side of the road. The new route takes the runners on to the new Sea Link which connects the suburbs of Bandra and Worli by a bridge over the sea which was opened to traffic in May 2009. I personally think that the new route is much more attractive as it offers a spectacular view and is devoid of traffic. The downside of the new route is that it adds another climb on the bridge and no shade along a stretch of something like 6-7 Kms. This year there was an additional hardship because of the fact that there were no drink stations along the Sea Link over a distance of roughly 6-7 Kms.
Vivek Singh, director of the organizers Procam, whom I met after the race has promised to “get to the bottom of things” and improvement for 2011.
Drink stations: Bottled drinking water and (after about 15K) bottle isotonic drinks are available. No bananas or other eatables since it is not possible to have open banana pieces in Mumbai temperatures.

BEFORE THE RACE:
As if Günter did not have enough on his hands with the Indian sack merchant, we were joined at the start by a Turkish sack merchant, Mike Friedl. Mike was unfortunately involved in an accident two days before the start and mentioned that he may not be able to finish if he has pains in the foot.



Mike Friedl and Günter Heyer
Quite an interesting character Mike Friedl. He is German national, born in Austria, answers to Anglo-Saxon sounding name of Mike and lives in Istanbul. A patchwork family would appear to be quite harmless compared to this guy.



Mike Friedl (Istanbul), Gabriele Hauser (Ulm), Günter Heyer (Kiel) and Robert Bartel (Berlin)



Sunil Chainani from Bangalore. I have been meeting him at the Mumbai marathon every year for the past 3-4 years but never had a camera with me.



Start at 0645 hours for runners who need over 3:30 to finish the race. On the left in yellow T-shirt is Mike Friedl again.



The elite runners who started roughly an hour later at 0740 hours overtook me between Km 21 and 22 (about 2:05 after I started out)



Günter between Km 8 and 9.



About 3-3.5 hours later. Same place but on the other side of the road. Between Km 35 and 36.

AFTER THE RACE:



Werner Hauptmann (participated in the Half-Marathon) and Gabriele Hauser from Ulm



Bertold Kaib from Wiesbaden (or was it Mannheim?) – works for Tata Consultancy Services, Mumbai



Andrea Grabner from Berlin. If you can have a great smile like this after the marathon you haven’t been running fast enough!



Günter near the finish line with cadets from the marine school in Mumbai



In the shade at last. A bit tired perhaps but proud.



Mike and Günter.
Mike had to give up after about 6 Kms as he had severe pain in the right foot. Shit happens!
In spite of this Mike was at the finish line for almost 6 hours until almost everybody had finished.



Karan Anandpara, 20 years, a medical college student at the Mumbai University. Ran his first marathon in 6:15.



On the right: Dr. Ashish Roy, 77 years, a cardiologist from Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Second Indian citizen to run his 100th marathon. His time around 6:15. He ran his 87th marathon in Mumbai in 2009 when I did my 100th.
On the left is Vivek Singh, Director of Procam which organizes the Mumbai marathon. I met them in the VIP tent after the race.

RESULTS:
MARATHON (Men)
1. Denis Ndiso- Kenya – 2:12:34
INDIAN RUNNERS (Men)
1. Binning Lyngkhoi – 2:21:02 (placed 11th overall)
MARATHON (Women)
1. Bizunesh Mohammed – Ethiopia – 2:31:09
INDIAN RUNNERS (Women)
1. Shastri Devi – 3:10:03

100 MC members:
Start no. - Rank overall – Name, first name - net time
  803 - 95 - Kurani, Hirendra – 4:05:53
1911 – 609 – Heyer, Günter – 5:53:17

 

Other runners that we met:
629 – 128 – Hauser, Gabriele – 4:16:49
843 – 141 – Kaib, Berthold – 4:15:04 (*1)
3903 – 216 – Bartel, Robert – 4:42:01
539 – 253 – Chainani, Sunil – 4:47:34
808 – 453 – Grabner, Andrea – 5:30:09
*1: There is a discrepancy in the overall ranking between Gabriele Hauser and Berthold Kaib. Even though Berthold was more than a minute faster than Gabriele, his overall ranking is worse. This is because the overall ranking is based on the gross time which was 4:19:56 for Berthold and 4:17:36 for Gabriele.

MONDAY, 18.01.2010:
On the day after the marathon we took a 0715 flight from Mumbai to New Delhi. From New Delhi we took a taxi to Agra. A distance of merely 220 Kms. However, because of city traffic in New Delhi (2 hrs) and Agra (more than 1 hr 15 mins) it took us almost 6 hours for the trip. In fact we made it to Agra just in time before the sunset.



A Hindu temple on the way to Agra.



The entrance gate to the Taj Mahal
Günter at the Taj Mahal in Agra









Looking back from the Taj Mahal towards the entrance gate, the gardens between the entrance gate and the Taj Mahal



Günter in the hotel lobby in Agra

TUESDAY, 19.01.2010:
Because of the time it took us to get to Agra from Delhi, we had decided that we would start back early to Delhi so that we would not miss our flight back to Mumbai. Tuesday turned out to be a very foggy morning and we were both glad that we had visited the Taj Mahal on the previous day.
After breakfast we checked out of our hotel and took a quick trip to the Agra Fort where Shahjehan (who built the Taj between 1631 and 1653 as a memorial for his wife) was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb (The guys knew no mercy even in those days).

 

Günter at the Agra Fort



This is the place from which Shahjehan looked out towards the Taj where his wife Mumtaz was buried. Like I said, it was a very foggy day.



A courtyard at the Agra Fort
After the trip to the Agra Fort we started out back to New Delhi (in the same car). From Delhi we took a flight back to Mumbai and from there on back with Lufthansa via Munich to Hamburg. Landing in Hamburg at 0835 hours on 20.01.2010.

In my opinion, Mumbai Marathon has now gained enough experience to handle runners from Europe if the expectations are not set very high with regard to drink and refreshment stations.
In case anybody is interested in going to Mumbai in 2011, you may contact me at
jogger(at)saeckekontor-kurani.de for further information.

Various articles in Mumbai newspapers and magazine about Günter and me can be read/seen with the following links:

Günter Heyer:
http://www.saeckekontor-kurani.de/images/stories/midday_mumbai_english_heyer%20guenter_16.01.2010.pdf

http://www.saeckekontor-kurani.de/images/stories/times_of_india_mumbai_heyer_guenter_16.01.2010.pdf

http://www.saeckekontor-kurani.de/images/stories/janmabhoomi_mumbai_gujarati_heyer_kurani_17_01_2010.jpg


Hirendra Kurani
http://www.saeckekontor-kurani.de/images/stories/mumbai%20mirror_kurani%20hirendra_14.01.2010.pdf

http://www.saeckekontor-kurani.de/images/stories/allsports_magazine_mumbai_kurani_hirendra_jan2010.pdf

http://www.saeckekontor-kurani.de/images/stories/times_of_india_mumbai_kurani_hirendra_18_01_2010.pdf

http://www.saeckekontor-kurani.de/images/stories/mumbai_samachar_gujarati_kurani_hirendra_15_01_2010.pdf

Hiren Kurani

PS: A translation of the text into German is in the works and will be made available soon. (Freie Übersetzung folgt demnächst).

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