Erode Marathon 2025 - Twenty Miler

 The Buildup: People who know me know that I am very selective when choosing running events. What do I as a runner look for when signing up for an "event"? Firstly the event should be conducted/managed by runners who know what it takes to conduct such an event. Event management companies who conduct races eventually end up ruining the experience. Secondly, I would want the season to be good for running, weather wise (not too hot, not in the middle of the monsoon and such). Thirdly, the route. As much as the route avoids looping around the same place and as much as a route has lesser traffic interferences, the better it is. Also, whether the route is barefoot friendly matters to me. I don't bother about the elevation profile and such. On top of all this, of course, I never travel outside Chennai for anything less than a marathon distance (42.2 km). Erode marathon ticked all the boxes above (other than the distance) and since there was wonderful word of mouth about the last edition, decided to try a twenty-miler (32.2 km) run there. I actually applied for a pacer role and was not selected but decided to go ahead and register and run. It turned out to be a good decision.

The Day Prior: The expo happened the day prior to the run in a spacious "mahal." It was well organized with counters, bib number wise. The process was smooth. A couple friends wanted me to collect their bibs and there were no hassles in collecting for them. There were a lot of stalls at the expo but since we were pressed for time, did not visit them. Sorry sponsors, will do next time! The goodie bag had a lot of stuff in it including "naatu sakkarai", cake, lassi, and so on. There were route maps for the race at the expo venue, did not bother to check those in detail. The TM route had a small stretch to be repeated twice. Noted the start time and it was 5.00 a.m. for twenty miler and 5.30 a.m. for half marathon (my buddies were doing HM). We had a visit to Boopathi's farm from there and then evening had a visit to Thiruchengode Ardhanareeswarar temple and also climbed up the small hillock to see the Siva Lingam on top.

Race Day: After a sleepless night, got up from bed at the 2:30 alarm and got ready. Srivatsan played a great host by having milk and coffee powder ready for the morning coffee. Since I was having a feeling of left calf cramping since 2-3 days, decided to play it safe by having a salt tablet along with my coffee. Left for the venue around 3:45 and it was a 45 minute drive. After reaching the venue around 4:30, had a couple slices bread with peanut butter. After the mandatory loo visit, was ready at the start line by 4:55 for the start. Met Ranjith and Parthiban at the start line. The event was flagged off on time. The initial crowd was a bit high to negotiate (around 430 for TM, they said when flagging off) and I ran comfortably without pushing and finished the first km in around 5:40. Then went for a slightly higher pace and settled around the 5:20 pace. Met Ranjith around the 3rd km. He ran along with me for a while and told me to go ahead as he was running at a steady pace and did not want his rhythm to be disturbed. I was carrying my handy water bottle for the run as I was a bit skeptical about the aid station support. Skipped the first aid station at around 2.5 km and then stopped at the second, around 30 minutes into my run, for a sip (got a cup full) of fast and up. Did not realize that the first few km had a good elevation profile going as it was pitch dark. Street lights helped a lot. The weather was a bit chilly (not cold per se) and I was sweating far less than what I would have done at Chennai for that pace. After finishing 7 km in around 37 minutes, took one packet of Unived Gel as per my prior plan (take a gel every 7 km).

The next 7k or so went better, probably because of this phase having a decent downhill run (after the uphill). But I did not know of the gradient at the time and I somehow felt energized in this phase to run faster. There was break of sunlight and both sides of the road were open fields. Could feel the fresh cold air on the body and it was blissful. One guy was running ahead of me and I caught up with him and had a chat with him for a while. Did not ask his name, he is from Edappadi and has been running for 5 years. After a while I passed him and he immediately upped his speed and overtook me. Then, around the 10th km had another cupful of fast and up. I asked him for a bottle of fast and up, he said it would be available in the next aid station. Every time I passed this Edappadi runner (based on my comfort level), he would overtake me back again. This kept happening for almost 3-4 times. Around the 14th km, there was the sound of "parai" (drums, if you may) and that beat got my legs moving faster. I overtook him comfortably here and he did not ever cross me again till the end. Anyway, after a quick 14th km, took my second gel. Had finished around 7k in 35-odd mins for a steady 5-ish pace for the second 7 km. Once in a while, I would change my watch screen to the HR monitor and it was showing a steady 155-160 always.

After the second gel and a short walk break in the 15th km, was thinking that I should be able to finish HM (21.1k) by 1.50 if I kept the same pace. For the same effort, the 16th km felt a bit tough but the sound of parai in the 17th km again got me pushing to 4:30 pace. This made me a bit tired as the heart rate had shot up a bit and when I checked the HR, it was around 170. This forced me to walk a bit as I did not want to burn out quickly. After the break, the average pace settled back at the 5:10 to 5:20 range. Though the plan was to take the 3rd gel at 21k, I decided to push it by 10 minutes and finish with just three instead of four. Hoped to get 23k in by 2 hours and it happened. It was 2 hours 21 seconds when 23 km got over. Took a small walk break to take the gel. What was noticeable in this phase was that they started having fast and up reload bottles (which I had asked earlier). So did not have to take a whole cupful in one gulp. I picked up one reload bottle sometime around the 15-16k mark. Also they had small 300 mL water bottles with a sipper type top (I didn't need it as I had my sipper with me). All in all, the aid station support was good and the volunteers were cheering and encouraging the runners.

I was getting tired now after 2 hours and more of steady running. Wanted to squeeze in some walk breaks without affecting the rhythm. Had a small walk break in the 26th and took a half banana in an aid station and wanted to finish the last 5k straight. But at the next km itself, had an aid station where they served tender coconut water. Had a glass of it and it was very refreshing. Could not continuously run after that and had one more walk break before finishing the course in 2 hours 51 minutes. That came to an average of 5 min 19 seconds for a km which is within my planned range of 5:10 to 5:20 per km average. Very happy with the run, other than the fact that while entering the college and in the last 100 meters of the run, I managed to trip on a speed breaker and suffered scrape injuries to my knees and elbow. Had to get first aid to stop the bleeding from the knees, and also get a TT injection.

The most wonderful part of the run in addition to the route and the aid stations and the weather was the support of the locals. Men, women, and children, most of them villagers, were out on the roads cheering the runners. The 32.2 km route had a small segment where we had to go twice (spaced around 7-8 km apart). I was surprised to see that the people who were cheering the first time I crossed the route were present when I came back the second time, around 40-45 minutes later. These people were just standing and clapping for us and egging us to keep moving! We all talk about how the crowd in Mumbai turns up to support; this was no less. Was really inspiring. The medal design is good and the post-run breakfast was standard fare but of good taste. There was good physio care I believe but I didn't venture anywhere after my leg injury and being bandaged!

All in all, Erode marathon is an experience worth going through. Strongly recommend to all runners. I believe they are planning an FM next year, I wish they go ahead with it!