Bengaluru Marathon 2025 - Race report

 Wipro Bengaluru Marathon 2025

Training

I followed my favorite - Jack Daniel's Running Formula (JDRF) 18 week training plan with peak mileage of 100k per week. The legendary coach Jack Daniel's passed away at the age of 90+ about 3 weeks back - RIP.

I was supremely happy with the way the training went for these weeks - running close to 90kms per week, including 2 quality runs. Most of my easy runs were around BEL road and Boulevard park, the quality runs were at GKVK. Weekends were busy, so I had to juggle work and family commitments to squeeze in the 2-3hours it would take for the quality runs. On most days, I managed to go under the required paces. I also included 3-4 weight training sessions, mostly lifting and squatting at the gym per week.

Leading to the race, however, I had to make a trip to Singapore and we also had Ganesh Chaturthi and Krishna Ashtami, and I ended up putting up an extra ladoo or two in my core ;) almost 2kgs more than my ideal race weight (which is almost always the case, always 2kgs more!)

But overall, I was happy with the fitness build up, not being sick for many weeks, manageable stress, adequate sleep leading up to the race.

Race Day - 21 Sep

The Bangalore marathon starts at 3:50AM on Sunday, and the reporting time is an hour before that! To be able to get the 6hours of sleep, I had to hit the bed at 7PM, I was refreshed when I woke up and ready to go. I rode my bike and parked nearby and walked up to the entry gate. It was a good feeling to soak into this excitement after so many years. I dropped off my bag, made some small talk, used the portaloo and made my way to the start line.

First half

At the start line, it was great catching up with Lingu, Gautham and others as the clocked ticked toward 3:50. I was able to warm up quickly (which was one of my worries, given my knee situation) and get into stride within a km or so. The race leaders were out of the way, and I was trying to gauge the pace of peers around me - Smita was gunning for a 3:50, Open was trying to go 3:20, there was a Spaniard targeting 3:30. We all settled down, crisscrossing each other. I was hoping to go 10s faster than my race pace to be able to 'bank' some time. And so when 5k came in 24mins and 10k in 48:xx I was mostly OK with the brisk pace.

By this time, we were out of Cubbon Park and on Cubbon Road and then on MG's. I was following Shamik's advice and was having one gel every 45mins. I was also alternating between water and electrolyte for every 20-25mins.

I caught up with Opendro in front on Vidhana Soudha with about 2k to go in the first lap. We entered the stadium together with the clock showing 1h:40m, about 5mins in the 'bank'.

Second Half

I let Open go, but was keeping pace for the next 5kms with no issues. I may have got distracted at this stage and missed my electrolyte, I guess. Because, I remember feeling a small cramp develop in my right quad by the 28th. I was due for my gel at 29km and a small self doubt was creeping up in the "central governor".

I decided to be a bit conservative till about 36k and then pick up pace again for the finish. But with so many bad memories of cramping, esp. from the last BM in 2019 where I ran with coach Shreyas and cramped severely in the second half. And if it were just to remind me of this, Shreyas was there at the 30km cheering us on!!

Once inside Cubbon park, I sat on a park bench and massaged my thighs, getting some curious questions from the onlookers. I was still managing to jog slightly, walk sometimes, sit on pavements to gently massage the cramps. 

Somu was banditing and he joined me while I was on MG Road, the signboard said 37kms - 5kms to go.

At the end of MGs, Gautam caught up with me. I finished my last gel and managed to pick up some pace on the downhill to Cubbon Park. A few sit breaks and walk breaks later, I managed to get down to the last km. By now I was slacking on pace, not by a lot, by a min or two per km. I wasn't tired really, but had to be cautious at every step to not strain my legs, lest they cramp again.

I crossed the finish line in 3:41 - and joined a bunch of enthu finishers to do 20 push ups!! It was great catching up with the regular runners at the finish line - many of them had issues with cramps.

Ath had finished his half marathon in 1:30:xx having started at the back of the pack and we exchanged notes.

Learnings:

A few longer runs (35km+) at race pace, perhaps?

Drink water / electral more frequently - once every 3kms?

Or just race more and allow the law of averages to do its thing?