Feb 8, 2026, a big day for our city Bhilai, for its first Half Marathon event.
The advertisement for the event came to my notice late in January and I knew I would have to try for the Bhilai Half Marathon(BHM) .. though it was a very foolish decision to just attempt a 21.09 km marathon without proper preparation.

Participating in a half Marathon has been a dream for few years now. Frankly, I love looking at runners 🙂 and have always wanted to run like an athlete.. look at the gait of a running deer or tiger – isn’t it so fascinating? So did I work on my dream ? Yes and No. I can jog for for 2 minutes, as on date – not more ! For nearly 15 days, I brisk walked 8 to 9 kilometers. .. Now you know where this blog is going. 🙂

We got our BIB, T-Shirt on Feb 7th and I spent that day.. reverberating – should I/ should I not participate! It would be a suicide mission – if I fell on the road and collapsed ( like we keep hearing these days).

I didnt have many friends who would participate for the BHM, so I consulted ChatGPT !
ChatGPT said – if you are 59 years old and ready to stand at the start line of a Half marathon – you are winning! It clearly recommended to attempt the half Marathon with a “walk plan” – not continuous run. The event cut-off time was 3 hours 15 minutes, calculated and advised me to walk for 3 minutes and run for next 3 minutes, for the initial few kilometers. The plan it gave was very reassuring.
– To stop the moment I had any pain.
– Reassess at 15 km mark – midrace – mild fatigue is okay, pain is not.
– Ignore other runners.
– Advisable to finish only if the body says Yes – “not advisable to push for pride”

This was very comforting and I felt good and ready.

I also consulted my nephew Aswin Venugopal who is currently studying Physical education. His assurance to go ahead also helped me to decide I can participate. He asked me to hydrate well the day before and even during the race.

It was a cold morning on Feb 8th, by 5.15 am, my husband dropped me to the venue. I told him I will take at least 3.5 hours so come by 9.30 to pick me back home. A huge crowd had already assembled at Jayanti Stadium and the announcements called out for warm up.. for the 21 km event with aerobics / Zumba round.
My hands were freezing at the start line, and I looked around for any of my age group faces and found none. Sharp by 6 am, we were flagged off by BSP management. That was an exhilarating moment, to start on that gigantic 21 km walk/run. Most youngsters were really running and super agile while few of us were chugging hard already.
I had never been to the Equipment Chowk, BSP Main gate – which was on our path. Few people ahead of me were not runners – like me and I felt fine walking/jogging behind them. But slowly the gap widened, they were walking at a better pace and I was mostly alone – but I could see them quite ahead!

By the time I crossed 16 km mark I was tired and wanted to drop out. I reached our Sector 9 Hospital chowk, very near to our home and it was tempting to call husband to come pick me! But I felt I was not in pain and I decided I didn’t mind walking even if I would not meet the cut off time.

We were provided water, energy drinks, at various points. It really helped to keep me moving. We could feel the sun only when we reached Forest avenue, else we were walking in the shaded Central Avenue. Only two participants were ahead – I could see they were in my state of fatigue. One was a young boy who’s shoes were hurting him else he would have made it well ahead. I was glad I had some company – else I was not even sure if I was on the right path!!!

Finally in 3 hours and 30 minutes I reached the Jayanti stadium back.. and by then I could not even walk ! But sitting down was not an option – it is essential to keep walking. I collected the medal and the refreshments and made the phone call – aa jao. Husband asks “Kahan” – I was happy to say “Stadium” telling him I completed! I walked around slowly – felt like crying… I could not see any known faces, so asked a boy to click a snap which he kindly agreed to. Could he see my sorry state – an oldish lady walking around alone – or did he feel astonished and admired this dare ?

Husband came to drive me back home and I really wanted a hug but PDA was never our strong point, for our generation. He did agree to take a photo of mine.

All those new runners will know how it is the day after – the legs are so stiff, aching unless we keep moving. Some of them go for a Recovery run next day which is so necessary. Getting up from sitting position is a task – and sitting down Oh God!!!

Moral of the story – Kaynat bhi saath deti hai .. an impossible dream became real!

Bhilai Steel Plant gave us this huge platform to be on our good roads, for all the Marathon enthusiasts in Central India, supported this great cause of Fitness in such a grand fashion. The biggest highlight – registration fee was Rs 100 only, and all the category winners were awarded handsomely. The event management company which registered us, sent us the SMS for information, made the Marathon map available, declaring winners soon after the event was very professionally done, gave us the Chip time too from our BIB.

I am very proud to be a Bhilain. Looking forward to next year event in a better form! Yahoo!