Chennai Half Marathon (27 Sep 2009)

My home town Chennai organized its second half marathon last Sunday (27 Sep 2009) and I am proud to have run for Chennai. I am regular runner,doing a 10K or 12K on weekends. I was quite excited about running in the second edition of the Chennai Half Marathon because it is my city. This was my 4th official half marathon. This year the event required each and every participant running the half marathon to undergo a medical test,to test their capability to run such a long distance. This was because last year's event witnessed a couple of unfortunate deaths,participants pushing themselves beyond their capabilities and subsequently succumbing to exhaustion.

The BIB no. assigned to me was 4109 and decided to wear the new outfit,which I purchased last week from ADIDAS. I must say the new outfit was pretty cool and comfortable. I had a light dinner the previous night ( soup and oat meal ). My mom decided to drop me in the morning and also decided to stay there till I finished my race. We started at 5:10 from home and reached the starting point by 5:25. I did my usual warm up exercises and prepared to get going. I met my fellow Chennai Runners and it was really a boost to see them all. This cheered me even more.

The event was flagged off by Mrs. Kanimozhi (MLA) and I started my run in the usual relaxed manner. This year the event was organized in a better way. I carried my own 500ml bottle though water stations were available throughout the route. I completed the 12K mark in 1:23:00 hrs, wanting to finish the entire distance within 2:15:00 but I clocked 2:40:06. I didn't want to strain myself too hard and end up hurting myself. It was quite a journey and I  am pleased that I completed it successfully.

As it rained the other night the climate was cool and pleasant. This year many people came down from their homes to cheer the runners on the street. This was very encouraging and it gave me an added incentive to push harder towards the goal. One thing I noticed was the water bottles handed over at the water stations were too big and people were wasting water. It would have been good if smaller bottles were provided or water provided in paper cups. The latter option would have been wiser because firstly you don't waste water and secondly you don't degrade the environment with plastics. Anways kudos to all the volunteers and organizers to have conducted such a wonderful event and I look forward to the Chennai Marathon getting bigger and bigger every year.

HAPPY RUNNING

West Ham United vs Liverpool (19 Sep 2009)

'Hammers hammered down by Torres'

Liverpool took on West Ham United in a late kick off match yesterday. 'The Reds' travelled down to West London for their weekend's fixture. 'The Reds' were high on confidence after getting back on track in the EPL after a poor start and also a win in midweek in the Champions League bolstered their confidence even more. Liverpool's record against WHU has been impressive,with Liverpool winning over 80% of their games against WHU.

Liverpool's squad was quite strong,Mascherano coming back after completing international duties. Liverpool were strong favourites to win this game but WHU also had a decent line up to challenge Liverpool. The Liverpool defence looked shaky in the first half,completely unlikely of them. Carragher made a terrible mistake of giving the ball away to Hines who did everything right to put 'The Hammers' in front but was unlucky because the ball hit the post and bounced back into Reina's hands. Thus Liverpool survived a scare in the first 2 minutes.

Liverpool's dominance in the game was clearly visible albeit their poor defence. Gerrard,Torres,Kuyt and playmaker Benayoun were switching play beautifully. Liverpool had a couple of shots on target but couldn't find the ball past Green,also Tomkins,the WHU centre back was constantly marking Torres and not allowing him room to do his tricks. But in the 19th minute Torres' brilliance paid off,Tomkins was beaten for pace and Torres chipped the ball past Green into the net, Green was astound by this piece of brilliance and kept his hands up in the air for a couple of minutes as if to say to his defenders "Hey dude,don't blame me.If you give him (Torres) room and get beaten for pace this is what he'll do.

No doubt why Torres is the best striker in the Barclay's premier league. Liverpool's lethargic defending was exposed in the 23rd minute when young kid Hines beat Carragher for pace and made his way in to the box only to find the Liverpool defender shoving him off to the ground. Alas! WHU get a spot kick. Diamanti steps up and kicks the ball neatly inside but this penalty was a controversial one and needs debating. Diamanti slipped and might have slightly touched the ball with his right foot before kicking it in the back of the net with his left. Now this counts as double touch and the kick is nullified but WHU were still awarded the goal.

30 minutes gone both teams were 1-1,both the teams were raring to go and did not want to sit back and relax. In the 40th min Captain Courageous rises above the rest to head the ball into the net,Kuyt flicking it a little bit to make sure that the ball goes where it is intended to go. Bang! Liverpool had taken the lead back,only to find 'The Hammers' equalizing within minutes from a set piece in a penalty corner. Liverpool have always had problems with set pieces. If one has noticed there would be no Liverpool players guarding the posts and this is a bad practice because if you don't get to the ball first in the air then there is every possible chance that you opponent will find something from the penalty kick and ball could find its way back in the net.

Half time over the score read WHU1-1Liverpool.

Liverpool started the second half with over 60%ball possession,dominating territorially but couldn't find the elusive goal to take them into the lead. Babel was brought in for Kuyt and the Dutch man did his work in giving the cross to Torres who executed the job with sheer skill. Liverpool were back in the lead for the third time. The goal from Torres was indicative of the quality he possesses,shrugging off two defenders to head it past Green into the bottom corner,Oh boy that needs some skill.

Liverpool strengthened their defence in the second half,locking out the WHU forwards from making the run. Glen Johnson did a wonderful job in giving no room for the young kid Hines,who was brilliant on the pitch,no room to take WHU level with Liverpool for the third time. The full time whistle was blown and the score remained the same WHU 2 Liverpool 3. This takes Liverpool in the top four,placing them 3rd in the standings till Sunday's fixtures are played.

! Go Liverpool !

BIG Clubs, Rules & Football

The recent ban by FIFA on Chelsea FC from signing players till Jan 2011 comes down as a warning to all the big clubs around the world to show some respect for the rules and regulations prescribed in the FIFA rule book. Chelsea FC apparently lured young talent Gael Kakuta from French first division club Lens by offering him a huge sum of money,thereby making him break his contact with Lens.

The world has produced many great footballers and will keep producing them. Only when young talent is recognized early can it be nurtured and given the right platform to showcase it on the world stage. Of late many clubs (especially the BIG clubs) have started scouting for players as young as 9-11 years old with extraordinary talent and who if inducted and given a contract with the club would bring bigger and greater laurels to the club. This is good in one sense but this too has its own ramifications. First,the young footballer is unaware of the expectations from him and continues to train in the usual way with the club. Suppose he is not able to deliver the quality expected from him then he is put on the club’s reserve team, denying him to play in major matches and also not allowing him to leave the club because of his contract. This young chap could have easily secured a place in the main team of another first or second division club and would at least get to play in most of the matches rather than warm the bench.

Secondly if the young guy gets seriously injured,which could threaten his football career then his contract with the big club remains a big question mark because the big clubs want results and would never hesitate to scout for better talent to replace this poor chap. Many a time young talent is spotted by the lesser known clubs in the world and they take all the pains in bringing up the young player and wait for years for the fruit but all of a sudden this young player is lured away by the BIG clubs who tempt him with great career prospects and money. This is absolutely outrageous because in doing so the top clubs always remains at the top as all the great players want to play only in the top league and would not settle for anything less. But if that is the case when would the lesser known clubs make into the top flight? What happens to their investment in the young talent whom they manged to find with great difficulty? What happens to the hopes of thousands of fans of that small club? What happens to the dreams of the small clubs to win titles?.. All these questions remain unanswered and the domination of BIG clubs continues.

Of course all players are allowed to choose which club they want to play for but there are some rules by which they must abide. The same applies for the clubs too. A player under a contract with a club can move to another club only if the clauses mentioned in his contract are not satisfied or his present club mutually agrees for the transfer. Under no circumstances can the player or club take own decisions to terminate the contract before the stipulated contract period. Any breach in the contract would be subject to serious ramifications from the Football Governing Body. The same has happened to Kakuta,who has not been allowed to play for 4 months and Chelsea has been penalized from signing any new players. Now this could spell even greater disaster for Chelsea because the other players of the club could leave at the end of the season when their contract expires and leave Chelsea FC with even lesser man power.

FIFA has been right in imposing such a hard decision on Chelsea FC because they want football to be a clean game,fair for each and every club and not be dominated by the BIG clubs alone. This also serves as warning to all the clubs that rules and fair play come foremost before laurels and recognitions and money alone cannot make a club win trophies.

One way for clubs to increase young talent in their squad is to have their own local training academy, nurture young talent from their own area and community and cherry pick those who show a promising future for the club. Of course scouts are allowed to pick youngsters from other countries and regions but not at the cost of the lesser known clubs and in cases where they need a particular youngster from a lesser known club the BIG clubs must act according to rules and have the player transferred in an appropriate way rather than luring him away from the club that picked him.

Hyderabad half marathon (30 Aug 2009)

My passion for running has been growing over time and I take immense pleasure in covering long distances. I also got a GARMIN 305 about 4 months back with which I can check the distance covered,calories burnt,the speed of my run etc. It has also got a load of features which I still haven't explored. The best part is its got a GPS and works absolutely fine. The Hyderabad half marathon was to be held on 30th of Aug and I was quite excited about it. A consortium of about 20 runners from Chennai were going all the way to Hyderabad to take part in this special event.

I had booked my flight to Hyderabad on 29th Aug and was travelling with a fellow runner on the same Spicejet flight. Travelling alone is boring,though some might not agree. The flight took off on time,covering the stipulated distance in precisely 1 hour and 5 min. The Hyderabad airport is just awesome,the infrastructure is just too good. We took a taxi from the airport to Gachibowli,travelling along the new express way and reaching Gachibowli in about an hour.The runners from Chennai and Bangalore had asked for accommodation and we were all accommodated in the Gachibowli stadium dorms.

I had my breakfast that morning and was hungry by the time it was 13:00 hrs. We were also to collect our bib numbers from KBR park,which was the starting point of the race. But one of the organizing team member was kind enough to note down our order numbers and get the bib numbers and t'shirts delivered to our dorms. We had to kill time so we all went to Lingampally in a share auto and ended up watching a Telugu movie, "Magadheera". The movie was ok,the usual masala stuff and I must confess this was the first movie I have watched without knowing the language,trying to work out the story with my imagination and figuring out what the characters in the movie were conversing.

After the movie we had a quick and early dinner,bought some bananas,bread and crocin and got back to our dorms. We were told the bus would be here at 4:30am the next day to pick us up. I had a quick shower,ate a banana and went to bed early.

The D day arrived, I woke up from the sound of my cell-phone alarm,which sings "You've got to pick it up,oh yeah...",brushed my teeth,washed my face and got ready for the half marathon stint. This being my third half marathon I was quite thrilled and excited. My body was tuned to long distance running so I did not have to worry about cramps and back pain.

The half marathon started off at 5:30 and I started off with a slow pace. I had set a time target of 2:17:00 hrs to complete the 21.1 km run. The half marathon path had many ups and downs so the race was quite tiring. Having more stamina and endurance was the key to complete the race successfully. I did the first 6 km with ease before I stopped and started to walk,gulping down a little water to keep myself hydrated. The number of people taking part in the running event like this was huge, and I kept motivating myself that I have to overtake one person after another to complete my race. I completed half of the race in about 1:08:00 hrs and this was a pretty cool timing as far as I'm concerned.

Traffic was stopped on one side of the road for this event. Thanks to the Hyderabad traffic police for their wonderful support. As I was nearing the finish line I increased my tempo and pace, reaching an amazing max speed of 7.3mph. I entered the stadium premises with about 1.5 km to complete. I went round the stadium and entered the stadium via the second gate and completed my race in an impressive 2:39:44 hrs. I was cheered as I entered the stadium and was given a medal for completing the race successfully. I felt elated about what I had achieved and thanked God for his support in giving me the physical and mental stamina to complete the race.

Last but not the least I would like to thank the organizing team of the Hyderabad 10K foundation for having organized the event beautifully. Kudos to them for doing a wonderful job. I would like to thank Ganesh and his wife in particular for their wonderful support and the care which they took of us during our stay at Hyderabad.

"Keep running for a healthy body and soul"

Liverpool edge past Bolton (29 Aug 2009)

Liverpool,having lost two out of their three games this season were a bit rusty and needed to get some points in their bag to contend for the title. 'The Reds' travelled all the way to Lancashire to the Reebok stadium for their away game against 'The Wanderers'. Liverpool had to win this game to stay alive in the title race else their hopes for the English title could be laid to rest for another season.

The atmosphere at the Reebok was amazing and Gary Megson's side had the pressure on them selves for having lost the last 6 or 7 EPL games. Liverpool started with a decent line up,I would not say their strongest side but quite a competent one. Liverpool, this season has always struggled with set pieces, having conceded goals from cheeky penalty corners and free kicks. This has cost them two vital games and more importantly championship points. This game also was no different. In the 33rd minute Bolton got a penalty corner, which was not cleared away by Liverpool;thereby the ball landed right in front of the goal post for Kevin Davies, to push it inside the net. Bolton were up 1-0;leaving the Liverpool fans in jitters about the ability of their squad. Liverpool's best buy this season,Glen Johnson put Liverpool back in the game with a stunning strike which left the Bolton Goalkeeper a mere spectator,to watch the ball drift sweetly past the goal line. Liverpool were ecstatic but needed more out of the game. Half time gone both the teams were tied up at 1-1.

The second half resumed with Bolton making a comeback ,with Cohen scoring a goal and giving Bolton a 2-1 lead. The second goal was lolly pop to Cohen who made no mistake in slotting the ball past Reina. Liverpool's defence was called into question again for the second time in the match. This can be attributed to the lack of a solid partner to Carragher, with Agger injured and Skrtel injuring his jaw in the opening fixture Rafa probably was left with no choice but to experiment with his reserve players. Kyrgiakos filled in Skrtel's shoes and did quite a good job,keeping in mind that this was his first EPL game with Liverpool in the main team.

Liverpool once again finding themselves behind increased the pressure on Bolton,forcing Bolton to defend deep. The turning point in the game was when Sean Davies was sent off ( having received a second yellow card) and Bolton was reduced to ten men. Liverpool capitalised on this opportunity and equalised within 8 minutes,this time Torres doing a wonderful job in flipping the ball past the Bolton keeper. Kuyt's contribution to this goal must not go unrecognized as it was he who controlled the ball off his chest from a cross by Gerrard and made it available to Torres to complete the rest of the task. Once Liverpool had equalised the tempo was scaled up manifold and Bolton were under siege from 'The Reds'.

Gerrard had a couple of screamers kissing past the goal post, which on any other day would have gone down as a typical Gerrard goal. Liverpool also had a couple of penalty decisions turned down,the referee doing a wonderful job and not succumbing to pressure. With 80 minutes gone Bolton was just hoping to get something out of this match but one can never write off Captain Courageous. Steve Gee stepped in and fired one hell of shot at the left top corner,giving Jussi Jaskeleinen no chance to even get his fingers on the ball. Liverpool were up 3-2 and thanks to their ever inspiring captain.

Liverpool now with 6 points out of the possible 12 sit seventh in the table and have to keep their tempo going; no slip ups would be permitted if they want to have a taste of the Premier League Title, which has eluded them for over 20 years. Bolton on the other hand have yet to register a win and sit just one position above Portsmouth in the League table in the bottom half.