The Delhi chapter of MeraTerahRRRun “Delhi 6” -by Priya Vaidyanathan
started on a cold wintry morning around 11:45 AM thanks to the delay in the train from Bhopal due to a thick fog engulfing the city early morning for the past few days. In fact it turned out to be a blessing since the enthusiastic team of runners reached Lodhi Gardens they brought beautiful sunshine along with them and the sun smiled upon us and it was mid-morning run which all of us welcome. After a quick hello and introduction of the team and the support group of Delhi, it
as decided by Jagdish and a few runners that we start running inside the garden and after a few loops we could run towards India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhawan, As we ran thru the beautiful and lush green garden, we marveled at the amazing architecture oozing with Mughal history and appreciated efforts of the Archaeological Society of India in preserving this protected monuments. I am sure a few pictures taken by the team will do justice to the various Gumbajs since I am unable to put them in words. It was stunning! A small moat inside the garden with ducks and swans floating around blissfully. The dahlias where in full bloom. Many beautiful trees lined the route which was a mix of concrete and mud. The rays of the sunlight along with the fog was indeed magical. They were many walkers and runners in the garden trying to soak in the sun and enthusiastic bunch of school children who waved out at us when we ran. The ground was barefoot friendly too From the garden we ran towards India Gate and paid our respects to the Amar Jawan Jyoti.
All of us felt extremely patriotic and shouted Jai Hind and Vande Mataram much to the amazement of the various tourists and police officers. A few of them clapped for us on the run. A quick photoshoot and video and we ran towards Rashtrapati Bhawan. Many government officials were basking in the afternoon sun at lunch time and were curious about the bunch of yellow tee runners and one of them actually asked Jagdish about it and he patiently and politely explained to him about the run and Rejuvenate India Movement. We did two loops around Rashtrapati Bhawan and by then almost 14K was completed. Following which we ran back via India Gate via Lodhi Gardens and completed the run of 21.1k inside the Lodhi Gardens. All in all, in few words, the whole run was amazing, enthusiastic, spontaneous, truly patriotic with sprinkling of marvelous Mughal architecture, the blessing of the sun god and beautiful spirit of the camaraderie and support towards the wonderful cause. Arpita, a fellow female runner, came all the way from Gurgaon taking a day off from work to join the team, run and support them.We also had another fellow runner from Delhi, Mr Ajay Mehta, who ran 10K with the team and also supported the cause in many ways.Thanks to Vipin Rohila who organized everything from transport to food and refreshment and stay for the team and thanks to Bharat for patiently capturing this day and historical run from behind his lens. Thanks to the transport drivers who patiently waited at various spots for water and refills.
I consider myself truly blessed to participate in this run today and getting to know many runners for the first time. I sincerely thank the team of MeraTerahRRRun from the bottom of my heart and wish everyone the very best onwards in their journey and more splendid experiences and excitement ahead! All in all, it is one amazing adventure! It is indeed a journey of lifetime!!!
