{"id":2586,"date":"2024-11-01T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T05:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/?p=2586"},"modified":"2024-10-28T16:17:25","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T10:47:25","slug":"project-gold-race-3-new-york-city-2022-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/2024\/11\/project-gold-race-3-new-york-city-2022-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Gold: Race 3: New York City 2022 (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Mumbai: (2 months earlier)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am notorious for losing small things- this trait has prevented me from buying Bluetooth headphones. Yes, I am that person who runs with a tangled knot of wires at my throat. Over the years, I have stopped listening to music when I run, and I save it for the occasional long tempo and the last 45-60 mins of a race. So whilst packing for this trip, I dug out my shocking pink Ipod shuffle \u2013 circa 2015 (or maybe even older), that I had not used since forever! I examined it from all angles, the buttons moved, and I plugged in the headphones to check if the little square itself worked.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The first sound byte was the over-familiar riff of \u201cEye of the Tiger\u201d, and my playlist revealed its age! It made me smile, bringing back a flood of memories- pre-race breakfasts with my boys at CCI on the Saturdays before all the Mumbai Marathons, that we had suffered together, moments of all the finish lines that we had crossed, some together, others separately. In the end, friendship always won. As I shuffled to the next song, it was the old classic\u2014\u201cTotal Eclipse of the Heart\u201d \u2013 and I wondered, what this song was doing in my running playlist? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Tears.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overcome with emotion,\u00a0\u00a0I realized how far I had come in life, and with my running.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, as a celebration I was about to embark on my dream project- Project Gold. <\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York: (one day before the race) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had bought new wired headphones (the Rs. 600 ones, as no other one was available-\u00a0\u00a0I suppose everyone has moved to its cool city cousin!) I carefully untangled these and put them in my race kit, in anticipation of\u00a0\u00a0the predicted hot race, the following day. I had not even thought of my Ipod in Berlin or Chicago, but the prospect of running a marathon in 25 degrees and the blazing sun at noon- was sufficiently\u00a0\u00a0frightening. I was preparing for the worst.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

RACEDAY:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reaching the start line (Staten Island) is like a marathon before the actual Marathon. I left at 6.20am, to catch the 7:00 am ferry for a 10:20 am race start. New York was running. The city was abuzz, either running, or dropping their runner, or preparing to get on the road to cheer on the runners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Of course, the more sensible way to reach the start line was to take a direct bus from Central Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But no, I wanted the full experience, so I opted for the ferry and oh boy, it was over and beyond my expectations!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My friend Andy dropped me to the Whitehall ferry terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I was grinning from ear to ear\u2013 like a fool in love. I just couldn\u2019t stop!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I waved a jaunty good bye, skipped to the ferry hall and was immediately lost in the sea of runners. <\/p>\n<\/div>