Ready ... get set ... go ...

I'm back in the wonderful city of Mumbai. And back to my favorite restaurant ... uh, can you call a street side stand a restaurant? This one is amazing! Folk lore says the owner, Bademiya, once worked as a chef for the Taj Mahal right around the corner. They got in a tiff and he left, only to open up this little stand that sells the BEST kebabs ever. It may have started little, but it's now big business, taking over mostly the whole length of the street. When I say street, I mean that literally ... although he must have some extra kitchens somewhere since you see kids running to and from his stand carrying huge pots of food. The kebabs are all cooked right at the stall. No one drives up the street unless it's to get their order. And if you do drive up, the waiters prop up the hood with a up-ended soda bottle so everyone can use it as a table. The waiters are running around with small laminated menus around their necks. The pace is absolutely frenetic!

Really early the next morning, I head out to the not-to-be-missed Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, the largest marathon in Asia! What would a run be like in India ... I had to see this for myself! What a HUGE event. I understand there were 28,000 participants, 2,000 marathon runners, and 7,000 half-marathon runners ... and the rest doing a 5k. The race starts, with usual race-start fanfare. It was about 85 degrees, but with a whopping 60% humidity ... maybe I'm getting used to all this, because it seemed pretty pleasant, just a bit warm.

I wander over to some folks wearing sortof official looking shirts and asked about working the water stations ... and they point me in the direction of the finish line station. A wee bit different from US marathons! The offerings were water bottles and packets of digestive biscuits (that I have so come to know and love in India). We tried to say, "runners only" - somewhat of a pointless effort. At first, I didn't understand exactly why there were two cops staying with us at the water station. And then as the day progressed, the crowds began pushing against our tables ... we kept the water and biscuits behind us, well back from the crowd until we saw a runner approaching. The other Indian volunteers had me stand in back of them. Periodically, the cops cracked their long batons against the table ... the crowd scattering for maybe 10 seconds. Finally the race organizers shut the water station, probably more for crowd safety than any other reason ... at the four hour mark.

What an event ... only for the fast and brave! And in watching some of the runners coming in ... for those who truly love running. There were marathon runners without shoes, wearing flipflops, polo shirts seemed to be popular, dress pants. There was not the gear, the schwag, just all the stuff you see in the states. They were running because they loved it, even at mile 25 ... you could see it in their face, their pace ... even in the heat without water stations. I hope I can remember and mirror their passion as I begin my own running!

Ah, what a delightful last day in Mumbai ... my last day in India ... and now it is time for me to begin my long journey home.

India, I will miss you!