Honestly when i reached the 18km mark at the recently held Airtel Hyderabad Half marathon on Sunday, 24th August, 2014 little did i expect to see a queue of runners all walking up the last flyover. That was indeed the last flyover on the route and although there was one very short incline thereafter also, but that was a major climb over for the day.
Hyderabad half marathon starts at Necklace road adjacent to the the Hussain Sagar Lake and finishes at Gadchibowli stadium. It is a point to point route unlike the out and back route that most half marathons prefer for some reason, this route has been made a point to point one. It has three flyovers i.e. immediately at the start with only 100 or 200 metres into the race and then one at 2 kms which is a long undulating one which seemingly never ends and once you get down from that 2nd flyover, then there are a series of undulations provided by the natural topography of Hyderabad. Most of the route passes through commercial areas of Hyderabad, which is why you rarely get any cheering crowd from the local population. For all that matters, the local residents may be asleep blissfully unaware that a marathon event is taking place in their city.
The route is tough but the weather made it tougher that day because sun arose early itself at 6.30 a.m. and it was ahead of us i.e. hitting us in the face until 14 kms when we turned left and the sun mercifully was behind us. At that stage only i.e. at 14 kms on the left side road, there was some welcome breeze for a change. The saving grace was the railings put up by Hyderabad Metro Rail for construction purposes which was acting like a barricade and thereby providing some shade.
Otherwise the water and medical station were aplenty, well stocked, well distributed with lots of volunteers knowing their job and also acting as a cheering brigade. The finishing line was inside the stadium for it was a bit of a boost for many runners to be finishing in olympic style, but i would preferred an out and back route because one gets lots of cheering from the returning runners and also the finishing point being far too away from the centre of the city, trudging back to the city becomes a bore!!
Arrangements at the stadium was good, medals properly handed over, the refreshments handed over at the ground itself though it was a bit chaotic at the stadium with so many runners lying about in various stages of distress or agony.
But in leaving i thought having a natural undulating topography would have been a sufficient route, but adding that flyover at 18 kms mark was a bad mistake!!
Hyderabad half marathon starts at Necklace road adjacent to the the Hussain Sagar Lake and finishes at Gadchibowli stadium. It is a point to point route unlike the out and back route that most half marathons prefer for some reason, this route has been made a point to point one. It has three flyovers i.e. immediately at the start with only 100 or 200 metres into the race and then one at 2 kms which is a long undulating one which seemingly never ends and once you get down from that 2nd flyover, then there are a series of undulations provided by the natural topography of Hyderabad. Most of the route passes through commercial areas of Hyderabad, which is why you rarely get any cheering crowd from the local population. For all that matters, the local residents may be asleep blissfully unaware that a marathon event is taking place in their city.
The route is tough but the weather made it tougher that day because sun arose early itself at 6.30 a.m. and it was ahead of us i.e. hitting us in the face until 14 kms when we turned left and the sun mercifully was behind us. At that stage only i.e. at 14 kms on the left side road, there was some welcome breeze for a change. The saving grace was the railings put up by Hyderabad Metro Rail for construction purposes which was acting like a barricade and thereby providing some shade.
Otherwise the water and medical station were aplenty, well stocked, well distributed with lots of volunteers knowing their job and also acting as a cheering brigade. The finishing line was inside the stadium for it was a bit of a boost for many runners to be finishing in olympic style, but i would preferred an out and back route because one gets lots of cheering from the returning runners and also the finishing point being far too away from the centre of the city, trudging back to the city becomes a bore!!
Arrangements at the stadium was good, medals properly handed over, the refreshments handed over at the ground itself though it was a bit chaotic at the stadium with so many runners lying about in various stages of distress or agony.
But in leaving i thought having a natural undulating topography would have been a sufficient route, but adding that flyover at 18 kms mark was a bad mistake!!
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