It was the second edition of the New Delhi Marathon Stadium run yesterday. A simple format, where a runner has the option of running for 6 hours, 12 hours or be a part of a relay team. I ran in the first edition and loved the experience but this year I was there as a part of the organizing team. I ran a bit here and there with my running buddies and chit chatted with most. The music was loud and the energy at the stadium unmatched. Around 11 in the morning, we noticed a healthy stray dog doing rounds with the runners.

cooling down

Thinking of him as a hindrance, runners initially tried to shoo him away. But he seemed very determined and refused to budge. He wasn’t aggressive, not even one bit, but he wasn’t meek either. He held his ground so we let him run. He paced quite a few runners on different laps. And when he didn’t stop running after a couple of hours, we knew he was there to stay.

He refused to have water, sandwiches or biscuits when we tried to feed him. However, stopped for water himself at the water station when he needed to. As runners were pouring water on their heads to cool down, he went and sat on a puddle of water to cool down. He slowed down when he was low on energy and ran fast after drinking milk. He changed direction every one hour with the runners (runners were supposed to run clockwise and anti – clockwise every one hour)  and tried as much as possible to run without changing tracks. He had won us all and we were amazed that he didn’t stop running till the run ended at 6pm. And of course, he earned his medal. I had never done Facebook live (scroll down for both the videos I captured) before this but he inspired me to drop all my inhibitions and share him with the world. Love is meant to be shared, isn’t it?

Got my medal

And I have been reflecting on those hours I spent in the stadium yesterday, I realised there was so much I learned from this beautiful guy. To sum it up –