April 15, 2017 - For Heidi!

Today's run was sponsored by Heidi! Thanks so much for continuing to help fund the Ty Taylor Memorial Campship Endowment. We're getting so close to fully funding the endowment, I appreciate your help! Soon, YMCA Camp Miller will be able to send a deserving camper to camp for free every year in honor of an amazing man.

I'm so excited to write about this run! In most ways, it sums up exactly what running in Delhi has been all about for me over the past several years.

Heidi was kind enough to donate for the write up, thank you so much. It has been truly an honor getting to know her over the years. I'll confess though, when I first met her, I was a little intimidated and unsure about what it would be like hanging out with a parent and not just other teachers. I was bridging an unknown gap, going out of my comfort zone. Luckily, it was exceedingly easy to chat with her on runs and we've been doing it ever since. In fact, she's outlasted several teachers in our running group. If I'm not wrong, she holds the most seniority in the group! And she's by far the biggest recruiter of new runners. Due to her hard work, friendliness and ability to do what I can't, I've been able to meet several great people that didn't actually work with me. Chalk it up to another benefit of running. Thanks, friend.

Saturday's run had to have a theme, of course. Heidi has been along for all of the themed runs, the drawing routes, the (probably) dangerous runs and more. Always with a smile. So, it had to be the Round Buildings Run I put together in 2013.

Circles seem to be a theme in Delhi. Traffic circles are everywhere, markets are designed in circles, and several buildings in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi share the shape. To clarify, Edwin Lutyens along with Sir Hebert Baker, was the chief architect of the British Raj in the 1920s and 30s. He was responsible for shaping much of what is now known as New Delhi, the nerve center of the capital's government.

This eight mile route passes nearby to what is perhaps the most iconic round building in the capital - The Sansad Bhawan, or Parliament House. Lutyens' signature was combining local and traditional elements in his works. The Parliament is inspired by the Chakra Wheel, the symbol in the center of India's flag.

New Delhi's round post office, the Gole Dak Khanna, was built in 1934 by R.T. Russel, the same architect who later finished Connaught Place, Delhi's iconic round market. For an incredible glimpse into what the area was like, take the time to read this wonderful recounting of Lalit Nirula's growing up in CP.

The final round building inspired a bit of controversy during our excursion. Tempted to play tour guide, I talked about the main building of Gole Market. I mentioned its octagonal shape, making it in fact, not a round building. Quickly, Tim (a scientist!) piped up, "Are you sure? There seem to be more sides than that." Given that we could see four of them from our vantage point, I knew he was right.

 slyronit via Flickr

It was also designed by Lutyens and was the principal market area that served his Delhi. It was also the precursor to the more grandiose Connaught Place. Saturday's controversy isn't the only one surrounding this dodecagonal building, though. Over the years, tenants have fought and lost to keep their shops open as the building crumbled around them. A wonderful monument to the past it was supposed to be redone in 2009 as part of the build-up to the Commonwealth Games, but for now, it stands in ruins, victim to time and the political machine that Lutyens buildings call home.

RUN STATS:
Distance - 8.09 miles
Time - 1:12:54

For Dr A, Lynner and Star Wars Nerds Everywhere!

Much of the credit for today's run goes to my dear friends Dr. A and Lynner. Their support of me over the years and their generous donations (follow this link) went a long way to provide the motivation to get me out on the streets this morning. It means a lot to me to have them be a part of future kids' experiences at YMCA Camp Miller. It's an important place and the Ty Taylor Memorial Campship is an important tribute to an incredible influence.

And now, today's run - one of my favorites!

"Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs."

 by Doug Kline

I've been waiting for today's run since September 27, 2013. That's the date that I created the 11 mile Kessel Run. After a few years of running Mother Theresa Cresent, I noticed that the curve around the back of the Rashtrapati Bhawan might just be the beginning of a good picto-run. With just a bit of playing and some lucky roads off of Safdarjung Road and I had a workable reproduction of the Millennium Falcon, complete with the cockpit! 

The only catch was the fact that it was an eleven mile route. In the fall, I just wasn't able to get my mileage up to the 11 mile range. Everything's changed. Now my mileage is up and I've been keen to do this run for a while. Today I got my wish! Extensive emails were sent to the runners group to drum up interest and I was able to sway Bernie. He was worried that I'd try to cut several parsecs off of this route, but he agreed to come anyway. For which, I'm grateful. It's hard to do the longer runs by yourself. I'm also glad that he didn't shoot first. 

The morning was nice in Delhi. It's surprisingly still not too hot. There were three groups of runners this morning, which bodes well for the next several weeks of training. I expect to have lots of company as I move through my program. My primary concern for this run (apart from the distance) was not getting lost in order to preserve the appearance of the Falcon. I really didn't want to take a bunch of wrong turns and end up with some wonky approximation of the beauty that "will make point five past light speed."

The cockpit was the first piece of the drawing and it was all on new roads for me. Sure enough, we got a bit turned around, but the overall effect is still close. You can see my wrong turn here. The next snag came at mile 4. I had to ask Bernie to stop so I could take out my phone and double check the turn. I didn't want to mess up the GPS art! With the turn successfully negotiated, we were on our way on another brand new street. We ran past the Vice President's House, which got us talking about the government of India. We knew that there is a Prime Minister and a President. We also knew that India has a parliamentary democracy. Our tour had introduced the new data of the existence of the VP (or at least his/her house). Yesterday's run was focused around the upcoming elections, so I decided a bit of research was in order to clean up these confusions. Side note - this has been one of my favorite side-effects of running in Delhi. Most days I get home from a run and immediately get on-line to find information about something I saw on my run that day.

Here's the brief outline of today's study:

• The Vice President of India is Mohammad Hamid Ansari and he has a house on the Kessel Run
• He makes $2,808 per month
• India is actually a "federal parliamentary democratic republic"
• The PM is the head of government an the President is the head of state
• There is a bicameral legislature with an Upper House (think US Senate) and a Lower House (think US House of Reps)
• The elections being held this year are "not really" for Prime Minister
• They are for the "Lower House"
• The majority party in Lower House elects its leader as Prime Minister

Sorry for the civics lesson, back to the run. We passed the Presidential Palace and headed through the forward hold into the second fork of the Millennium Falcon. Another 180 degree turn and we were completing the outline of the ship. There were a few hairy moments crossing the street today, traffic seemed to be busier than normal. It was almost like piloting through an asteroid field to attempt escape from Imperial pursuers.  Almost. The next big site on the route was the Gole Dak Khanna, the round post office from April 28's run from last year.

As we turned onto Mother Theresa Crescent to complete the drawing of a smuggler's modified Correllian Engineering Corporation's YT 1300, my phone rang and I received a request to stop at a pharmacy on the way home to pick up some medicine for the boy. Not a problem, as it was on our way.

On the final turn out of the Falcon's outline, we spied one of the other groups that had left for a run with us in the morning. We all had a laugh, exchanged hellos and kept running. As Bernie and I approached the pharmacy winded, struggling, tired and sweaty, we must have been a sight. We were laughing and happy, satisfied with our run and looking forward to seeing the route pop up on our MapMyRun dashboards. When I asked for the medicine, the pharmacist must have thought it was for me and that I needed it ASAP. Assuring him that I was fine, it took all I had to not say,

"She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself."

This run belongs to Dr. A and Lynner! Thanks for answering my pleas for donors!

I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of our friend Ty Taylor at YMCA Camp Miller. Click here or here to donate. Please make sure you choose the Ty Taylor Campship option. And please let me know if you've made a donation so I can thank you!

RUN STATS:
Distance - 11.12 miles
Time - 1:03:16
Soundtrack - Hip Hop mix of Das Racist, Digable Planets and the Digital Underground

April 28, 2013

Reasons to not get up early for this morning's run:

1.  6:00am on a Sunday morning.
2. No friends to run with.
3. Last night's surprise farewell party for our school's director.

I knew it was going to be a tough one. The motivation level was low for sure. I got home, ambitiously prepared my running clothes and set my alarm. During the first of my son's nightly wake-ups, I woke up and turned off my alarm. "Forget it," I said to myself. "Too many reasons to skip the run." Luckily, he woke up again, because at 4am, I turned the alarm back on because I knew that I'd be disappointed in myself if I didn't do today's run.

Reasons to get early for this morning's run

1. This run put me to my goal distance for April.
2. This was a new route with plenty of cool new things to see.
3. The weather wasn't terrible.

So, at 6am (give or take) I set out on a new 8 Miler. I usually try to plan my runs around a theme and this one was the "Round Buildings." The first three miles were travel miles, until the first round building presented itself. The Parliament of India was built in 1912 by English architectural golden boy, Edwin Lutyens. It opened in1927 while the Brits still controlled India. It was the site of the transfer of colonial power to Nehru in 1947 and is an important building in the history of the country.

 by <DEEPAK GUPTA>

 Lutyens designed and built most of New Delhi and his buildings are interesting combinations of local and traditional styles. 

The next stop was The Tuberculosis Association of India. Not a round building, but I'm in love with the font on the front of the building. One day I'll go and take a proper photo of it. Gorgeous!

The next round building was the Gole Dak Khanna, a post office built into a traffic circle near the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara and Sacred Heart Cathedral. It was built in 1934 by R.T. Russel, the same architect who finished Connaught Place. I poked my head into the Cathedral along the way; it seems so strange to see a Catholic Mass in India.

The final round building isn't technically round, but rather octagonal. The main building of Gole Market was also designed by Lutyens and was the principal market area that served his Delhi. It fills a traffic roundabout and has seen better days. It's a shame, because the building is cool and could easily be redone into some kind of heritage shopping center, art galleries, etc. It was supposed to be redone in 2009 as part of the build-up to the Commonwealth Games, but for now, it stands in ruins.

Finally, it was more religion as I ran along Madir Marg(Temple Street). Hindu and Buddhist temples line the street. A quick diversion through the Talkatora Stadium Park had me catching glimpses of the two round stadiums built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

RUN STATS:

Distance - 8.5 Miles

Time - 1:05:03

Soundtrack - Taj Mahal, Best of Taj Mahal and Hanapepe Dream