First half marathon

Headlines on Oct 4, 2010.

Indian Express -
Arvind Batra finishes half marathon in 2 hrs 58 minutes, 36 seconds.

The Hindu -
Arvind Batra rocked and rolled in San jose Rock-n Roll half marathon.

Times of India
"Every body part hurts" -Arvind Batra

Hindustan Times
Team Asha, cheerleaders and random strangers help Arvind Batra cross the finish line.

Punjab Kesari -
अरविन्द बत्रा के छक्के छक्के छूट गए

NavBharat times
धूप में धमकते नज़र आये अरविन्द बत्रा

Tehelka news
Arvind Batra remembers every junk food eaten in his last mile run at San jose half marathon.


Random blogger
Arvind batra disappointed by fifty year olds finishing ahead of him gets some solace on seeing younger people finishing after him.


on arvindbatra,blogspot.com


Wow, it feels good to reach a milestone, and running a half marathon is. I think it will be one of the best things that i have done this year. Truly enjoyed the experience. I think the biggest highlight of the day to me (other than me finishing the race) was the whole spirit of volunteerism and selfless service. Countless people standing at the sidelines and cheering for you. The school kids who were so eager to give water, cheerleaders who never stopped for the entire three hrs, and random strangers. So many stories

A home at mile 2 mark decided to give bacon to runners to cheer them up.

A stranger ( a man of age 50+) at mile 11 told me - You are almost there and you are looking good, run easy and don't injure yourself.

People at mile 4.5 cheering the top 2 runners who are returning to base. No hard feelings :)

A school kid at a mile 6.6. water station - Please take my water, please take mine!

A local family sprinkling water through their garden hose on people.

Countless families sitting in front of their houses and yelling "Keep going"

A man came out and started playing his guitar to entertain us. A teenager was playing beautiful drums in a rhythm.

Completed marathoners running last two miles again with friends to give them support and help them complete.


The school kids had assembled in morning as early as 6:30 am. Water stops at every 2 miles were such a great help. It was a very humid day. What a validation of selfless service today. And Team Asha people cheering all the way. I could not have finished without you.

My mile chart
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11.5 12 12.25 12.50 12.75 12.9 13.0 13.1


Running to me is as much a physical effort as it is a mental one. It is very easy to walk 13 miles but to push yourself to run requires a lot of mental strength.


Watch out - next milestone - full marathon in 2011.