Hi All,
This is going to be a four part series of mails. Looks like there would be so many runners that it would become too long in one email. These emails give a glimpse into the indominatable spirit and amazing efforts of each Team Asha runner. So, please do read it.
I . Team Asha's Heroes
II. A day in Shristi Special Academy
III. Inspiration that humbles
I. Team Asha's Heroes
Anita Iyer
Anita is an enthusiastic Asha volunteer who helps the chapter grow in many ways. She makes wonderful use of her free time and volunteers for hospitals in underdeveloped areas in Austin. She is very humble about her running and even as she ran with us, was always worried about slowing us down! Her dedication and commitment to the cause is amazing! I am sure she is going to be silent about her sacrifices and troubles, yet finish in style on Sunday.
Anjali Deolapure
Anjali attended the first few training sessions with Team Asha. Unfortunately, due to a road accident her training didn't go as well as she would have wanted to. Further injury concerns forced her to drop out of the program. But, we all look forward to having her back with the Team next year!
Arun Radhakrishnan
Team Asha's DJ/Stand up comedian/entertainer/party host, Asha Austin's brain stormer, he takes on multiple roles with great ease. He has also been volunteering actively to help with the program and other responsibilities at Asha Austin. He had some ITB issues late into the training and is not in the peak shape he was at a couple of months back. But, he is prepared to take on the race on Sunday and in his usual style has probably laughed his injury away :)
Arvind Rao
Being Asha Austin's Treasurer is not a simple task, given all the paperwork and deadlines to be met. He also had to take care of emegencies at home, present a project proposal, deal with 'trouble' at work and train for a marathon. All the unexpected happenings did take a toll on his training. Due to injury concerns, he was forced to drop to a half/marathon from a full marathon. On Sunday, he will be doing the half marathon and for the team he is a hero to have braved the storms and still make it!
Ashay Ronghe
One of the few runners (5 to be precise) who will be doing the marathon on Sunday. Lively and energetic, he always makes it quite an experience for others who run with him. Like most of us he had to go through rigors of work, training and injury scares. But, he held on to do enough long runs to take him through. He is an inspiration for the rest of the team for holding on to plans! A marathon is no mean task and yet he is going to make it look easy!
Ashwini Gopinath
Sweltering heat, freezing cold, crazy winds - nothing stopped her from attending the runs that she wanted to do. She stuck to the rules and simply followed what the coaches said. The results are here to see! She is probably one of the most improved runners in the Team. Always humble, she keeps referring to herself about being slow. Nope! Its not about speed - Its the determination and dedication towards a cause. In Coachji Vinod's words : "Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to continue despite it."
Atanu Bhattacharya
Atanu has been in Austin for a while and works for Si Labs. When Atanu started with the program, he was worried if he could make it to the finish line. I am sure that he is already looking forward to many more finish lines right now :). His training has been on and off for the most part. But, he has put in more than enough effort to be there at the start line this Sunday and make it through the finish. With Team Asha's pacers and cheering groups we will also make sure that its more than a pleasant experience for our hero!
Bharath Iyer
Consistency is the key. Just keep doing it week after week and stick to the schedule. Bharath is again an improved runner who made us feel bad by making it look real easy :) He has put in an earnest effort given all the prior commitments. Actually, he went beyond and even helped us with aspects of managing the program itself. Always there to lend a helping hand for other runners with the Team, Sunday will be his day and the Team will be there for him in full force!
Bharath Kumar
Bharath started out as an Asha volunteer. He had just moved from TAMU to Austin and was looking forward to volunteer. Hmm..running was never the plan, at least thats what he insisted on. I guess he just got sucked into it :) Here he is now, probably one of the fastest runners with Team Asha, he demonstrates how much one can improve if you are passionate about the sport, really enjoy it and believe in the cause it supports. His dedication and commitment is contagious and I am sure there are going to be many more 'runner geeks'!
Bhavishya Goel
He was not even sure for how long he was going to be in Austin! Bhavishya is actually on a business trip from India. Fortunately, he has been here long enough to be a part of making this a wonderful team. With all the unexpected scheduling, his training did get a hit, but he has pulled things together admirably to be there at the start on Sunday. Here is another hero who will be giving his best like always for a cause he truly believes in.
Go Team Asha!!
II. A Day in Shristi Special Academy
What do volunteers look for in a site visit to a grass roots effort ? How much learning really happens ? How is life for a kid in that school ? These are probably questions that sometimes come up - but, you might be too shy or just don't have the time to ask an Asha volunteer.
So, here is a sample of the answers - Gaurav Agarwal had visited Shristi Special Academy about a year ago and here is his site visit report :
http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/602/gagarwal_site_visit.doc
http://data.ashanet.org/datastore/data/Chapters/Austin/projects/gagarwal_site_visit_photos.doc
III. Inspiration that humbles
Sometimes certain actions made by individuals makes you feel so humbled and irrelevant that you might even question what you do, yet the same action inspires you to not take for granted the opportunities you have and put it to best use for all ...
The Hyots - An amazing story that inspires, yet brings you down to your feet. There is also a short video clipping.
http://cjcphoto.com/can/
Thanks,
Santhosh
( For Team Asha )
Monday, February 19, 2007
Team Asha Rocks 3M!
Hi All,
Temperatures of 37 F, felt like 28 F with wind chill. In 'desi' terms around 0 deg C!!
We had a wonderful cheering squad who braved all the rough weather to keep the team going! A big thank you to Rajiv, Aparna, Chirag, Arvind, Gaurav and Pankaj. Each one of us have many commitments related to family, work and life in general. It takes a lot to wake up so early in the morning on a 'Sunday' and be just out there sparing time for the team! You guys made it a memorable experience for all of us and spurred us on to the finish!
( Thanks to Pankaj for co-ordinating the whole cheering effort for the team. )
Here are the stars of the show though :)
(In reverse alphabetical order, for a change ..)
Vivin
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/vivin.html )
She is part of an elite category within Team Asha! Being a mom in itself takes all your time and resources (If you have any doubts, you can check with my mom on how much I troubled her!). How about being a Marathon Mom? While, Syona an adorable future Team Asha runner kept her mom busy most of the time, Vivin stealthily carried on with her running, with no complaints or cribs. She switched from AT&T to 3M as her target race rather late and frankly speaking we were a bit worried! But, she finished in style and made us all proud! Vivin and Ram long term Asha volunteers once again showed us why they are part of the reason Asha Austin trudges along year after year!
Sharanya Rao
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/arvindNsharanya.html )
After moving to Austin, running would have probably been the last thing on her mind! But, today she ran the longest she ever has! She finished an half marathon for a cause that she truly believes in. All through the training she was worried how she will do on the D-Day and she did amazingly well today! Sharanya is not just a Team Asha runner, she is an active Asha Austin volunteer and has been attending meetings regularly. It was rather obvious that the enthusiasm and initiative would ebb into the running too. The training and silent dedication to the schedule ensured that she cut more than 10 minutes from her expected finish time! She declared that she doesn't talk much while running. I guess, she meant she lets the running talk. In her own words - 'We don't run for that piece of metal they give us at the finish, we run for the kids'.
Minesh Shilotri
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/minesh.html )
Every class in the school has these bunch of guys/gals who sit in the last bench and have a lot of fun. They take it easy, but finish strong! Minesh probably slept through most of the long runs in the entire training program (Sorry dude! Had to quote you!). Minesh missed a lot of the training and the maximum distance he had done before was about 4-5 miles. But, it takes a lot of courage and determination to not back down with all this. With a nervous start all of us are worried how he is going to shape up at the race. Yet, he seemed to suggest he wanted more at the end of the race! It truly was a committed performance today from him. Team Asha respects the die hard spirit that he demonstrated for all of us today.
Khushbu Patel
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/khushbu.html )
Can any one of us imagine being in pre-med school at UT, with atleast 5 courses every semester to handle, a student job and find whatever time if possible to train for a half marathon ? I am still kind of amazed as to how she managed it! With a rigorous schedule to handle at UT, she made light weather of all the troubles and kept on with the training as much as possible. The longest she had done before last week was 6 miles and today she did much faster than expected!! Through the whole race, it looked like she was just taking it easy. So, that probably means this was just a start! Khusbu has been more than a Team Asha runner - she is a long term Asha volunteer who took the intiative in representing Asha amongst the students of UT and garnering support at UT.
Arvind Viswanath
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/arvindNsharanya.html )
The target was 1 hr and 54 mins and Arvind failed miserably in reaching it and could only do 1 hour and 57 mins :) . Well, atleast he says that. This guys is too good with his running and I am sure that he is going to kick some ----- if he wants to. With a job that requires a good amount of travel, it really does curtail options of training. But, I have never heard Arvind complain about it! Rather, his involvement with Asha and its efforts has been on a steady rise! If you don't believe me, let me introduce you all to Asha Austin's new chapter co-ordinator! Yep, he leads by example. The very first meeting he attended and heard about the marathon program, he signed up to be a part of it! His initiative and spirit of volunteerism didn't stop there. After the first meeting he attended, We know of almost no meetings that he has missed! Arvind really means a lot for Asha Austin in terms of dedicated volunteers and is amazing inspiration for the rest of Team Asha!
Finally, come the crazy runners who didn't have 3M as the target race, but did it for the heck of it!
Gayathri, Charanya, Manasi, Mohit, Vivek and Ganesh - Here are ppl who are on their way to their targets and 3M was an important milestone! They just didn't make it a training run and were there to cheer us all till the end! I am pretty sure they are going to excel in their target races!
(Note: If I failed mentioning anyone's contribution to Team Asha's 3M efforts, please do bring it to everyone's notice and mail the group.)
Go Team Asha!!
Thanks,
Santhosh.
Temperatures of 37 F, felt like 28 F with wind chill. In 'desi' terms around 0 deg C!!
We had a wonderful cheering squad who braved all the rough weather to keep the team going! A big thank you to Rajiv, Aparna, Chirag, Arvind, Gaurav and Pankaj. Each one of us have many commitments related to family, work and life in general. It takes a lot to wake up so early in the morning on a 'Sunday' and be just out there sparing time for the team! You guys made it a memorable experience for all of us and spurred us on to the finish!
( Thanks to Pankaj for co-ordinating the whole cheering effort for the team. )
Here are the stars of the show though :)
(In reverse alphabetical order, for a change ..)
Vivin
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/vivin.html )
She is part of an elite category within Team Asha! Being a mom in itself takes all your time and resources (If you have any doubts, you can check with my mom on how much I troubled her!). How about being a Marathon Mom? While, Syona an adorable future Team Asha runner kept her mom busy most of the time, Vivin stealthily carried on with her running, with no complaints or cribs. She switched from AT&T to 3M as her target race rather late and frankly speaking we were a bit worried! But, she finished in style and made us all proud! Vivin and Ram long term Asha volunteers once again showed us why they are part of the reason Asha Austin trudges along year after year!
Sharanya Rao
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/arvindNsharanya.html )
After moving to Austin, running would have probably been the last thing on her mind! But, today she ran the longest she ever has! She finished an half marathon for a cause that she truly believes in. All through the training she was worried how she will do on the D-Day and she did amazingly well today! Sharanya is not just a Team Asha runner, she is an active Asha Austin volunteer and has been attending meetings regularly. It was rather obvious that the enthusiasm and initiative would ebb into the running too. The training and silent dedication to the schedule ensured that she cut more than 10 minutes from her expected finish time! She declared that she doesn't talk much while running. I guess, she meant she lets the running talk. In her own words - 'We don't run for that piece of metal they give us at the finish, we run for the kids'.
Minesh Shilotri
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/minesh.html )
Every class in the school has these bunch of guys/gals who sit in the last bench and have a lot of fun. They take it easy, but finish strong! Minesh probably slept through most of the long runs in the entire training program (Sorry dude! Had to quote you!). Minesh missed a lot of the training and the maximum distance he had done before was about 4-5 miles. But, it takes a lot of courage and determination to not back down with all this. With a nervous start all of us are worried how he is going to shape up at the race. Yet, he seemed to suggest he wanted more at the end of the race! It truly was a committed performance today from him. Team Asha respects the die hard spirit that he demonstrated for all of us today.
Khushbu Patel
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/khushbu.html )
Can any one of us imagine being in pre-med school at UT, with atleast 5 courses every semester to handle, a student job and find whatever time if possible to train for a half marathon ? I am still kind of amazed as to how she managed it! With a rigorous schedule to handle at UT, she made light weather of all the troubles and kept on with the training as much as possible. The longest she had done before last week was 6 miles and today she did much faster than expected!! Through the whole race, it looked like she was just taking it easy. So, that probably means this was just a start! Khusbu has been more than a Team Asha runner - she is a long term Asha volunteer who took the intiative in representing Asha amongst the students of UT and garnering support at UT.
Arvind Viswanath
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/arvindNsharanya.html )
The target was 1 hr and 54 mins and Arvind failed miserably in reaching it and could only do 1 hour and 57 mins :) . Well, atleast he says that. This guys is too good with his running and I am sure that he is going to kick some ----- if he wants to. With a job that requires a good amount of travel, it really does curtail options of training. But, I have never heard Arvind complain about it! Rather, his involvement with Asha and its efforts has been on a steady rise! If you don't believe me, let me introduce you all to Asha Austin's new chapter co-ordinator! Yep, he leads by example. The very first meeting he attended and heard about the marathon program, he signed up to be a part of it! His initiative and spirit of volunteerism didn't stop there. After the first meeting he attended, We know of almost no meetings that he has missed! Arvind really means a lot for Asha Austin in terms of dedicated volunteers and is amazing inspiration for the rest of Team Asha!
Finally, come the crazy runners who didn't have 3M as the target race, but did it for the heck of it!
Gayathri, Charanya, Manasi, Mohit, Vivek and Ganesh - Here are ppl who are on their way to their targets and 3M was an important milestone! They just didn't make it a training run and were there to cheer us all till the end! I am pretty sure they are going to excel in their target races!
(Note: If I failed mentioning anyone's contribution to Team Asha's 3M efforts, please do bring it to everyone's notice and mail the group.)
Go Team Asha!!
Thanks,
Santhosh.
Team Asha Rocks Sumart!
Hi All,
One more target race down for Team Asha this year and we rocked the race like always! As Ganesh and Gaurav mentioned, it was a true team effort that got us this success!
Ashwini,Arvind, Roopa, Murali, Arun, Ashwini, Sharanya, Arvind,Savita,Sandhya, Salil, Mahesh, Dwarak, Divya,Itisha,Venkatesh, Priyavadan, Anita and Bharath were the ultimate support team!
All this would not have been possible if not for such care and affection showered on us! It really felt like a Formula One pit stop, every time one of the runners reached the AID station. Many thanks to the pacers who ran with us (some of them distances that they have not done frequently and that too after their early morning scheduled runs!)
There are so many things that we could keep discussing about. But, I would like to focus on just the effort that each of the wonderful runners have put in - because, as always everything else revolves around it.
Sanjeev Ranganathan
Sometimes, I really think I shouldn't comment on something thats way beyond the league! But, being a witness to this extraordinary effort, I feel I need to let the team know. Sanjeev, never planned to run the 50 miler until just a few weeks back. The original plan was to train for the 50K. He had recurring groin problems, he fell down trails, had cold/fever bouts, back pain and got lost in the wilderness for more time than any of us have ever been off course! It was a tremendous effort on saturday, when he gave his all to reach the cut-off of 9 hours for the third loop. When he did come in a little over 11 hours at the end of his third loop - nothing was lost - He was an inspiration for the whole team in so many ways and thats not new to him. Here is an Asha veteran that we all would be proud to know.
Anita komanduri
Silent, humble and almost unnoticed - The mother of all efforts is sometimes lost in just its humbleness! Many a times she has taught us how not to make a fuss about any of these efforts. She finished her first ultra marathon strong and in style! I know I am going to get it from her for this - keeping all gender sensitiveness in mind, I just can't avoid proclaiming Team Asha's first woman ultra marathoner! She had serious ITB problems and that even stopped her from completing some of the training runs. Running mountains in Bandera really didn't help it a lot. But, we all knew that she was going to bounce right back! In about 8 hours she finished her first 50 km run and made us all proud of what we are doing.
This is probably Sanjeev and Anita's last race with Asha Austin's marathon program. They were one of the reasons why Asha Austin even has a marathon program. Wishing all the best for Sanjeev and Anita's life ahead in India. We shall as always look upto them for inspiration and direction.
Ganesh Krishnamoorthy
Shameless copy paste from what we wrote about him last year -
"Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport is about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks."
- Sir Roger Bannister
It somehow still holds true. He was determination personified, when even a 'stupid' disqulification rule that stripped him of his bib no. couldn't stop him from doing what he set out for. A bad fall in the trails even before the first half of the race ended meant a lot of blood loss, less energy and lots of pain. He spent aboout 12 hours and 30 minutes on the trails trudging along and never ever giving up! I don't think anyone could have convinced him about dropping out even as the race infrastructure was brought down. I have not seen anything like this before!
Vinod Viswanath
Asha Austin's one and only 'Coach ji'. The marathon veteran showed us the way all these years and it was no different on saturday as Team Asha moved into the realms of 'Ultra' running. Intermittent training and a lot of travel didn't really help him get a wholesome training program. But, it was never a complaint or an excuse! As always he kept the spirits up and gave us all the invaluable gems of advice that just comes with experience. Though he probably wasn't too happy about his time, I am sure he is going to set it right pretty soon - maybe within a year :) If you are happy that Asha Austin has this wondeful program, here is one person you might want to thank for sure! This is probably Vinod's last run with Team Asha when in Austin. Rather than feel worried about a future without coach ji, I think its upto all of us to make the dream live on and make the program a sucess year after year!
Gaurav Agarwal
A+ - for those who don't know, it means planning, perseverence, commitment and dedication. He held everything together for all us crazy ultras - he took care of almost every area - food, travel, race plans etc week after week! Meticulous in his planning and execution, he made it all very easy for us. He had some bad cramps towards the end of the third loop. He had some health problems even the next day. I was joking about the 'royal' treatment he got after the race - but, the truth is he made through this crazy ultra marathon in 10 hrs, given all that he had to go through! Team Asha is in safe hands as gaurav gives his 100% to a cause that all of us believe in. It takes a lot of effort to organize, sustain and pour one's efforts into a program of this magnitude - Gaurav has led by example on each one of these aspcts. He is an inspiration to all of us and Team Asha looks foward to more races with A+!!
Santhosh Padmanabhan
Yep! I get to talk about myself :) ..The truth is, I was just 'plain' lucky. I never had to go through anything that others had to go through. But, for the encouragement and support from wondeful Team Asha friends on the trails supporting us, it could have been a lot different. I had a memorable experience - not just because of 'my own race', but with people travelling long distances to just encourage us all!
Many thanks to all the runners of the team for being with all of us through the way!
Thanks,
Santhosh.
One more target race down for Team Asha this year and we rocked the race like always! As Ganesh and Gaurav mentioned, it was a true team effort that got us this success!
Ashwini,Arvind, Roopa, Murali, Arun, Ashwini, Sharanya, Arvind,Savita,Sandhya, Salil, Mahesh, Dwarak, Divya,Itisha,Venkatesh, Priyavadan, Anita and Bharath were the ultimate support team!
All this would not have been possible if not for such care and affection showered on us! It really felt like a Formula One pit stop, every time one of the runners reached the AID station. Many thanks to the pacers who ran with us (some of them distances that they have not done frequently and that too after their early morning scheduled runs!)
There are so many things that we could keep discussing about. But, I would like to focus on just the effort that each of the wonderful runners have put in - because, as always everything else revolves around it.
Sanjeev Ranganathan
Sometimes, I really think I shouldn't comment on something thats way beyond the league! But, being a witness to this extraordinary effort, I feel I need to let the team know. Sanjeev, never planned to run the 50 miler until just a few weeks back. The original plan was to train for the 50K. He had recurring groin problems, he fell down trails, had cold/fever bouts, back pain and got lost in the wilderness for more time than any of us have ever been off course! It was a tremendous effort on saturday, when he gave his all to reach the cut-off of 9 hours for the third loop. When he did come in a little over 11 hours at the end of his third loop - nothing was lost - He was an inspiration for the whole team in so many ways and thats not new to him. Here is an Asha veteran that we all would be proud to know.
Anita komanduri
Silent, humble and almost unnoticed - The mother of all efforts is sometimes lost in just its humbleness! Many a times she has taught us how not to make a fuss about any of these efforts. She finished her first ultra marathon strong and in style! I know I am going to get it from her for this - keeping all gender sensitiveness in mind, I just can't avoid proclaiming Team Asha's first woman ultra marathoner! She had serious ITB problems and that even stopped her from completing some of the training runs. Running mountains in Bandera really didn't help it a lot. But, we all knew that she was going to bounce right back! In about 8 hours she finished her first 50 km run and made us all proud of what we are doing.
This is probably Sanjeev and Anita's last race with Asha Austin's marathon program. They were one of the reasons why Asha Austin even has a marathon program. Wishing all the best for Sanjeev and Anita's life ahead in India. We shall as always look upto them for inspiration and direction.
Ganesh Krishnamoorthy
Shameless copy paste from what we wrote about him last year -
"Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport is about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks."
- Sir Roger Bannister
It somehow still holds true. He was determination personified, when even a 'stupid' disqulification rule that stripped him of his bib no. couldn't stop him from doing what he set out for. A bad fall in the trails even before the first half of the race ended meant a lot of blood loss, less energy and lots of pain. He spent aboout 12 hours and 30 minutes on the trails trudging along and never ever giving up! I don't think anyone could have convinced him about dropping out even as the race infrastructure was brought down. I have not seen anything like this before!
Vinod Viswanath
Asha Austin's one and only 'Coach ji'. The marathon veteran showed us the way all these years and it was no different on saturday as Team Asha moved into the realms of 'Ultra' running. Intermittent training and a lot of travel didn't really help him get a wholesome training program. But, it was never a complaint or an excuse! As always he kept the spirits up and gave us all the invaluable gems of advice that just comes with experience. Though he probably wasn't too happy about his time, I am sure he is going to set it right pretty soon - maybe within a year :) If you are happy that Asha Austin has this wondeful program, here is one person you might want to thank for sure! This is probably Vinod's last run with Team Asha when in Austin. Rather than feel worried about a future without coach ji, I think its upto all of us to make the dream live on and make the program a sucess year after year!
Gaurav Agarwal
A+ - for those who don't know, it means planning, perseverence, commitment and dedication. He held everything together for all us crazy ultras - he took care of almost every area - food, travel, race plans etc week after week! Meticulous in his planning and execution, he made it all very easy for us. He had some bad cramps towards the end of the third loop. He had some health problems even the next day. I was joking about the 'royal' treatment he got after the race - but, the truth is he made through this crazy ultra marathon in 10 hrs, given all that he had to go through! Team Asha is in safe hands as gaurav gives his 100% to a cause that all of us believe in. It takes a lot of effort to organize, sustain and pour one's efforts into a program of this magnitude - Gaurav has led by example on each one of these aspcts. He is an inspiration to all of us and Team Asha looks foward to more races with A+!!
Santhosh Padmanabhan
Yep! I get to talk about myself :) ..The truth is, I was just 'plain' lucky. I never had to go through anything that others had to go through. But, for the encouragement and support from wondeful Team Asha friends on the trails supporting us, it could have been a lot different. I had a memorable experience - not just because of 'my own race', but with people travelling long distances to just encourage us all!
Many thanks to all the runners of the team for being with all of us through the way!
Thanks,
Santhosh.
Team Asha Rocks Motive!
Hi All,
November 12, Sunday 2006 - Team Asha conquers the first 'Target Race' of the season! Every runner out there today did a great job! This is one of the most hilly race courses ( http://www.mapmyrace.com/races/MotiveBison2006/ ) in Austin and yet it was no match for our runners!
Here are the Team Asha runners who successfully completed the 'Goal' of finishing the motive half marathon :
Ajay Taparia -
Ajay is doing an internship at Silicon labs and heard about the program through his roommate, Venkatesh and Asha volunteers. He had no qualms in commiting himself to the challenging task of training for a half-marathon and fundraising. He was so good that he even did a 10 miler way before others in the program did it ( actually, he got lost :) ..). His commitment to training, patience and determination made him a winner as he passed the finishing line today!
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/ajayNvenkatesh.html )
Venkatesh Acharya -
Venkatesh is also doing an internship at Silicon labs. Lively and full of enthusiasm, he kept the team in good spirits in the training sessions. He is also known for his great cooking abilities - his speciality being delicacies from Karataka. Just a week before motive Venkatesh's training had a 'hiccup'. He had to deal with shin splints. But, he put up a brave fight today and carried himself along in his own characteristic never-say-die attitude! He was literally limping in the first few miles! He was not sure if he could run. But, he ran through the finish line today to be one more Team Asha veteran!
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/ajayNvenkatesh.html )
Pankaj Kalra -
Pankaj is doing his internship with Sematech. He had volunteered with Asha when in UC, Berkley. He dropped into one of Asha Austin's meetings and didn't take long to decide that he will be running for Team Asha! He was regular and commited to his training. At a time when Asha Austin is in need of volunteers, Pankaj's efforts as a volunteer is very helpful. Today as a Team Asha runner, he again gave his 100% towards a cause he believes in. Even after the back breaking hills of motive today, there he was for the usual 2 p.m. Asha meeting!
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/pankaj.html )
Congratulations to the three of them for meeting their goals! Team Asha encourages and eagerly awaits their wonderful sprint across the finish line with the fundraising efforts. Great job guys !
Marathoners -
Arvind Rao
Itisha Tyagi
Sriram Sambamurthy
VishvJeet
Ashay Ronghe
Mihir Anandpara
Team Asha full marathoners have reached the half way point in their training with motive. All of them finished strong and are ready to take on any hills now! The training does get tough from here, but when the going gets tough, Team Asha gets going !
Other Team Asha runners Ganesh, Sanjeev, Vinod, Gaurav and Santhosh had a nice run too!
Mahesh Subramony finished his first half marathon at motive. Due to unexpected reasons he couldn't join us all earlier in the program. Today he finished the half marathon displaying amazing grit and determination!
Congrats to Asha patrons Chandu, Lalit and Karthik for finishing the half marathon!
Our heartfelt thanks to the tireless cheering through out the race!!
Thanks to AshwiniG, Arun (and his drums!), Anuroopa, Sayli, Bhavishya, Bhavishya's friend, Salil, Nivas, Dwarak and Divya.
It requires a lot of effort to get up from the bed early on a cold sunday morning and shout out for the team for hours ! You guys are amazing and we owe it to you!
Thanks to AshwiniT for patiently dealing with all the registration, organization, cheering efforts and also for coming out to support us!
If you thought its over, you are mistaken, its just started! We have three more big races to go!
Sunmart Ultras - Dec 9th
3M Half - Jan 31st
AT&T Half & Full - Feb 19th
Hopefully we have more of Team Asha come out to root for its runners in all these races.
You run so they can read.
Go Team Asha!!
Thanks,
Santhosh.
(For Team Asha)
November 12, Sunday 2006 - Team Asha conquers the first 'Target Race' of the season! Every runner out there today did a great job! This is one of the most hilly race courses ( http://www.mapmyrace.com/races
Here are the Team Asha runners who successfully completed the 'Goal' of finishing the motive half marathon :
Ajay Taparia -
Ajay is doing an internship at Silicon labs and heard about the program through his roommate, Venkatesh and Asha volunteers. He had no qualms in commiting himself to the challenging task of training for a half-marathon and fundraising. He was so good that he even did a 10 miler way before others in the program did it ( actually, he got lost :) ..). His commitment to training, patience and determination made him a winner as he passed the finishing line today!
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin
Venkatesh Acharya -
Venkatesh is also doing an internship at Silicon labs. Lively and full of enthusiasm, he kept the team in good spirits in the training sessions. He is also known for his great cooking abilities - his speciality being delicacies from Karataka. Just a week before motive Venkatesh's training had a 'hiccup'. He had to deal with shin splints. But, he put up a brave fight today and carried himself along in his own characteristic never-say-die attitude! He was literally limping in the first few miles! He was not sure if he could run. But, he ran through the finish line today to be one more Team Asha veteran!
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin
Pankaj Kalra -
Pankaj is doing his internship with Sematech. He had volunteered with Asha when in UC, Berkley. He dropped into one of Asha Austin's meetings and didn't take long to decide that he will be running for Team Asha! He was regular and commited to his training. At a time when Asha Austin is in need of volunteers, Pankaj's efforts as a volunteer is very helpful. Today as a Team Asha runner, he again gave his 100% towards a cause he believes in. Even after the back breaking hills of motive today, there he was for the usual 2 p.m. Asha meeting!
( http://www.ashanet.org/austin
Congratulations to the three of them for meeting their goals! Team Asha encourages and eagerly awaits their wonderful sprint across the finish line with the fundraising efforts. Great job guys !
Marathoners -
Arvind Rao
Itisha Tyagi
Sriram Sambamurthy
VishvJeet
Ashay Ronghe
Mihir Anandpara
Team Asha full marathoners have reached the half way point in their training with motive. All of them finished strong and are ready to take on any hills now! The training does get tough from here, but when the going gets tough, Team Asha gets going !
Other Team Asha runners Ganesh, Sanjeev, Vinod, Gaurav and Santhosh had a nice run too!
Mahesh Subramony finished his first half marathon at motive. Due to unexpected reasons he couldn't join us all earlier in the program. Today he finished the half marathon displaying amazing grit and determination!
Congrats to Asha patrons Chandu, Lalit and Karthik for finishing the half marathon!
Our heartfelt thanks to the tireless cheering through out the race!!
Thanks to AshwiniG, Arun (and his drums!), Anuroopa, Sayli, Bhavishya, Bhavishya's friend, Salil, Nivas, Dwarak and Divya.
It requires a lot of effort to get up from the bed early on a cold sunday morning and shout out for the team for hours ! You guys are amazing and we owe it to you!
Thanks to AshwiniT for patiently dealing with all the registration, organization, cheering efforts and also for coming out to support us!
If you thought its over, you are mistaken, its just started! We have three more big races to go!
Sunmart Ultras - Dec 9th
3M Half - Jan 31st
AT&T Half & Full - Feb 19th
Hopefully we have more of Team Asha come out to root for its runners in all these races.
You run so they can read.
Go Team Asha!!
Thanks,
Santhosh.
(For Team Asha)
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