17 January,2009 07:49 AM IST | | Harit N Joshi
Deepchand Saharan holds the ceremonial gold baton along with the Mumbai Marathon brand ambassador Gail Deversu00a0and other runners yesterday.
To run in the Mumbai Marathon, armyman Deepchand Saharan lies to his wife that he has been posted in the city
DEEPCHAND Saharan would have ideally liked to run in the Mumbai Marathon without having to deceive his wife, but he was literally left with no choice.
The 32-year-old armyman had to lie to his wife to compete in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. "She (wife) was terrified after the Mumbai terror attacks.
She said why do you have to go there when you are always posted in Rajasthan.
"She does not understand the importance of marathon and sports. I don't know whether she is aware of my timings or past records.u00a0 So, that is why I told her that I have been posted to Mumbai for a few days.
She does not know that I am participating in the marathon. She is repeatedly calling to ask how I am doing," Deepchand told MiD DAY yesterday.
He added: "This is the first time I'm running in the Greatest Race On Earth (GROE). How could have I missed it? I am lucky to be selected to represent India. I will do my best for the country."
Deepchand will compete in the third leg of (GROE). "This is my first full marathon in this city. I have competed in the half marathon in 2005 and 2007 earlier," informed Deepchand.
"Satya Prakash and Ram Singh Yadav took part in the first two legs at Nairobi and Singapore. So, I obviously have a lot of pressure to perform better than them. I am experienced and confident of doing well," he said.
Deepchand's concern doesn't end there. He is recuperating from a knee injury. "The knee is not all that fine.
But still, I will run. It stops paining once I start running," he said.
Indians are best placed among the teams from South Asia. Kenya tops the overall chart followed by Uganda and India.
