Four months after injuring legs in crash, runner gears for Mumbai Marathon

Four months after a September 21 accident left him with a broken right wrist stitches on his chin cuts and stitches inside his mouth bruises on the head and stitches on both legs below his knees runner Subhash Motwani is all set to run the halfmarathon 21097 km at the Tata Mumbai Marathon TMM on Sunday January 19Horrific crashMotwani suffered an accident on September 21 2024 He recalled ldquoI was on my regular practice run on Saturday morning 730 am I was running along the Marine Drive where there is a short patch alongside the Coastal Road arch heading towards Bandra Like any responsible runner I usually run on the footpath However there was a short patch that I was running on the edge of the road in the direction where one can see the vehicles approaching There was a bike which was approaching at regular speed with a rider and pillion There was some residue gravel and the road patch did not look as if it had been surfaced The gravel and nonsurfaced road resulted in the bike skidding Both rider and pillion fell off while the bike without anyone on it was in motion and it came skidding towards me I was running at a brisk pace I fell with my whole body weight on my wristrdquoDisorientedMotwani a Colaba resident said ldquoEverything happened so fast I had no time to think I remember a bike came in skidding in front of me I temporarily lost consciousness I recall runners Sunil Shahani and Mitren Thakkar who were running close by calling out my name They put me in a car to take me to the hospitalrdquoSubhash Motwani showing the accident spot PicAtul KambleShahani said ldquoThe bike rider looked very young He lost control and his balance I was running just behind and saw the bike come straight at Subhash He fell down on his head I think he was totally disoriented He did not know what was happeningrdquoThakkar added ldquoSubhash was about 50m ahead of me I suddenly saw a bike skidding and hitting Subhash on the leg He fell down and a part of his body went underneath a car that braked at the right time Subhash had no clue what had happened or who he was The bike rider seemed inexperienced He was also riding quite fastrdquoMotwani said ldquoThere are always good Samaritans at times of calamity and a couple of runners came to my rescue To my good fortune there was also Dr Ashish Contractor from HN Reliance Hospital who was running at the same time and he ensured that on my arrival at the hospital I was promptly attended to This epitomises the true spirit of Mumbais running community where we all support each otherrdquoRisky stretchMotwani said the stretch still has gravel and its surface contributed to the skidding Thakkar claimed there is ldquoless tractionrdquo on the road Another runner Vikas Kabra said ldquoThis stretch is skid prone It is time the authorities look towards repairing and surfacingrdquo Motwani added ldquoThe roads and sidewalks are high risk for pedestrians and runners due to encroachments uneven surfaces and badly repaired patches which unfortunately are only attended to when any VIP is visitingrdquoSubhash Motwani battling the pain of a broken wristMotwani who is a travel professional added ldquoBesides the physical and mental trauma caused by the accident I faced financial losses Firstly I had to cancel my Berlin Marathon run where I was slated to run the full marathon in Germany on September 29 I had been training so hard for it and it was particularly agonising as it was the 50th edition of the Berlin Marathon a landmark run and event My hospital charges and all medical bills including treatmentphysio crossed over R1 lakhrdquoComebackAt the end of what has been a very rough three months the doughty determined Motwani summed up ldquoI believe in the adage lsquoTough times donrsquot last but tough people dorsquo In just over three months after the accident I was back on my feet training for the Mumbai Half Marathon I am at my 90 per cent fitness level as my wrist is on its way to recovery I am also a bit heavier physically as I can do limited exercises and had limited training toordquo Sunday will be a showpiece for an inspiring comeback proving that the enduring allure of distance races mdash like a marathon goes much beyond timings the finish line or a race They are a window to the human spirit that shines as bright as the Mumbai sun which will climb high into the sky as dawn breaks on Sunday