Summit saputara

I wanted share with you this past weekend’s running experience, not as an athlete, but as a race director.
Directing a race is not a simple task.  Any problems that happens during the event falls all on your shoulders.  There are so many factors to constantly be thinking about.  If you have a great team, they help carry the worrisome burden for you…luckily I had that experience.  But when it comes down to it, any decision that is made on how things were executed during the event ultimately falls on the director’s shoulders.
Aside from the execution point, there are the athletes; they are all your responsibility.  Every single one of them on the course.  Their safety and experience are your primary focus (plus everything else that goes on behind the scene).
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Summit was an event unlike anything I had every had the opportunity to direct.  A weekend runner’s retreat with an interactive Conclave that had guest speakers from all levels of athletes, talking about their experiences on their journey to running.  An intellectual Q&A followed with the best training and racing questions I had ever received from a crowd.
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But the race course, was something that was out of a fairy tale.  It was the most majestic and picturesque scenery I had yet to have experienced in any race I had done.  A rolling hill descent that takes you through valleys and villages of the Indian countryside between the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.  Even though I didn't get to race the course, I had the privilege of testing the course a couple month before the event.  My cheeks hurt worse than my legs from smiling the entire 21km I ran because a smile never left my face during test.
I wanted everyone to have the same amazing experience I had running the course.  As the race started I was lucky enough to get to check in with almost every single runner on the course.  And along the way was able to capture a few small clicks and snips to memorialise their experience.
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Summit 2015 Video

Thank you to all who worked on the planning.  An experience like this was not an easy task.  Thank you to all who participated.  Summit would never be possible without running enthusiasts like you.  Thank you for giving me a wonderful experience.  It was an honor to play a role in an event of a lifetime.