Euro winner Marianne tames course to take lead
Marianne Skarpnord will need to wait and see if she can win the Hero Women’s Indian Open. Though early days, the start at the DLF Golf & Country Club has been promising. At five-under 67, she leads by a shot, but the Norwegian also takes pride in an aspect other than golf. “I could win the world championship in sleeping if there was one,” she chuckled. Short on rest, what remained of Friday would have been spent catching up on one of her favourite pursuits. “It washes away everything and you are up and about for a fresh start,” she said.
That’s imperative on a week like this, where the course, the bar raised many times over after the redesign, takes up most of the talk. Talking of bad memories, there was not much to ponder on save the bogey on the fifth. Marianne had reason to be upset, having set herself up well with two consecutive birdies, but chose otherwise.
“I didn’t want to waste energy being angry as the course is demanding anyway.” Here after a considerable gap, tales of the heightened challenge got the competitor in her inquisitive.
“From what I’d heard from the girls earlier on, I tried to draw a
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picture, but frankly after getting here I was scared,” said the 31-year-old. Getting off lightly was a relief. “If you can get through 18 holes without a three putt, it’s impressive,” she said with pride.
Forewarned is forearmed, and Marianne, a three-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, took note of the inputs from various sources. She slipped briefly but from there on ensured she stayed safe. Else, it would have been trouble had the ball landed on the wrong side of the pin.
The birdie on the 17th came in for special mention, given the degree of difficulty, and set her up well for another assault at a challenge she’d love to surmount.
Comfortable so far, her routine off the course is falling in place as well. There is some skepticism though, but the fear is not about a week in India and the worrisome air quality in these parts. With a sparkle in the eyes and no signs of laboured breathing, Marianne said she was always cautious outside home. Care is taken over what is eaten, and with the hotel good at what she loves, it’s been pizza for dinner over the past few days.
With the Air Quality Index (AQI) numbers consistently hovering around north of 400 (with the hazardous zone starting at 250), here are a few ways to remain healthy and fit in Delhi-NCR’s worst pollution spell of the year: Stay indoors, wear activated carbon (hepa-filtered) masks when you venture out, get an air purifier for your bedroom if you can afford it, and last, but not the least, run a half marathon in the smog at that time of the day when the particulate matter is at its highest!
The irony cannot be missed here though; the situation is far from ironic. Like all things, Delhi is split about air pollution too, with many even branding it as a ‘passing phase’, or a sign of the ‘onset of winter’. This despite the fact that the government has declared it an emergency.
Meanwhile, the running community in Delhi, rather alarmingly one should add, has been braving the pollution to gear up for the city’s most celebrated annual public sporting event --the Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM), organised by Procam International, who holds similar long-distance city-based event across the country through the year.
In the last couple of years, Procam’s stance, or rather, its reluctance to work towards a better and relatively pollution-free window for the Delhi race, makes us wonder if the firm (Procam is not a non-profit organisation), has forgotten that it is not just in the business of organising races and making money out of it but also, even if inadvertently, is in a noble cause of spreading health and fitness as a culture.
Clear Air a Myth (Subhead) A week before the race day, November 19 this year, Delhi Half Marathon’s race organisers have chosen to ignore tangible data as well as advice from experts. They
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are hopeful the air would clear in a week.
The Delhi Half Marathon will witness an elite field of athletes led by men’s world marathon champion Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya and world record holder and Rio Olympics women’s 10,000m champion, Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia.
Vivek Singh, one of the founders of Procam and its joint managing director, pointed out the presence of champions as a
positive sign, and listed out some stopgap means they would employ on the race route, as ways to minimise the effect of pollution on the runners.
“Since all top global runners haven’t withdrawn, it’s evident they are supporting the event,” said Singh in an interaction with journalists on Wednesday.
Of course, one understands the business dynamics involved. The race is not just about a few elite athletes and recreational run-