Mahesh Nasta possibly became the first Bhagnari to complete a full Marathon over a distance of 26.2 miles. He participated in the Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon on 27th June and completed the gruelling race in 5 hrs 16 min. Basically running at a steady pace of 5 miles an hour for a llittle over 5 hours. 20,000 runners from 14 countries ran the full and 1/2 marathons. 5,618 of them completed the full marathon, which was won by Kenyan Peter Omae. Mahesh was placed a creditable 386th in the 40-44 age category.
Mahesh underwent an intensive 16 week training program, averaging 20 miles every week, during which time he lost a lot of weight. He felt a little sore for a day after the race, but is feeling fine now. Fortunately the weather was good through the course of the run and the huge crowd, which was almost 4 levels deep, kept cheering the runners. There were 18 live bands (in keeping with the name of this marathon) performing at every mile. All this was for a good cause, as the event raised USD 3.7 millions for 5 different charities. There was also indirect fund raising by many participants.
Mahesh is settled in Dallas with his wife Sherry and two daughters Nikita and Sanaya. He has been working for Microsoft for the past 15 years.
Keep running, Mahesh.....we hope that your feat inspires other Bhagnaris to run in marathons, especially for charities!!!
