Team Motiv8 athlete Neelam Vaid followed up her Boston Marathon in April with a strong repeat performance at Berlin Marathon 2002, clocking 4h:1m and again snagging a Boston Qualification time.

2 days before the race, Neelam also had the honor of speaking at a function held at the Indian Consulate in Germany hosted by the Indian Ambassador. She talked about taking time out for herself and her training out of her busy doctor’s practice. One does not automatically find such time for yourself, but instead you have to prioritize and make time, was her main message.

Speaking about difficulties faced during training, Neelam said:

“A muscular injury has been nagging me since many months. Training through it when it keeps flaring up every now and then was tough and demotivating. Also, I run late, and because of the construction work near my place and traffic issues, I had to run in loops near my society and not on my usual routes. It got a bit tedious.”

Commenting about the huge field of runners in the race , she said:

“The crowd was too much! I was constantly running round others. The route has quite a few turns and this does slow down the pace somewhat. Hydration was also a challenge because of the crowds. I refilled by bottle at 3 aid stations and each time I had to stop and fill and so lost around 20 seconds at each stop.”

On motivation herself during training phase, Neelam said:

“This is never an issue for me. Once I commit to something, I will see it through!”.

About how she felt after finishing the race, Neelam said:

“I got a PB, a BQ, and finished a World Marathon major, got opportunity to speak in front of the Ambassador. Sub 4 missed but can still say my time is 4:00:xx 🙂 So very happy and satisfied.”