Five Minutes Away

Five Minutes Away: Getting Closer

By the time I reached the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2025, I had started taking my running much more seriously.

My previous half marathon had finished in 2:08:22.

This time, I wanted to see how much further I could push myself.

Over the months, I had worked a lot more on my strength training, especially my legs and core. I was also paying more attention to my overall training.

And slowly, I was beginning to see the results.

The number I had been waiting for

I finished the race on October 12, 2025, with a timing of:

2:05:10

Around three minutes faster than my previous race.

But the timing wasn’t even the most exciting part for me.

For the first time, my average chip pace was below 6 minutes per kilometre:

5:56 min/km.

That might not sound like a huge difference to someone else.

For me, it was a big deal.

I had finally crossed that 6:00/km barrier.

And suddenly, that two-hour target felt even closer.

Just five minutes away.

I remember thinking about it and feeling happy even after the race.

“Bas 5 minute aur.”

The work was starting to show

This race also gave me confidence that the work I had been doing in the gym and during training was actually making a difference.

My legs and core were getting stronger.

My strength had improved.

My training was becoming more structured.

And the race result was finally starting to reflect that work.

But there was still one problem.

The leg pain hadn’t completely gone away.

Even though my performance was improving, my body was still reminding me that there was something I needed to fix.

That became an important part of my journey too.

The goal was no longer far away. But getting there would require more than just running faster.

Five minutes

When I look back at this race, 2:05:10 feels like an important milestone.

I had gone from 2:47:17 in my first official half marathon to 2:05:10.

And now the sub-two-hour mark wasn’t some unrealistic dream.

It was sitting right in front of me.

Five minutes away.

But I had learned enough by now to know that those five minutes might be the hardest ones yet.

The next challenge wasn’t simply to run faster.

It was to become strong enough, consistent enough and healthy enough to do it.

The two-hour mark was getting closer.

And I was ready to chase it.