Featured on www.RunIndiana.com

I have had the extreme pleasure to have my co-worker, Vamsee Gadagottu, here in the US for three weeks. He is from Hyderabad India and we've worked on the same project for the past 2.5 years. In November 2007 he ran the Hyderabad Half-Marathon. While the 10K race is the more popular distance, Vamsee decided to "go the extra mile" (pun intended) and complete the full 13.1 miles. This didn't surprise me as Vamsee applies the same energy to his job as he does to running.

When I realized he would be in the area on the HF4 weekend, I asked if he wanted to run the race with me. Of course he said yes. If I was in India and had the chance to run in a local race, I know I'd jump at the chance. So this small 100-person-or-so race in Huntington, IN can honestly say they have gone international ... how cool!

A photographer from RunIndiana.com got wind of this and decided to take a few pictures and write a feature story. Originally published on 3/2 at http://www.runindiana.com/runindiana.html, I've copied it below in case it eventually gets purged off of that website. Thanks RunIndiana.com for the honor to be featured on your website.

Dave

Runner from India competes in Frozen Four race...
MARCH 2 - If they gave a prize for the runner who traveled the farthest to run the Frozen Four in Huntington Sunday afternoon, Vamsee Gadagottu was the clear winner.

Gadagottu, an IT employee of General Electric and citizen of Hyderabad, India, is in Fort Wayne for a month-long work-related visit. He returns to India in another week.

Dave Craker, Gadagottu's host and supervisor, invited Gadagottu to partipicate in the Huntington race as a way to experience small-town Indiana running.

Although Gadagottu has run few races, he participated last year in a half-marathon in his native country.

Craker, also new to the sport, marked his second anniversary of running at the Frozen Four. In his first year of running, Craker ran marathons in Chicago and Grand Rapids.