Malnad Ultra 2021 – the reluctant 80k

 

Malnad Ultra has always been one my favorite races – the organizers love for the trails resonates perfectly with me. I have had decent previous finishes – in 2016 (read report here) and in 2019 (read report here)

There was whole lot of “reluctance” right from the beginning – the dates were announced in a hurry, right in the middle of my marathon training, and then the date was just before the gala opening of my company’s Bangalore Office.

Which means, I was running less mileage, more speed work. I was to be in Mysore the day after the run, meaning changes to travel plans. And then there were rains – of all kinds, cyclonic depression, drizzles, to thunderstorms. But wait till you hear of the “elephant in the room” – literally!

Training: The training was also, therefore, somewhat reluctant! I combined a speed run with 50k long run the week before the event and struggled with cramps. The recent BMF 60k Ultra, where I finished joint winner in 5:47 was a confidence boost. The rains played havoc with the training as well – I was juggling between risking a cold rain run and staying warm indoors.

Come race week, my travel plans changed, but my car-pool mates – Ashwati, Ahamed and Rama from Chennai Trekking Club (CTC) were accommodating. The Mysore plan was completely dropped. We decided to start from Bangalore at 6am to give ample time to reach the homestay in Mudigere (Hoysala Stayinn), get to the bib collection point at Robusta valley Inn and get some rest ahead of the D-day.

The course: Ok, which course do I talk about?

1. There was one course given in the information booklet that was emailed a week before the race.
2. Then there was one course that was described in great detail during the bib collection on the previous day – with changes to the start point and some sections of the second half.
3. And then this was revised further at 5:55AM on race day – we were told that we will not be able to run up Yettinabuja (which was one of the key attractions) and will be guided on the right trail
4. Then, 6km into the run at Yettinabuja base, there were further changes

The starting point was Urubage gram panchayat. The route was supposed to take us to the popular local trekking routes & temples – Yettinabuja, Bettada Bhairaveshwara temple, Nanya Bhairaveshwara Gudi.

The instructions regarding the marking was – “If it is a single long trail, there will be no marking. If you come to a fork, the correct trail will be marked with red ribbons on the “left” side. If there are ribbons on both sides, that section is used both ways (back to this later).

The race:

We started the day at 5:30am with first signs of “wrong route” trouble. Eventually we landed at the Gram Panchayat field of Urubage. Our host at Hoysala Parkinn was kind enough to show me an Indian style loo for my morning ablutions. I met Deepak and Opendro at the parking and we got ready under mobile torchlights. The race started on time at 6:45am.

I found myself leading the pack with Sampath and Mani in hot pursuit, we were clipping the first 2kms in 4:30 pace. Open joined us and we were then this “formidable four” (ff) till we hit 55kms or so. It was a crazy adventure right from the start. Our first turn, off the road was in 2kms, the ribbons were barely visible. And then in another 3km, we had to head towards Yettinabuja on the tarred road, again, the marking were all over “the fork”. Somehow, we decided to head uphill. Then, at the temple on the foothill to Yettinabuja (Nanya Bhairaveshwara Gudi), we were turned back by the support team, “not allowed” to go further. Issue with local forest officials – Elephants were spotted and it wasn’t safe!! 3km of what was to be the best part of the trail was gone.

At this point, the ffs were still tearing down the slopes. Back to “the fork” with ribbons all over, now we didn’t know where to go. We had company, even the volunteers didn’t! Then while we ambled there for everyone to catch up, the race director, Anand came to our rescue and directed us.

From there on, I began to enjoy the trails. At the lead Open and I, passed a support tractor carrying supplies for our support station ahead. Running along the ridges of this Ombattu Gudda was perhaps the most memorable section (and the picturesque section) of the run. We had to take a U-turn at a lone tree on the trail. Many runners apparently missed taking a U-turn at this point. Again, the markings were inadequate here too!

Once out of the ridges, the trail took us into some deep undergrowth of forest and Byrapura estate. Since we were first ones here, it was quite a pleasure to explore these virgin trails. Then came the river crossing at about 20km. All the ffs simply ran into the stream with gay abandon.

Again, at the fork, we had to guess the trail, it was also an opportunity to cut short 3-4kms of the trail.

All along, I was trying to keep to a schedule of water, gels, salt tablets. Getting out of the forest to the road section after Jenukallu Gudda near Bettada Bhaireshwara Gudi at 28km, it was already apparent that I was losing salts (see pic). The “Nataraja pose” was to show how I was bleeding from leech bites.

We had done about 35km in 4 hours and the 11am sun was shining bright. Once we got off the estate, it was back on the road for the next 10 odd kms back to the start area. Somewhere near the marathon mark, Open and I came across an overflowing overhead water tank. We detoured to take a nice shower and pressed on. We saw these milestones to Urubage and knew we were getting closer, till we saw a nice big bold arrow turning us left at “the T junction”. So we took it! A km into that we realized that the mile markers were now showing 70km and 72km. We then saw Amit and Suman, who were leading the 50k running in the opposite direction and quite peeved that they were made to take the wrong route with less than 2kms to their finish line!

We U-turned and ran back to “the T junction” and then made our way to the start area. I had 46kms on my Garmin and 5hr:25min on the clock. The missed turn had cost us our lead position and Sampath and Mani had arrived a few mins back. We took a quick 10min break, had some Bisi Bele Bath and curd rice and quickly got back on the track. I also picked up the 2 gels in had hid in the bushes in the morning.

The next 5kms was some craziness. 200m to the main road and we were already confused which way to go – no markings, no volunteers to direct us, we just sat on the road waiting for Sampath to join us and hoping he would be wiser. Then we decided to go left and check out, there were markings. Next 500m, there was a right turn (“the junction”), we considered taking it, did a quick search around, found no shredded paper marking and continued on. By now the sun was in its blazing glory, we ran down 2kms before turning back since we had found no mile markers either. When we got close to “the junction”, we saw 2 volunteers in a jeep, I flagged them to stop and help us with the route. They had no idea, and started doling out random gyan. I insisted they call and find out, they had no signal. Then they decided to jeep back to the start point to find out, while we walked in scorching sun – frustration and dehydration is not a great combo. By then time the jeep came back, we were back at “the junction” and they directed us back towards the start point. And when we slow jogged back, the race directors – AA and Brijesh in a jeep in the opposite direction stopped us and said, guess what, “wrong way!”. They went on ahead, placed a volunteer at “the junction” where we were now told to take the right turn towards Yettinabuja!

This additional 5k cost us nearly 45mins. But more critically, the next water stop was only 5km away, which meant I had to go without water in the hot sun for nearly 10km. This was no force majeure incident. There is no excuse for not marking the course correctly within a kms radius from your start point. I promised myself, at this point, that I will not run this race for the next 5 years!

From there on, after about 60km we entered the Haleakimane forest area for another 5km or so. This stretch of 10kms also had the most climbs, about 330m over 10k. Also, the inclines were very technical and were un-runnable. Open and I were now in the lead. At one point Open looked at my watch and noticed that my heart rate was 150+ and remarked that it was high. After nearly 8hrs of running, the Sun beating down on us as we walked up brutal inclines, his heart rate was a shocking 115 or so!!

He was, of course, holding on to me till the forest section was over. After the water stop at 68km (again, with unripe bananas, bread without jam spread over it, jam in bottles minus spoons, ditto for butter), Open decided to run on ahead.

By this time, I was cramping quite badly and was walking almost all of the now completely road sections. In another 3-4kms, as I was leaving a water stop, I glanced back to see Sampath and Mani jogging in. In the next km, they passed me.

I continued to trudge along and reached “the T junction”, which had led us astray in the first loop – 70kms in 9h:20m and the uphills were unabated. Finally, I got off the road, into a trail section, another 2kms or so to the finish. I wanted to keep under 11hours to save some pride and seemed to be on track to do so. With some 500m to go, I heard a cheerful shout from behind – turned to see Navin. Navin warned me of 2 other runners who were on his tail and told me to keep it steady till the finish. It never occurred to me that he was also doing the 80k, until he gracefully allowed me to finish ahead of him at the finish line. The clock read – 10:49:37, my Garmin read 80.24kms.

The photographer at the finish did not capture my shot and asked me to run around again. This led to some drama, with me cramping on both legs, the other top-5 finishers rushing to me – offering a chair, water, massage, etc. I managed to relax and get this shot after 10mins or so.

Open had finished in 10:11 and Sampath & Mani had just finished about 5mins back. Navin was placed 4^th (rightfully so) because of the net time considered. I had managed a 5^th place finish.

This Malnad Ultra was a mixed bag – the route changes, getting lost, my own poor performance (I really struggled in the last 20k).

The Last word: In a very candid feedback sharing with AA at the end of the race, he said “In spite of all this, I don’t know why I still do this (event)”. To which I replied, “In spite of all this, I don’t know why I still run this race”. I guess till we figure out, he will organize it and I will run it. Just like the other pass time that we have signed up for called “life”.

As always, would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment below. Also, follow me on Instagram @ultrabhat