12hr Stadium Run Bengaluru 2025 - A report

You can never get to the finish line if you don't muster the courage to get to the start line.

This was perhaps the only reason why I signed up for the Bengaluru Stadium run this year. The second reason was that the night slot for the 12hr run was still available.

After the cramp-fest at the last year's day slot run, I choose an easier night slot to test my endurance this year.

But try what I may, my easy runs in training stayed at about 6min/km and my longer runs of over 30k, slowed me lower than 10kmph. In the past, I have always loved my easy runs about 11kmph. I am at this stage where too late to use "the surgery" as an excuse and too early to use the "getting old" excuse. But stuck in between, my 2 key long runs of 50k in training - one to Nandi hills and a mid-nighter at the Madhavan park stadium, were both slower than the 6min pace.

On my daily 12km grind, I tried all permutations to math the 100k in 12hrs - 35, 35, 30k for the 4hr splits. Or 9kmph for 8 hours and 7kmph for the rest. As the race day grew nearer, the km was replaced by laps - 21laps per hour for 12hrs, 250laps target and so on.

I finally settled on a "plan" - forget the pace, just focus on staying relaxed and not cramping. The success criteria - to keep running even after 8, 9, 10hours - regardless of pace (but secretly still aiming for the 100k).

Race Day

I am supa (its supa strikers phase in life) happy to arrive at any start line in good health. Although, the last month leading up to the race has given me some congestion and off-training days. But, I was fully recovered during the last week. "Happy Holidays" have just started for the kids and time on feet has shot up like Trump's tariffs (or de-tariffs).
The Sunday morning was spent in idling around, slept a bit in the afternoon and was done with my dinner by 4PM.

Kit and Support

My dear friend, Nari was kind enough to offer to support me during the 12hr, I thought it will good to do Nari/Narayan pradakshina 200 times by the time the race is done. I packed 6 Caffeinated Gels, salt tabs (courtesy Rajesh) and 100ml of black coffee. Extra set of shorts, tee, socks and shoes, and ice pack scarf filled a nice gym bag.

I had decided to wear (after a lot of deliberation) my full tights - anything to ward off those cramps, I told myself.

6:30PM start

It is always a sedate start at these 12h events - the 24h runners are already in their pain cave, one 12hr batch already concluded - no one is really looking for any explosive start. But having run many of these, I know the first few laps really set the tone for the rest of the first phase.

We started running clockwise and I settled down into a 2:30 min per lap rhythm. 1hr, 24 laps and 2hr, 46 laps, that translates to 19km in 2hrs. In hindsight, in order to be able to bring in the mileage, the first 2 hours should be closer to 24kms. But remember, I was in here to run long, not run fast.

Nari was a fantastic support crew. The instructions were simple - one salt tab at the top of each hour. 1 Gel at the bottom of every other hour. And he didn't miss a single one. Support on these runs make a huge difference to how one feels on the track and I can't thank Nari enough for this night-outer he put in for me.

I was also alternating between electrolytes and water once every 20mins.

We changed direction after 3.5hours, I was feeling good as the night set in on the moonless sky. There were 2 floodlights, and long shadows for company. I didn't strike any long conversation with any other runner, each one was in her/his own cave out there.

There were prominent runners from the Indian team - Amar was shooting for the 12h national record. Geeno & Velu were running with purpose in the 24hr format. Bindu was out to get the 12hr female national record. There were others like  were vying for a spot in the 24h national team - Aparna (to beat 180k for women) and Sugaurav (to beat 225k for men). Sikander had to drop out of his 24hr barefoot Guinness record quest. All of them clock close to 200km/week in training, btw.

I had completed 94laps in 4hours, just over 37kms. I was still running, no cramps in sight. Next target, stay on course for till midnight...

Midnight - the grind begins

I stuck to my fluid, Gel, salt schedule. I also managed to chew up 2 chapatis with cabbage palya rolled up while on a walk break. There were no cramps, I was being slow and walking as needed. It did get muggy after a while, I switched my bib to my 2XU pants and off came the tee shirt. After a while, I used long scarf doused in ice cold water around my neck. I liked the "pat pat" sound the scarf ends made on each step as it patted my chest.

Boredom is a given, one has to find ways to keep the mind occupied. I started chanting all the sandyavandana mantras. The Ashtakshara mantra "Om Namo Narayanaya Om" goes along nicely with the breathing pattern. Laps came and went - 115laps or 46k in 5hrs and I was still running... mostly.

I took a longish break after 5hrs, brought out my Theragun massage gun to give some TLC (tender love and care) to my right thigh. When I got back on track, I seemed to have some focus. Another nemesis was the innumerable loo breaks, I must have had about a dozen of them in all, each leaking about 2-3mins off.

Moreover, each time I restarted, I would take a lap or so to get the rhythm back. The 6th hour only got me 17 laps, I got to 132 laps in 6hrs, just 52kms! My plan was to be able to get closer to the 60k mark by 6hrs. I set myself a target to get to 175 laps by 2:30AM. Then with 4hrs left, I would have a shooting chance to complete the remaining 75laps.

I shouted out my target to my support crew, Nari & by now, Saen, who had finished his own 100k run in the morning and stayed on to support!! I needed 43laps in 2hrs to have any hope of 100k.

But I was walking a lot more, more massage TLC led to 3min+ laps. I only managed 168laps by 8 hours, 68k. 4hrs to go and 32k to get to 100k - easy peasy on a normal day, not when you have already run 8hrs. Still doable, if you have the motivation despite the fatigue. Many 24h & 12h runners were exhibiting pure grit around this time. The struggle is real - these are the question hours!

Hell, the mandatory BP check after 6hrs screamed out that everything was fine! Really?

My state of mind is best summarized by this exchange with Santhosh P, the coach of the national team and my mentor for over 2 decades. He said "I don't know what stick to use to get you to run". "Use a gentle one", I shouted back. I was going soft... mentally!

The finish - and finish again

Mentally, targets got revised... downward. 86k was a must do, to go past last year's tally, anything over 90k, while still running in the 11th hour would be a success. The night started getting cooler, the minimalist scarf made way for a fresh tee shirt, the loo breaks still continued to trickle (or drip!). I was stopping by regularly at the support tent for chikkis, banana, watermelons. Walk-the-curves- run-the-straights strategy was getting me sub-4min laps. 200laps, 80k in 10hours.

My wife and kids were planning to come in for the finish. The 11th hour (literally speaking) was all about staying in shape and saving up for a strong finish. The math was still stiff - I still needed 14laps per hour for the last 2hrs to get to 90k.

The last hour is always one of Euphoria. My family came in with about 40mins to go. My 225th lap came with them cheering on, 25mins to go!

The last few laps are always this battle between, how much you want to run vs. how much you want to save for the end. With 15mins to go, I finally decided to bring back the sub-3min laps. I picked up my feet for (what I thought should be my) last lap 2m:32sec for the 232th lap. When I passed the clock on the start/finish line, there was just over 2mins to go.

I put my outstretched hands down and decided to chase the clock. One min to go, half a lap to the finish line, Sean shouted from the support desk "where did this come from?". I recruited every ounce of energy to push through and finished a second time, just before the clock struck 12hrs!

Official results will put it down as 92.4kms - my mind will forever remember the sprint finish, the support from Nari & Sean, my family at the finish line and the unabated camaraderie on the never ending tracks! Here's to more, Cheers!