What's in a run, one may argue, it's just putting one foot in front of the other. But if this mundane activity can connect you to your roots, touch your spiritual side and maybe inspire some - it is suddenly elevated.
The First edition of The Udupi Heritage marathon gave me this and more.
But I would have missed this altogether, if it were not a call from the race director, the Godfather of ultra running, Adiga about 15 days before the race. I was then in my final stages of tapering for the Chennai marathon. The Udupi marathon was exactly 1 week after the Chennai one. But Don Corleone style "he made an offer I could not refuse" - I will get you to run in Udupi's car street, in front of Krishna Mutt. I found my calling, I let Shreya know of this crazy idea of running back-to-back marathons and put in my registration.
Chennai marathon on the first Sunday of 2026 went as per plan. There was usual post run soreness and the shake out 5km runs during the week felt difficult.
My last few outstation marathons - Mysore, Srirangapatana (Mandya), Chennai - were all hosted by loving family - cousins, in laws, cousins-in-laws (basically, anyone who even remotely agrees).
Udupi is my native, I shouldn't have any trouble here for acco. I reached out to my cousin A, and she (gladly!) agreed.
Help will always be given at Hogwarts (or Udupi) to those who ask for it. - Albus Dumbledore
Travel was next - Mysore by car, Srirangapatana by bike, Chennai by train, Udupi by bus? 9hr day bus on Saturday, rest, run, repeat - 9hr day bus on Sunday - only a mad man's idea of weekend fun. But, hey, that's 18hrs with a book, you guessed right - The Chamber of secrets!
The bus ride was much better than the train ride last weekend. The push-back seats worked so well, that the front seat was pushed up right up my nose. I had packed my chapatis and paneer for my carb loading, supplemented with bananas and many liters of water.
I arrived at Udupi by 4 and headed straight to the Bib collection at Ajjarkad stadium. The familiar expert team of NEB sports were on the job. Nagaraj Adiga was doing the checks with the team. I was the ambassador for the event, had my race bib and Enerjiva gels waiting for me. Back at my cousin's place, Dhanur masa special huggi and Aloo parantas were had with plenty of chit chat. I did a quick dress rehearsal, the alarm was set for 2:45AM
Race day
Costume - I had decided to run the Heritage marathon in our Heritage attire - kacche and shalya. The kacche had to be a cotton washti. For the length, I followed the famous bikini principle - long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to keep things (the run) interesting. A cotton washti was borrowed from my in-laws and the previous evening was spent in perfecting the draping.
At 3AM on race day, the knot was tied - done once, done right!
As for the shalya, the idea was to go diagonally around the shoulder and pin it up to the bib in the front. This one needed a lot of adjustment - I had to even use a safety pin, about 5-6kms into the run to secure it better. It flopped from side to side, requiring a lot of adjusting. It was only after it was completely wet, did it stay without shuffling.
Nutrition - I tried to stick with the Chennai model. Pre-race Oats (I realized that I had cooked to much, but finished it nonetheless), 4 Gels and 6 salt tabs during the race. I rolled up two gels in my kacche (in the side where the priests roll up the cash offerings). I dropped 2 gels by a tree to be picked up for the second lap.
The run itself wasn't the easiest. Even as we got out of the Ajjarkad stadium at 4am, the legs felt heavy. We were less than a hundred of us, a few elite looking runners too off in the lead. I had a couple of older amateur runners also go past me.
From the Swagata dwara to Diana circle is a mild uphill, going past misson hospital, my birthplace. Running in Kalshanka, to car street / Ratha beedi and close to Krishna Mutt. I took a 30m detour to pray to Udupi Krishna via Kanakana kindi. PM Modi has recently inaugurated a golden window and with it, a smart TV which shows the live video of Garbhagudi.
I sure did lose sometime here, but praying never slowed anyone down - in marathon or in life. The first 5k came in 24m:52s, not too bad
From 5km on, it was an short uphill- flat- long uphill for 4kms till we turned off at Manipal. As I trudged along this, I thought if I could even jog this up on the 2nd lap, I would consider this run as a success.
Except for one stray dog scare and the non-lit road in front of the DC office, the rest of this lap was good. I had my gels at 9 and 18k, a long pee break at 15k, salt tabs every 30mins or so. The Enerjiva gels don't dissolve in water easily and are more gooey. I caught up with Raghav, one of the faster amateur runners as I approached the stadium.
Back at the stadium for the U-turn, still in my fancy dress, I drew some smiles and cheer from the paltry crowd. I had 21.2k in 1:45 - bang on target (but no time in the bank).
By now, my shalya had settled down and stayed put. At the 2k timing mat, I picked up my 2 gels from their hiding place, tucked them into my kacche and set my target on Amit who was ahead. Amit is a coach from Mumbai, ex-services, he was a strong 12h runner. But he has put on some weight and I caught up with him in Kalshanka. I had to do my mandatory prayer at Krishna Mutt, but passed him before the Manipal hills.
The uphill was the deal maker (or breaker), but I put my head down, mentally imagined I was running Nandi uphill, and kept going. I reached the top without dipping into my reserves or walk. I had carried 3 small pieces of ginger, had one as a precaution for cramps.
I was slowing down to about 5:30/km but was generally in good spirits.
By now, I was passing a few 2hr+ half marathoners, greeting them and making small talk. When I turned into the downhill section after 36k, I was still able to run in good form. I clocked 4:15 for that km. As I began to approach Krishna Mutt, I began to run to the beat of "Hare Krishna", that I had begun to chant. Coming into Kalshanka, deeply emotional, I prayed that he allows me "peace" with the one thing that I resent in my life. I bowed down in reverence at Kanakana one last time, before I turned towards Kinnimulki.
The gels, salt tablets and ginger seemed to do their job - there were no cramps. I ran steady running past a few HM and 10kers. Entering the stadium, I looked up at the clock, reading 3:39, I had a few seconds to keep the timing in the 3:30s. I stopped the clock at 3:39:58 - 6th overall, 1st in my Age Group
Since the kacche was still hanging around, I spent sometime taking some pics with the Udupi DC and others from the NEB team.
Breakfast of Idlies, goli baje, shira was per NEB's high standards. It took all of 15mins to get back home. After a quick shower and more breakfast, I boarded the Rajahamsa to get be back to Bangalore.
9hr bus ride - 6hr sleep - 4hr run - 10hr bus ride
That's how I got completed the physical and spiritual First Heritage Udupi Marathon!
