A tale of 2 medals - Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2024 and Vidyashilp Academy Sports

Build up: In hindsight, the injury from the fateful accident that I expected to recover in 2 weeks, took all of 22 months to finally give me a full marathon fitness. Over the months, the 'hustle' has been constant - first to get back mobility, then strength, then aerobic capacity, proprioception - it's been two steps forward, one step back over month after each month. But the hustle has been constant.

The Geelong half marathon in March this year, during a trip down under was well under target, the recovery was painstaking.

In May, I took part in a month long step challenge, making 26000+ steps per day in a slow shuffle. Then in Sep and then Oct, I ran an average 9 and 10kms per day. This gave me the confidence to include the weekly long run and some speed workouts.

About then, Rotary Club reached out to my employer, to consider sending a team of runners to participate in a "all proceeds go for charity" Bengaluru Midnight Marathon. About 25 of my colleagues expressed interest in the 5k, I felt I was ready for a full marathon.

I started incorporating the Yasso's 800s into my runs. One day an email from my kids school announced their Sports day and a 1500m "long" distance run for parents. I was unsure of how this 1500m morning run on the same day as the midnight marathon will play out overall, but this was a perfect chance to show the kids the 'art of possible'. I checked with them, and they emphatically said they wanted me to register.

And so it happened, that I would run a 1500m race in the morning and within 15hours get to the start line of a midnight marathon!

Strategy, Execution and Outcome

1500m race

With my kids looking on from the stands, this was a high pressure race for me. As I was warming up, I sized up the competition. I met RC, an alum of the school and a track athlete in his school days. We made some broad pacing plan - deciding to be on pace from the go and build a strong lead getting into the 4th lap. I knew from my training in Kanteerava stadium, that I was able to hold a 4min/km pace and suggested RC keep a 3:40 pace. I warmed up a bit, to ensure that I don't start with a 'cold' knee.

Two categories (above 40 and below - male) were combined together in an open start. As we took the first corner, RC & I were in 2nd and 3rd position and my Garmin was showing a blistering 2:50/km pace. Too fast. As I came into the next bend, I shouted "3:30 pace" to RC and that we needed to slow down. He was focussed on the parent in the lead, we decided to take him in the 3rd lap and to keep steady the next 2 laps.

In the second lap, I moved ahead of RC into the 2nd position and continued to reduce the gap to the 1st. In the third lap, now with a steady breathing rhythm, I was in earshot of the lead runner. I could hear his heavy breathing and passed him in good form. By this time, the cheers from the stands had reached high decibels.

I felt the rush, as the bell sounded the last lap. At the final corner, the kids were screaming out loud. As I ran down the final stretch I pointed to my kids in the stands and upped the pace. One mis-step, oops, but recovered quickly to pass the finish line with "rizz".

I stopped the clock at 5:22 - a proud moment for me and my kids!!

Next up - Bengaluru Midnight Full Marathon

I joked that this 42.2k would be easier than the 1500m - this was a no time pressure run. I toyed around with a sub-4hr possibility, had decided to keep to a sub-4 pace for the first half and then take it as it comes.

A few of colleagues were running the 5k starting at 6:30PM. I made my way to the start line with them for the photo-op. I then headed to a cousin's flat nearby for some BBB dinner and feet-up time.

The midnight marathon is conducted in Whitefield and since its inception in 2007 (read my race report from the archives), it is run in a 5k loop x 8 times! The traffic is blocked, there are some festivities and music, the loops come and go quickly - I like the model.

I sat quietly through the warm up - half anxious, half nervous. There were just a couple of familiar faces at the start line. Gul, the race director, gave instructions, "Each lap is 5.274km, you have to run 8 laps, if you forget how many laps you have done, take a look at the race time clock and calculate". This drew some laughs at the start line.

The full and half marathons started within 10mins of each other and must have had 500 participants in all.

Within the first km, Satish (who runs a self supported 100miler every year with a friend, Jay) joined me. We quickly realized we had similar finish goals and decided to stay together. For the next 4 laps, we did just that - sometimes a little ahead of pace, sometimes behind but keeping a healthy average - 28:38, 29:03, 26:06, 27:49 for the 4 laps.

I had to take a long 'one' break and a short 'two' break which turned out to be a 'fart' alarm, but didn't lose time (remember how some fans timed Paula Radcliffe's portaloo break during a race).

I expected the HMers and faster FMers would be done with their race by 3hours and then the last hour would have very few runners on course. By the 4th lap, Satish had also fallen behind and I was preparing myself for a lonely night ahead.

But then, Manju popped up - he had finished his HM with a personal best time of 1:27 and decided to join me for a lap or two. This was his way of returning a favour - he was a part of my 3:45 pacing bus a good 6-7years back!

We chatted a bit and held pace and before I knew that lap was over - 27:41

I knew if I was able to keep pace for the next lap, I would have enough in the bank for the last 2 to come in under 4hours.

On the 6th lap, I had a gel which I had hidden on the course. Manju was on and off, but helped me with some plain water to pour upon my head and mixed some salt in water at one of the aid stations, he then decided to call it a day. 6th lap in 28:02

I began to break the remaining 2 laps now into sections and despite a higher perceived effort still managed to keep pace. 7th lap in 28:29

By now, I had 12mins in the bank - meaning, I could finish the 5k in 40mins and still be under 4hours for the marathon! I found no reason to slow down and kept steady. 8th lap in 28:56

And that is how I finished my first marathon in 673 days in 3h:45m - finishing strong and managing a steady pace right throughout.

Yes, my last full marathon distance was on 11 Jan 2022, a self supported run to Nandi hills. Who would have thought it would take me 21months after that fateful accident to run my first marathon.

I am filled with gratitude for this opportunity to relive the feeling all over again. Thank you for your support!

The Bengaluru 24hr stadium Run 2021 - The prep

Since the last one in Feb this year, which I called 24h of happiness (report here), it has been another balancing act of new job pressures, mileage, long runs, family, strength training and Covid of course.

Chennai Runs

Between quarter closes and late Friday night meetings, I did manage a few notably training runs.

Series of 50km runs in Chennai, waking up at 3am and charting a route, dodging the cops, looking for water in petrol pumps and shirtless and dripping bucket loads of sweat.

Nandi Hills and back

Then, I took another shot at a Nandi hills and back run. I was doing so well when I reached the foot of the hills, but was turned around since "I was doing this alone" and there are "Cheetah's in the forest" and the forest guards turned me back. I made it a 80km run with over 400m of elevation climb in the end.

Lord of the Ring Road

This one was special too - was on my mind for a while. Got the courage to try this. With Jay and Vignesh, started from near Hebbal at 7PM in a heavy drizzle, managed to keep the crazy rain run go on till we got rid of the night traffic till about 10PM. Were welcomed by great weather and broad 6 lane white topped roads till silk board by midnight. I dropped my companions here and pressed on for rest of the IT corridor, running in the now empty dedicated bus lanes reaching Hebbal at 3AM. What a run that was!

UAS 100

Most recently, I also ran a 100 laps around a local UAS ground to get used to the monotonous. The weather in Bangalore has been fantastic and it played out during all my training runs this year.

Spartan Sessions

Strength training sessions, an hour+ thrice a week, were all trying to reach and train all those muscles and muscle groups to come together in a crescendo for the party that is a 24hr run. Coach Umashankar and Devi Prashanth Shetty were really making it count.

I am in great spirits (less than 6hours for the race to start), just need the legs to take me the distance. Wish me luck!

Church Street First – 12 Hour Run

12^th day of the 12^th month, 12 runners, run 12 hours - from 12pm to 12am, I was bib #12

I was in Mumbai when I got this call from Dharma, he just started the 12, 12, 12… chant and I immediately agreed, didn’t need a better reason to sign up. The weekend of 12/12 was that of a packed week – quit old job, join new job as bookends, thrown in hospital duties, a motivational talk, a not-so-socially-distanced flight – all in 5 days, where’s the room for a run, you would think.

The more you squeeze me, the more I find a way to wriggle out for a run.

There was some excitement build up – bibs, posters, my pretty face on 6 x 2 flex cut out, etc. I packed a gym bag with some gels, electral, date syrup – my go-to race day nutrition, with some warmers and a windcheater. I had many familiar faces in the 12 member team, having known Ashwini, Shyamala, Dharma, Ramesh, Naresh, Atif & Jay for a few years now. In a last minute addition, Rajesh from racetime.in agreed to count our laps.

The course was simple – run down the Church street cobble path 500m towards Koshy’s and then turn around and run back to the timing mat at the start point, turn around and repeat for 11:59:59

The rest room was inside the Karnataka Pollution (Control) Board building and there was water station at the start point.

Church Street is off vehicular traffic on Saturdays between 10am to midnight to promote a place with “Clean Air” for social gatherings, street food, drinks, live music, dance shows, painting, art work, and running of course. The best part of the run was to weave through pedestrian traffic as the vibes & the feel of Church street changed through the day.

The race started on time, in hot noon sun, with Darshan and Sunil joining us for the first few hours. I set off with Atif for about 3-4 laps, but he then took off. There were just a handful of photo buffs, solo hip hopers on the road then. I managed 11k in the first hour, but was already feeling the heat.

I only remember taking a few breaks to the restroom to pour water on my head to cool me off. The next 3 hours went with 10k, 9k, 8k. 38km in 4hours and the marathon mark in 4:25!!

This was a good lesson for running in the heat. A few things had happened by now. By around the 2 hour mark, the BBMP marshals who were patrolling the street requested the organisers to have us run with masks! Four of our 12 runners found this disgusting enough to quit the race! I realized that there was no real food on the offer. 

My pal, Raghu decided to finish his maiden 150km bike ride alongside me. My dad and mom dropped by 3PM, and left behind some Kadale bele payasa and bananas. Most importantly, the crowds had begun to swell up.

As the sun was getting less hot, the crowds were getting hotter! I had to take off my sunglasses to stay focused on the job at hand.

Church Street was awesome! It had the feel of one of those European Saturday nights and I sorely missed my family and was making silent plans to get them the next weekend. Hour 5 and 6 came and went with some poor mileage - 47k by 5hours and 55k by 6hours. I was also cramping by the 4^th hour and had to slow down to ease things off. There were other running friends who stopped to say ‘hello’, have a few drinks. Shuvi, Gokul & gang were busy setting a personal best for the amount of time spent on a coffee table at the café.

Then suddenly, just as I was taking yet another U-turn, I heard a familiar voice call out my name. I looked up a wife and family were making their way through the barricades! It was such an amazing moment. Turned out, she heard from my dad that there was no solid food, and so, she had cooked some and brought it along! Truly blessed to have such as supportive family.

I had a great time showing my kids around the various sights – the live music, the lights, the paintings! Then, other friends – Tima, Raagi, Vidya joined the party. The temperatures dropped quite quickly and my support team stayed cozy in the cafes while I was adding to my lap counts. By now, the rhythm was steady, the cramps had eased, but fatigue had taken over.

By the time my family left, I had about 3 hours to go. The 7^th, 8^th and 9^th hours had yielded 5, 7 and 5kms only! Sometimes, you have to stop to smell the roses!

The next 3 hours were about staying on course and getting the job done. I added another 20kms to take the tally up to 94km. It started to nice and cold, the crowds had thinned down, the girl selling roses still shouted “fast”, “fast” as I limped by.

It was great to finish yet another near 100k effort on my feet, still running!

Run To The Moon 100k

Of Performance and Perceptions

That's a strange opening line for a report on a 100k run, you reckon. What's perception got to do with a 100k run, what's it got to do with running from 1am to noon, what with running on a 1km road, with being tired or happy at the end, with feeling positive or negative - EVERYTHING! Perceptions Matter.

 

These are strange quarantimes - "getting positive" is the most negative thing and I have been trying to find excuses to not "fatten my curves".

So, ever since the lockdown began, I have been running alone on a long 1km road (4th cross road, to be precise) behind my home.

The Kanyakumari to Kargil virtual run (#KANKAR >> report here) helped build the mileage, 2 weeks of over 200km+ mileage. I had continued with some steady 40km+ runs during the subsequent weekends.

 

NEB Sports used the KANKAR template for a moonshot, quite literally - a relay virtual run, all the way to the moon and back! During a casual chat with the NEB Boss, Nagaraj, I offered to run a 100km as a #GiantLeap to finish the Run To The Moon (RTTM). 

RTTM is a 31 day challenge, where runners get to contribute between 2.5k to 10k per day for 31 days. The overall mileage (from the 14000 participants) adds up to the distance between Earth and the Moon (… and back… to home quarantine, of course). The event is raising more than 14 lakh rupees towards supporting Support staff of various sports departments.

 

As the D-day, 18^th July, neared and cases rose, the lockdown rules started to get stringent. Perceptions Matter. I'm covidient, Cubbon park or Nandi hills as possible locations for the 100k were considered and dropped. My initial plan was to run the 100k on empty (with no calorie intake), this plan I dropped too.

 

So I decided to run in the comfort of my locality, a 1km stretch of road, quiet with low traffic, small elevation, up and down, 50 times.

Perceptions Matter - I decided to start early, to give me the comfort of having done significant distance before 6am.

 
1AM to 5AM

The early hours felt like I was on the moon, there was no human in sight!! Running up and down and stopping only to be a “Super Spreader”. No no, not the virus, the Peanut Butter on Brown Bread, my top of the hour snack. I kept to a steady pace of about 10kmph. Perception-related challenges in my current job kept my mind busy. In 4hrs, I had covered about 40kms, some stray dogs as spectators. By 6AM, still running alone, I made 50kms in 5h:03

 

Perceptions Matter. The idea of this run, was also to show “the art of possible” so far as fitness is concerned, during these “unprecedented times”. In an attempt to get as many involved, I had short Covideo streams updated on Instagram (follow me on @ultrabhat NOW) and FB.

 

By 7AM, this got a few runners from my side of town to drop by and provide support and cheers. The runversations, selfies and pics slowed things down a bit, but was very refreshing. Thanks for coming!

This 2 hour slot was the busiest. My kids came to visit and wanted to run a bit with me. By 9 am, I was done about 73kms.

 
9AM to 12 noon Finish

Perceptions Matter, but Performance, perhaps more!

By 9AM, there was no more fanfare. I was alone once again, this time I had the sun for company for the remaining 27kms. I was still running steady – walking the short uphill every loop, but running the rest. But just as my energy was waning, Shreya brought me curd rice (I sent her back for seconds).

 

Then I had Santosh and Shilpa come back again by 11am to pace my last 13 km or so. My Dad and another runner, Naveen joined my swelling support crew. My kids got on their bikes and we polished off the last few laps in style.

 

Pic credits: Ramesh, Naveen

While I get back to worrying about Perceptions and Performances during my work week, I’m happy to have rediscovered my Passion over this weekend!

 

Not everything that counts can be measured, and not everything that can be measured counts.

 

If you still want some counts, the stats are on Garmin Connect (https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/5253339689), I particularly liked the Heart Rate vs. Elevation

Lockdown Dairies

How I engaged the physiological (stomach), the physical (my body), the mental (my brain) and the metaphysical (my soul) during these lonely times.

On March 21^st, I waved my family a double good-bye, with both hands, little did I know I would spend the longest time away from them, ever – 72 days. Like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, I went into a transformation, while he grew a beard, I grew a Mohawk!

As the goalpost of their return kept shifting from Lockdown 1.0, to 2.0 and so on, I took up multiple “projects” to keep myself engaged.

The Physiological – “that which is related to the physical upkeep”

For most of my basic requirement of food, I relied on my mom, lunch was the only time when I would get to talk to them. I ate there and brought home the sambar for my rice + egg burji dinner. But I did a few experiments in the kitchen – including baking a banana cake for my 40^th birthday! The pic does no justice to how good some of these tasted!

The Mental – “that which is related to the brain”

The easiest project was to pick up a popular series such as the “Family man” (talk about irony here) and binge watch. I admit, I got a prime membership and watched 6 episodes, mostly out of curiosity. But dropped it, when I saw how easy it was to get hooked to this.

I then tried to learn the Vishnusahastranama, got till about mid-way. But I completed 2 certification programs for a data mining course. It did come down to the wire during the 2.5 hours exams that I had to endure, right down to the last question to decide if I would cross the line. In the Dhoni style, I hit the last ball for a six! Binge learning, way better than binge anything else!

The Physical – “that which is related to the body”

I took a long break from running after the Bengaluru Ultra in Dec, nearly 10 weeks of ZERO mileage. Just when I was getting back to running, COVID hit us. 

Not the one to take “lockdown” as an excuse, I continued to run responsibly – alone and in a 1 km stretch of a road that goes nowhere, near home. I put in mindless runs of 5km, 10kms, 30 mins or 1 hour runs just building an aerobic base. It was too early for me to take part in the quarantine backyard ultra – a great concept in these times, details here.

But when NEB sports and Sunil C came up with the Kanyakumari-Kargil relay run (#KanKar), I was ready. The plan was simple – each member of the Indian team for the 24h and the 100k runs as much as she or he can, each day from 21^st of May. You log the mileage, the total team mileage for the day is marked on the Indian map, from Kanyakumari, all the way up to Kargil. The goal was to complete this 3815kms in 15days, to get the sponsors to contribute to charity. Each day of early finish, will get more money into the charity pot.

Of the 22 runners who began, the cyclone Amphan, the over 40 deg plus weather in Delhi and the seal down orders in Mumbai, meant no running for a few of our athletes.

Namma Bengaluru had no such issues – the evening downpours ensured that the mornings were cool till about 8AM or so. I was looking to log some consistent mileage, my wife and I decided that 30k should be doable. From day2 onwards, I stuck to a routine – wake up at 4:15AM, start the run at 5, run for 2.5 hours or so, 25kms. Notably, all my runs were done

1. In the 1 km long road, up and down 12 times each morning
2. In about 2:27mins to 2:40 mins
3. In the same set of singlet and shorts (washed immediately under the shower to rid of the Novel C19)
4. On an empty stomach, only sipping from a 1 liter water bottle once every 4kms
5. While passing a set of morning walkers and runners - with a nod, or a wave or a good morning!

The evening “recovery” run was almost always 6k, somedays I ran a couple of kms more. En-route, I logged my best weekly mileage ever at 223kms. As we approached Kargil, well before schedule, on the 10^th and the last day, I decided to take it up a notch, ran a 4:15 full marathon distance, again on empty, same loop, same singlet, same “hi”s and “hello”s!

My mileage count for the 10 days

	Leaderboard		May 21	May 22	May 23	May 24	May 25	May 26	May 27	May 28	May 29	May 30
Manoj	307		12	32	34	31	31	31	32	31	31	42

What was truly remarkable was the fact that my injuries did not flare up, especially the high hamstring injury that has been irritating me since the last 24hr run in Bangalore. My recovery was fantastic. I continued to have early dinners, slept as early as I could, sometimes as early as 8:30PM, this must have helped the rejuvenation. More importantly, I enjoyed every single run, barring a few patches. I told my sister one day “there will be difficult days. To do the right thing on a day when you are not totally up to the task, is what endurance is all about.”

… and finally,

The Metaphysical – “that which is beyond the physical, of the soul”

The truth is – I missed my family. And there were days of a weird sadness. But thanks to these “projects”, I pressed on, going from one distraction to the next. But what gave me most joy, was this one. Inspired by my friend, P, who drew a mural on her wall at her home in the bay area, I decided to give a go to draw my kids portrait on their room wall. I tried a few things, lots of innovative hacks, youtube vidoes, photo prints on transparencies, but eventually drew this with charcoal. They haven’t seen this yet.

After 72 days, they will be back tomorrow, the look on their faces will touch my soul.

Hope this has touched yours too.

Stay strong, Stay safe. Remember, now you got to wash your hands before you dig your nose! Cheers!

Update 12/06/2020:

Stumbling upon the Joy of Running Bengaluru Ultra 2019

For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. - Shakespeare, Hamlet Prince of Denmark

2019 has been a weird year of sorts for my running. I got PBs in 24h, 50k Ultras and many intermediate split best times too. I became a running coach and a motivational speaker. But somehow I “feel” I haven’t been enjoying running as much as I did in my past. And then, I read “Stumbling upon happiness” by Dr. Gilbert (blog title inspiration! and all italics sections in the post are from the book). Awesome book, I will try to take you through my recent Ultra marathon Bengaluru journey with excerpts from the book.

I was the ambassador of the Bengaluru Ultra, so I was of course automatically signed up. But I was thinking I would be “happy” to race this fast flat ultra easy distance, after all, I had gone past this distance many many times this year.

Prospection and Emotion


Prospection can provide pleasure and prevent pain, and this is one of the reasons why our brains stubbornly insist on churning out thoughts of the future. But that is not the only one. People find it gratifying to exercise control. We all steer ourselves toward the futures that we think will make us happy, but what does that word really mean?

In Part II of the book, “Subjectivity,” Dr. G tells you about the science of happiness. The word happiness is used to indicate at least three related things, which we might roughly call emotional happiness, moral happiness, and judgmental happiness.

Happiness, then, is the you-know-what-I-mean feeling.


And talking about judgmental happiness - Our remembrance of things past is imperfect, thus comparing our new happiness with our memory of our old happiness is a risky way to determine whether two subjective experiences are really different.

Comparing with the Possible

Dr. G says we derive support for our preferred conclusions by listening to the words that we put in the mouths of people who have already been preselected for their willingness to say what we want to hear.

Exactly, both D and Ath agreed the previous weekend; that I was in perfect shape to run a low 4hour for the 50k! I listened to the words that I put in the mouth of this preselected sample, lol!

The bottom line is this: The brain and the eye may have a contractual relationship in which the brain has agreed to believe what the eye sees, but in return the eye (ear) has agreed to look (hear) for what the brain wants.


So basically, my brain has tricked me by “filling in memory” of my last ultras to making me believe I will be happy. 

That when people make predictions about their reactions to future events, they tend to neglect the fact that their brains have performed the filling-in trick as an integral part of the act of imagination.

The details that the brain puts in are not nearly as troubling as the details it leaves out.

Perhaps it isn’t surprising that the gritty details of running an ultra that are so salient to us as we execute them were not part of our mental image of running it, when we imagined it a month earlier, but what is surprising is how surprised we are when those details finally come into view.

Yes. After having completed the first 2 loops 12.5kms each, in 60mins and 64mins, the legs start to feel like they have lead inside them. How could I have not remembered this feeling from before; What *was* I thinking?

Looking Forward to Looking Backward

The psychological immune system defends the mind against unhappiness in much the same way that the physical immune system defends the body against illness.

A healthy psychological immune system strikes a balance that allows us to feel good enough to cope with our situation but bad enough to do something about it. So, I ploughed on, slowly, rationalizing that will still get me to finish in under 4.5 hours!

This is profound: we will feel better soon as we begin to discover facts that support this conclusion (“I went out too fast for the 2 loops, didn’t I, Ath?”), but the process by which we discover those facts must feel like a discovery and not like a snow job. If we see ourselves cooking the facts (“If I phrase the question just this way and ask nobody but Ath, I stand a pretty good chance of having my favored conclusion confirmed”), then the jig is up and self-deluded joins jilted in our list of pitiful qualities.

Net-net, don’t try to cook this feeling, sitting on your couch on a Sunday morning. You gotta be out there to “discover” the facts.

Indeed, in the long run, people of every age and in every walk of life seem to regret not having done things much more than they regret things they did, which is why the most popular regrets include not going to college, not grasping profitable business opportunities, and not spending enough time with family and friends. (and, if I may dare add – not running 50k ultra marathons!)

Let me now try and explain the run itself, but first, a caveat.

Explanation robs events of their emotional impact because it makes them seem likely and allows us to stop thinking about them. Oddly enough, an explanation doesn’t actually have to explain anything to have these effects—it merely needs to seem as though it does.

Outside Looking In

Experience and our awareness of the Experience are generated by different parts of the brain. Apparently, it is possible – at least for some of the people some of the time – to be happy, sad, bored, or curious, and not know it!!

Was I happy when I finished, and not know it??

So when Sunil asked me as I was crossing the finish line (clock reading 9:12:52AM, 4:42hrs after the start), the world’s most familiar question “How are you?”, did I not know my own heart?

Go to your bosom;
Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know. – Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

The Way We Weren’t

Where do I go from here?

The fact that the least likely experience is often the most likely memory can wreak havoc with our ability to predict future experiences.

Apparently, the way an experience ends is more important to us than the total amount of pleasure we receive—until we think about it.

We show a pronounced tendency to recall the items at the end of the series far better than the items at the beginning or in the middle.

Because we tend to remember the best of times and the worst of times instead of the most likely of times, the wealth of experience that young people admire does not always pay clear dividends.

You will remember feeling as you had expected to feel, and not as you had actually felt.

All convoluted - the problem with this error of retrospection is that it can keep us from discovering our errors of prospection. Our inability to recall how we really felt is one of the reasons why our wealth of experience so often turns out to be a poverty of riches.


Reporting Live from Tomorrow

I quickly cancelled my plan to run from Bangalore to Mysore the next weekend, and rationalized why I should not run the Chandigarh 24hr run and by extension not be on the national team again.

The Inescapability Trigger

We are more likely to look for and find a positive view of the things we’re stuck with than of the things we’re not (and more likely to achieve the positive view of a bad experience than of a very bad experience).

The show will go on, and in 2020, I will continue to lead you to mindless long posts, I am stuck to running, and if have come this far, you are stuck with my posts!!

May you soon stumble upon “Happiness” in 2020

Malnad Ultra 2019

Getting back to the trail after a long time, allow me to mix it up some components with some Chautauqua.

Thomas, Susheel Tomal and I ran down the last stretch to the finish line in tow, crossing the line with the clock reading 16:24, nudging the photographer to get a shot. Somehow the ultra runners in the queue behind the finish line didn’t seem to acknowledge. They just stood there, no cheering, nothing. Ok. Then we went up the stage to take some more pics. That’s when someone asked if we had done 1 loop, we said, "No, we finished 2". Then it dawned on them, that we had indeed finished the 100k and then, there was some applause. For most of them in that line, they had changed their goal post from finishing the run to organizer-bashing, complaining about the 30k loop marking, and focusing on getting the medal and not being branded as a DNF (the dreaded Did-Not-Finish).

Missing the woods (coffee estates?) for the trees (markings?), eh

The course

Due to some last minute exigencies, the course had to exclude Café Coffee Day estates this year. Laying a virgin course especially when it was raining like it was, is a huge challenge. I’m glad the Anand and team pressed on, and didn’t call it off altogether.

The start and finish was at Maskalmardi estate, a 50km loop to start with, over 2000m of climbs and then 2 loops of 30k each with about 1000m of climbs. My general plan was to finish the 50k section by lunch time, then the first 30k section before it gets dark. We had arrived at the estate a good 1.5hours before the start. At 4am, we had taken a shuttle bus ride from Ballavara to the start point. Navin, Sampath and I found a temple near the start point to lie down and stretch our legs, and then went into the wilderness for the big job!

In the last week, I had completed 4 sessions with a physio, trying to get my iliopsoas and ischial spine (sitting bone) to relax – injuries I had been carrying since my last 24h run. Given the inconsistent nature of these injuries, I wasn’t sure how long I would last on the trail. I brought out my most expensive piece of wardrobe – my full tights, for the extra support.

We started off well, within the first 2kms my injuries started talking. But in an Ultra, these things come and go. I kept a steady cadence, but the slushy trails, the climbs and the slippery downhills slowed everyone down considerably. I took 3.5hrs for the first 30k. Somewhere around the 15k or so, Sampath blazed past shouting “guess who”. He took the 50k in 4:45 at first place! The only runnable stretch was the ridge, with some spectacular views. 

I kept the company of a Swede Thor for a bit and we exchanged some running stories, then he got ahead. By the time I got back to the ridge, I was staving off some mild cramps as well. I borrowed a bottle from Opendro and some salt tablets from Deepak, bumped up some salt intake to help ease the cramps. I got back to Maskalmardi estate (with my Garmin showing 47.5k) at 12:45PM.

I picked up some gels and my own sipper from the baggage tent. I was hoping to get some solid food in, and limped down the steps, but lunch was not ready. I grabbed a couple of boiled eggs and was on my way.

Course markings

Just as I was about a km into the 30k section, I saw the race leaders back tracking! They were an agitated bunch – complaining, swearing, lots of negativity, about the markings that just kept looping, apparently. I said I will follow the course, even if I must loop all day. I simply believed that the organisers would have marked it alright. Then brimming with confidence, I went on ahead, found the right trail (with help from some volunteers who were now taking their place at their designated place to direct runners). But still managed to loop twice around a 2k section. The 30k loop was (admittedly) marked without much time or resources to audit.

There was one other place, when we got to the 56k aid station (with 54k showing on my Garmin) where I met runners who had done as less at 48k!! I was trying to stay on the right course, knowing I need to get there again when it would be dark. The 30k loop has a stretch of about U-turn of 3.5k on road, allowing to interact with a few other runners (who were again complaining!!). 

The markings were very confusing:

• ^ and <- both="" but="" go="" in="" meant="" most="" places.="" places="" some="" span="" straight=""> meant “go left”
• In some places the arrows were on the far side of the trees, and not visible when you are running in the correct direction
• In another place, there were arrows going both right and left. What it meant was “First go left, do a small loop, then when you come back to this place, go Right”. Yeah, right!!
• One other place, the arrows just led to a stream and then nothing. It meant “back track 1km, then you will see an arrow going right”

Anyways there were still enough uphills and one very slippery downhill to navigate. Some short runnable sections. My cramps, injuries and all else had settled down and I was keeping steady cadence. By now, Thomas – a 25 yr old from Chennai & Susheel – a 32yr old Navy from Bihar were keeping me company.

We spotted some boars & deer on a couple of occasions.

We finally got back to the road, a point 200m from the start. But we still had to take a 4km loop before we finished. There were some volunteers who led us on this loop, down to a pond, then back steep up to an inspection bunglow, back on road and to the start/finish point.

Aid stations, Food, medical, rest areas, etc.

Back at the start point, by 6pm, 80kms done, I picked up my headlamps, some more gels. I again tried to look for some solid food, gobbled some quick bisi bele bath and coffee and got back on the trail, for the last loop. The aid stations had enough water, but almost nothing useful to eat - just oranges and biscuits. Thankfully, I was sustaining myself with Gels and didn’t worry much. Most aid stations had an electrolyte drink, but the mixing was not consistent.

Medical was only at the start/finish point, there could have been some sprays in the aid stations, but not sure.

Weather and other elements

At the first aid station on the 30k loop, the three of us regrouped again. It was great to have company in the night section. I got lost more than once & if it were not for Thomas, would have just looped around. Susheel had long walking strides and ensured that we were keeping a steady pace. Thomas and I jogged the flats and downhills and caught up with him as he led us on.

We navigated the entire course, my legs were now on auto pilot. We came to the final road section and I insisted that we do the 4k loop as well. My Garmin was only showing about 97k and I wanted to at least get to a 100k. And we of course have to do the entire course, the runners conscience doesn’t permit otherwise. So we crossed the broken bridge (again!) and made our way towards that treacherous uphill. But this time, the markings were off, there were no volunteers at the turn off point and it looked like the course was cut short. We reluctantly jogged some more took a U-turn and made our way to the finish line.

Finishers medals!!!

Or the finishers belt buckle. To compensate for the marking fiasco and for the difficulty of the course, the organisers had decided to hand out 110k belt buckles even if you had only done 1 loop or 80k. And guess what, there was line of these runners, just waiting to pick up their (undeserved) medals. Who cares that there was still a good 8hours to go and only 30k to do, let’s just get that 110k belt buckle, that should be enough to brag about?

Back in those days, about 10yrs back, when we used to train in Cubbon Park, running folklore had it that the lap wouldn’t count, if you didn’t touch the Cubbon park gates, as you took a U-turn. To this day, when I run in Cubbon, I touch those gates. Running is a means to an end, sadly, the end seems to be social media bragging rights for a few.

As for me, I checked off a few boxes – ran without my injuries flaring up, got back to trails after a really long time, managed 16hrs on my feet.

I almost took a one-year sabbatical from running, about a week before this race, to bring back some balance into my life. But thanks to my family (once again!) I was still able to gang up with my BHUKMP pals for this trip and totally enjoyed it.

Each run is a gift, each trail, each step is – feel the gratitude!