Totempole NH3 Run

A day after the Blaydon race, was another treat – a fantastic run no. 877 with the NH3. It started from the Totem Pole’s backyard, into many hills in and around the Hetton park area.
Faceplant, speedbump and I managed to get to a few FRB checks. Back at the circle in Totem pole’s house, I was charged for sitting at the FRB checks which earned me my visiting hash name, Disposed Phatphatia.
The wheat beer, Schneider Weisse and lemon pickles brought back memories of home.The photos here: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/manoj.bhat/NHHHAtTotemPoles

Cyclone Challenge and the Giant Miracle

I did have a busy ‘business’ trip this summer; sample this:
Monday 1st June – Landed at Newcastle
Wednesday 3rd – heard about the Blaydon race at the NH3 run
Friday 5th – saw a poster for the Cyclone Challenge at client office
Saturday 6th 4pm – push in a last minute postal entry into the Cyclone race
Monday 8th – Promised a spare number to the Blaydon race & a bike for the Cyclone challenge
Tuesday 9th – Run the Blaydon race
Wednesday 10th – Run with the NH3 at Totem pole’s
Thursday 11th – Pick up bike from client manager’s home
Friday 12th – Get bike serviced & register for the race
Saturday 13th – 62mi ride in the Northumbrian countryside on my Giant Bike
Sunday 14th – Reflect on the busy week that was ;)

Maybe it was nowhere close to being miraculous, but each piece fell so neatly in place and before I knew it, I had participated in a 100k race in what would, eventually be, my bike!!

I never have been a destiny’s child and always had to earn every reward, but this time around I couldn’t have made it without a lot of help.
I would have missed it, if it hadn’t been for a poster at cafeteria at work.
I would have missed it, if, after seeing that the online reg was closed, I did not write to the organizers.
I would have missed the postal registration, if the organizers office was a distance away (with some few hours, no postal service would have delivered the form that quick). It was a mile from my hotel.
I would have missed it, for the want of a bike and Newcastle didn’t have a store where I could hire one.
I would have missed it, if the only biker I knew at work – Tony was at work (he probably has a MTB not suitable for the race). But Tony was on a 2 week vacation.
I would have missed it, if had heard about Tony leave from anyone else but Tim, coz when Tim heard why, he said he could possibly have a bike at home that I could borrow!
I would have missed it, if it wasn’t one of “those bikes with thin tires, and funny way to change gears” (aka road bikes!)
I surely wouldn’t have brought it back with me, if Tim was a biker himself, or if his girlfriend insisted he become one or if British Airways didn’t allow free carriage for sporting equipment, or, most importantly, if Ananth hadn’t told me this 2yrs ago on a Nandi ride!

Presenting… The Bike
It was indeed a “bike with thin tires, and a funny way to change gears”. It was a 2006 Giant OCR3 series – a mid range, budget road racing bike, with triple chain rings in the front useful for climbing. It has an Allux frame, carbon fork, 24speed Shimano Sora shifters, Shimano Sora in the front and Shimano Tiagra at the rear derailleur’s. It’s a XL 58cm and at 10kgs it weighs close to nothing. I did have to spend a bit at Cyclogical to get it road worthy and a little more to pack it later for the air travel.

Pre-Race:
The pre-race Registration was at Leazus park on Friday evening. It was not quite the gala I had expected but was nevertheless buzzing with bikers participating in the Criterium races clocking those fast laps around the park. For an event that was touted as “one of UK biggest”, the lack of bike stalls was conspicuous. At the counter, a SI-card was strapped around the waist and was to be kept that way till the end of the race. I also got my first bike number - 1835

The Race (link):
I had gone through the Google maps directions using street map, a number of times to make sure I don’t get lost the following morning in getting to the Falcons Rugby Club. Even as I entered the stadium, I saw a peloton riding out of the stadium and immediately felt the adrenaline rush. The start was well organized – some 2000 bikers were starting either the 62mi or the 100mi races in a space of 2hrs. Some 20bikes were flagged off every 2mins after dipping the SI-card in the timing slots. It looked like I was the only Indian rookie around, also arguably the only one in non-skin-tight shorts, without cleats or water bottle, but still carrying a camera!

The plan was to stay with the peloton or paceline behind someone to catch the draft. But the group spaced out in no time. As Leadlegs says in his blog:
“Now and again the small group we started out riding with, …, was swamped by a faster group that zipped all around us like hungry piranha attacking a carcass, before moving on to the next victim. It was a bit intimidating at first but I soon got used to it.”
As soon as we were out of Ponteland we were left with beautiful countryside to deal with. I tried to make small talk with fellow bikers for awhile. There was also a nagging patter from the front of the bike that I attributed immediately to the only critical area in the front – the fork or the quick release. It was just the clattering noise and I hadn’t made up my mind to stop and look for the problem. An Irish biker came up quietly behind me and pointed out to the reflector tapping against the brake cable and welcomed me to the ‘noiseless world’.
And from then on, there were no problems with the bike whatsoever.

My first off-saddle point came as early as 22mi or so, just before the Forestburn timing station. I didn’t shift the gears at the right time and the cadence had dropped putting in too much strain on the quads on a steep incline.

The timing station (which I reached in 1:22hrs) was stocked well, and I gulped down lots of water, a chocolate bar and some bananas. I also pocketed a couple of bars to sustain me till the next station, which according to the map, was about the same distance as the first.

So I had started out expecting to be out of water for about 1.5 hrs. I also knew that this section had the most climbs and very undulating. The 62milers separated from the 100milers about here and there was a much lesser crowd from here on…

I took many of the climbs either very easy or off the saddle, jogging alongside like a loser. After 1.5hrs, I began to expect the aid station sometime and was tapping into the reserves of my body fluids. The combination of no water and jumping off the saddle expedited the incidence of cramps. I can manage calf cramps, but the cramps in the Quads are the worse and I dread them.

After about 2hrs, I had started to hallucinate, looking far ahead to spot any signs of colorful paraphernalia of the water stations. I had started to curse the organizers for not making this clear in the map. It was clearly mentioned that there would be 4. I had started to wonder how close the remaining timing stations would have to be, to accommodate 3 more. The other riders simply zipped by with customary “Are you alrites”, but didn’t wait enough to hear my “not really”s. By this time I had started to question my wisdom of entering into the 62mi event. And the lush green landscape? I didn’t notice much.

The Ryals:
So, in this state of desperation, I look around the bend in the road and there is this “the fearsome climb of the Ryals with its 30% middle gradient” as described by the organizers. There was no way in bloody hell I was going to get on top of that on my bike. My optimistic side was still expecting a water stop right on top like a reward. But barring some photographers (for whom I got on my bike again to get this pic) and some resting bikers, there were none. But I was surprised by the number of bikers who attacked the Ryals, to the top of the first one and then continued on to the top of the second!!

And finally when I had made up my mind to crash into the next pub that I saw, the tents of the timing station at Stamfordhm came to view. I had gone 2:53hrs, the toughest section of the race, without water!

I rested there for awhile and was also forced to rest someplace midway. Although this was the easiest section -12mi and downhill most of the way, I took about an hour to finish in 5:17:47hrs overall.

Post Race:
The final standing put me in position 520 among 825 finishers. Not great, but I must have won the “longest without fluid” category hands down, if ever there was one. I picked up the goody bag and a simple cotton tee, some chips, coffee and the timing certificate and sat down at the exit to enjoy the spoils.

Well, if you thought I did ok, you should check the blog link which I chanced upon… about how 10yr old (yeah 10yr old!!!) Josh finished just 11mins after me. Woah, lotsa catching up to do there, I am about 19years behind!
Time to get back to work now…

The Blaydon Race

Aw went to Blaydon Races, 'twas on the ninth of Joon,twenty hundred an' nowt-nine, on a summer's efternoon;Aw tyuk the start frae Balmbra's, afore the light was fadin’,Away we went alang Collingwood Street, an’ in 42mins was in Blaydon.
(chorus)
Oh lads, ye shud only seen us gannin',We pass'd the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin';Thor wes lots o' lads an' lasses there, all wi' smiling faces,Gawn alang the Scotswood Road, to see the Blaydon Races.

Disclaimer: I didn’t write that. This anthem of Tyneside was written by Geordie Ridley and
eIn keepin wiv da Blaydon spirit, I iz writin dis in Geordie English.
Read on… an' if yous don’t iz gona, try again whun yous iz well.

So, as hit turned hout, I wuz da third in line to get da spare dijits fe da race hat da Hash an' dere wuz 2. I wuz fe real sore to as missed on da fun-race. But, I iz not da one to borrow up easily, an' I had da well kind manageez hat wurk to put up da notice fe da spare runnin dijits.
So, as it turned out, I was the third in line to get a spare number for the race at the Hash and there were 2. I was really sore to have missed on what was promised to be a fun-race. But, I am not the one to give up easily, and I had a very kind Manager at work to put up a notice for a spare running number.

And lo an' behold, on 8th da monday, Steve walks up to me an' tells me dat e could as one an' dat da lad from da club iz gona brin hit on toosday durin grub. I didn’t mind da 10 poonds hat all.
And lo and behold, on 8th the Monday, Steve walks up to me and tells me that he could have one and that a lad from the club would bring it on Tuesday during lunch. I didn’t mind the 10 pounds at all.
And that’s how I came about wearin da bib dijits 682 in Groat market lookin fe hashers hat 5pm on da 9th hof june. da band wuz bein set up in front hof balmbras an' da marshals wuz gettin' ready to blok da traffic.
And that’s how I came about wearing the bib number 682 in Groat market looking for Hashers at 5pm on the 9th of June. A band was being set up in front of Balmbras and the marshals were getting ready to block the traffic.

met lhj, cf, nickerless, woohoo, face-plant, vic & claire not before I had fed meself wiv da six mile sub-way. da nek muscle wuz da only one wot wuz warmed up before da race, wiv all da lookin around (left, east side, up an' down) to do. bwoy oh bwoy.
I met LHJ, CF, Nickerless, woohoo, face-plant, Vic & Claire not before I had fed myself with a six inch sub-way. The neck muscle was the only one that was warmed up before the race, with all the looking around (left, right, up and down) to do. Boy oh boy.

the race started hat 7.15pm in broad daylight an' I fought I wuz ahead hof da pak, bein da club runna, but neva once seun da elite runners. I ran da heavy race, not pushin meself hat any point fe real, coz I had narr feel fe da terrain.
The race started at 7.15pm in broad daylight and I thought I was ahead of the pack, being a club runner, but never once saw the elite runners. I ran a good race, not pushing myself at any point really, because I had no feel for the terrain.

there wuz quite da racket hat da start an' dere wuz bands playin along da course…
“Oh lads, ye shud only seen us gannin',We pass'd the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin';”
There was quite a racket at the start and there were bands playing along the course…
“Oh lads, ye shud only seen us gannin',We pass'd the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin';”

Hit wuz da yorkie experience runnin wiv such da massiv pak hof strong runners. I held da pace an' sprinted da last few meters to da finish line in 42:11 mins.
It was a great experience running with such a huge pack of strong runners. I held the pace and sprinted the last few meters to the finish line in 42:11 mins.

there wuz quillions hof goodies hat da finish line – some luvly eye candy can-can gaals, blak puddin, coffee johnny tee, newcastle brown ale (all part hof da blaydon race tradition). i waited fe da chill fe hashers an' we headed to da blak bull inn fe some blak sheep bea. an' while we wuz re-hydratin, we wuz treated to clog jiggy withit an' sword jiggy withit by da local jiggy withit group. There were loads of goodies at the finish line – some lovely eye candy can-can girls, Black pudding, Coffee Johnny tee, Newcastle Brown Ale (all part of the Blaydon race tradition).
I waited for the rest for hashers and we headed to the Black Bull Inn for some Black Sheep Beer. And while we were re-hydrating, we were treated to Clog dance and sword dance by a local dance group.

Aal togetha hit wuz da dun evenin.
All together it was a beautiful evening.

Moe on Blaydon Race heer
Moe photus heer

The Causey Arch Run

Maybe they didn’t mean it when NH3 bid me farewell at the circle on Run 859, ‘cause I was back to Newcastle, to New Kent Hotel and to NH3 for the first run in June, Run No. 876. The English Summer was in - a heady mix of cool breeze, bright sunshine and intermittent drizzle, near perfect for some long countryside runs.

The Bullocks family were setting the trail in the Durham countryside starting at the Causey Arch Inn & Keko’s Restorante & Pizzeria on Marley Hill. Counterfit offered a lift and we had enough time for some Guinness. It was quite a cold summer evening and I missed my windcheater.
We were about 15 runners and were rewarded right at the beginning – spare balls to pick up! I filled up my pockets with some dimpled balls scattered on the field close to a golf course. The lush green fields and the weather had also inspired some love making along the trail earlier during the day! We piled some miles till we reached the site of the Tanfield Waggonway station.
So there was this railway line that passing under us at the station. Little did I know the history of this line.

Here’s some trivia for you guys - Tanfield & Causey Arch:
The wooden tracks were built in the 18th century to carry coal from the Tanfield colliery to the Tyne side. The wooden wagons were pulled uphill by horses and then gravity carried them to the riverside, the speed being controlled by horses harnessed behind the wagons. Horses then carried the empty wagons back on the bye-way.
930 waggons passed everyday, that’s 1 in 20secs, with some 50yards between them.
Because of friction, the wagons often caught fire and had to be pulled out.
The Causey Arch is the oldest surviving Railway Bridge and was unprecedented when it was built in 1725.

We ran through FRB checks, Molly Pollys, checks, criss-crossing the tracks several times. It took us through some flowery fields to the BS (aka Beer Stop), where we polished off the last drops of some bitter pints.
We joined the walkers in the last stretch to the On-Inn. We warmed ourselves over some Pizzas, I went for the only veggie option – the Ortalano and some more Guinness. The discussions were around the upcoming Balydon race. With the lasses taking the 2 extra numbers that Nick had to spare, would I miss that race narrowly? Did the mountain bikers that we passed on the home stretch, have a prophetic implication? Only time would tell, Stay tuned!
On On
Pics here and more Causey Arch on wiki here.

Lepakshi

I had visited this town on the way to Hampi last year and always wanted to take my parents there someday. It’s perfect for a one day trip from Bangalore, if all you want to do is drive a short distance and still be able to visit someplace significant.

There are 2 ways to get there – via Chikkabalapur on the NH7 and left at Bagepalli or on via Doddaballapur on SH9, through Gouribidanur and Hindupur. There’s nothing to choose between the two in terms of distance, I chose to drive on the NH7 hoping for better roads.

We left at around 9 in the morning after breakfast at home and headed out on NH7 towards Hyderabad. The roads were great in patches, the not-so-good sections were those where we had to move on the wrong side of the road to make way for road widening work. Managed to cover a lot of distance till we reached the Ananthpur check post, just as you enter AP. There are no restaurants on that stretch, if you are used to the likes of Mysore road, you will be in for a rude surprise. We had stocked up sufficiently at Chikkaballapur.

We reached Lepakshi at 11 or so, first visited the Veerabhadra temple, took the services of a guide who in broken Kannada / Telgu went through a lot of historical and mythological significance of the place. The main diety, the lingas, the mural paintings, the kalyana mantap and the suspended pillar depict some fine workmanship. Check the wiki link for more info.
We spent sometime also at the Nandi statue which is the largest in India, followed by Tanjore and Chamundi Hills (that makes 3/3 for me). We were told that the Nandi here was a calf really and from the expressions a timid one.
We drove straight back and were in time for late lunch and early coffee.

Warwick Castle Jog

Work took me to Warwick near Birmingham, UK during the end of April. Workshops were lined up all day at work and the hotel was way outside of town. I managed to squeeze out time to jog the 6-7miles to see the Warwick castle.
I like the uncertainty and mystery around such runs – you have no idea how long you are going to run, what you are going to see, who you are going to meet.
It was a pleasant evening, the sun was out and the rabbits scurrying into the bushes as I passed them. There were just enough people on walks to ask for directions, one of them even letting me know the best place for a view of the castle. Without this bit of info, I would have run to the (closed!) castle gates and would have missed this spectacular view from over the bridge ahead of the castle.

Act of Random Kindness at Arkesh’s Mango Farm

Date: 02-03 May 09
Something struck me when I saw the closing dialogue of the movie Evan Almighty; I got out of the writer’s block and started to finish this post.
It’s easy to imagine that the ‘Ark’ in the Arkesh’s name stands for Act of Random Kindness. I have known him for a sometime now – as Praks father, soft spoken and charming, he always made you feel good about yourself after you had met him. So when I met him last Dec and spoke with such fervor about his farm off Mysore road, I made a note to myself to visit sometime.

Melukote

We wanted to take the weekend at our pace – Raghu, Raji and Dhannya confirmed and Tima and Ragi dropped off. The only reason I wanted to detour to Melukote was because it looked like a beautiful place in Jani’s album. (yes, I see other parts of those pictures now, after I’ve finally moved on. In fact, I am now on the verge of the imminent. Well, the Noah's Ark was not a singles' cruise; was it?)
We started from Bangalore at around 7, Mysore road was expectedly busy, although it was second day of a long weekend. We drove in my Elantra, stopped at Kamath for the buffet breakfast. The drive after we got off the highway was the best, we rolled the windows down and let the countryside air fill our lungs. It was about 11 when we reached the Kalyani at the bottom of the Melukote hill.
After the must-do photo shoot at the pushkarni, we started to climb up the hill to the Yoga-narasimha temple. It was blazing hot and the climbing the all the steps up to the teimple was not easy. We also visited the Cheluvanarayana temple. It was packed with sweaty devotees and ‘devotion’ was definitely not top of mind when I got a glimpse of the deity.

Where it is:
Approach from Bangalore towards Mysore – Within 0.5k from Ramanagaram bus stop, turn left on Kanakpura road. Reach Railway over bridge within 0.5k, pass the bridge and turn right after the bridge on Bannikuppe road. Reach Bannikuppe in 8km, turn right at T-junction and an immediate left turn to reach Aralaalasandra
Approach from Bangalore towards Kanakapura – Reach Saatanur via Doddalahalli. Proceed on Channapatana road about 20k to reach Volagerehalli and 3km from there to Aralaalasandra
Approach from Mysore towards Bangalore – After Channapatna bus stop turn right towards Honganooru at Saatnur circle. At a fork about 4-5k later, stay on the tank bund and continue for about 5k to Volagerehalli and continue straight to Aralaalasandra
I never thought we could make it with those directions, but they were spot on and more accurate than the GPS (sloppy benchmark to start with).
It was right at the end, that we overshot the farm, thanks to Raghu’s misleading gut-feel and our not-so-local-language-conversant co-pilot, Dhannya. The Elantra was subject to a lot of abuse from the road (or the lack of it), but I was proud of the way it handled the terrain meant for the 4x4s.

What is it:
We had absolutely no idea what to expect when we reached the farmhouse. But as soon as parked there, we started to breathe, see and eat... Mangoes. It’s a 50acre farm – a 1000 mango tress and some delicious varieties – Alphonso (Badami), Raspuri, Totapuri, Kari raspuri and a few local ones. In the middle of the harvesting season, each tree had nearly about 100 mangoes to be picked.
Kenchegowda was the caretaker of the farm, was out to graze cattle. But his wife and kids and Chandrappa made sure we were comfortably settled in the rooms in the first floor of the farmhouse after a guided tour of the farm.

Mango Harvesting: Thanks to movies and beverages, we woke up late and plans of trekking to Devarabetta or Kabaaladurga had to put to shelved for another day. Arkesh uncle came there in the morning and everyone got on their feet (everyone, except Raaji). After a quick breakfast, the mango harvesting began. While Raghu and I joined the team and were soon finishing off an entire tree ourselves. The words - first time right, low hanging fruits and sap actually meant what they were and not some business jargon. Arkesh uncle taught us how to harvest, to keep the sap from burning our fingers or the fruit. It was a relaxing exercise – starting off with an empty carton and a full tree and finishing off with a full carton and an empty tree.
The repetitive act of picking the mango to go for next, carefully plucking it at the right spot, placing it gently in the carton and back till the entire tree is cleaned up, and just doing this over and over again, is what brings to it an element of relaxation.
Raghu and I got back to lunch after a while, but Arkesh and team kept to the task till we had some 60 odd cartons, all treated with Ethylene (?), loaded and ready to make it to Metro.
The girls were having a ball too, sharing the machaan (hammock) and some gossip, am guessing!!
All’s well, but it really didn’t end well. What with the traffic on Mysore road at the end of a long weekend!
The next trip to the farm is going to be on a different set of wheels and also looking to do those treks and maybe a run or two…
Want to leave you guys with this quote from the movie Evan Almighty:
“God: How do we change the world? Evan Baxter: One single act of random kindness at a time.
God: [spoken while writing A-R-K on ground with a stick] One Act, of, Random, Kindness.”
Photos from Raghu and me

Labor Day Labor

While on my trip to UK, of the things that I had picked up were a pair of tail-lamps, a crank brothers hand pump, spiral cable coil lock and a high-viz vest. And all of this had joined my Firefox that had barely been tested.
Bangaloreans are lucky to have Nandi Hills at just the right biking distance in our backyard. The Bangalore Bikers Club rides out almost every weekend to Nandi and I planned to join a group of mountain bikers to ride to Nandi Hills and back – a distance of about 100km from Hebbal. I pulled out of that and decided instead to join Sriram (profiled here) to ride 2 loops from the Nandi turn-off point off the highway. With Sriram, it would mean a much faster pace. But since we were to start off the highway, it would mean I would do a shorter ride.
A 4:30am weekend
This is becoming a norm now, wake up at 4:30am on a weekend. What is unfortunately becoming increasing regular is how I have to wait for people to show up. I was about 10mins early and Sriram was about 30mins late.
We started at about 6:40 from the Nandi turn-off point (23k to Nandi) and rode together one loop of about 10k and back. Sriram took off then, the next thing I saw was as I was approaching the point where we had turned off, he was racing some motorcyclists and was overtaking a few of them. The guy’s a freak.
I continued on and was struggling up the slope, yet to reach the foot of the hill, but already low on cadence and in granny gears. It was then Ignatius Chen Chin Fa, aka Iggy, the Kannada-speaking-Chinese-guy passed me on this bike. I met the die-hard RFLers – Rishi, Amrita and team, they had finished one loop and were getting ready for one more.
I started the ride up the hill – 7k of hill riding, the last 3k pretty steep. I lost Iggy and his friend within the first km or so.
I kept pushing the pedals for about 4k. The pedal clips help a lot in the uphills. You can pull up with one leg and you push down with the other. I had to resort to a lot of walking, jogging in the last 2k and just made it ahead of the runners to the top. I would have to work hard and try and get to scale the hill in one go sometime soon.
Rode down and back to the car in good time. I joined the Rishi and others at the dhaba for breakfast. Lotsa labor on labor day, I should say!

The 'National Geographic' Charlaw Run

The Charlaw Inn NH3 Run No. 859

The Newcastle H3 puts in an additional run out in the countryside on the first Sunday of every month and that gave me a chance to squeeze one more.
Billy was driving from Jesmond and offered me a ride. The run was to start from Charlaw Inn in Edmondsley on the way to Durham. Billy’s navigator, Marian was out in London and I, barely knowing how to read the signs and the map, was to step up and do the job. Little wonder then that we got lost on our way and on my advice (very indianish but effective) stopped at a post office to ask for directions.
The run was hared by knickerless, Bellox me & Talking B – the family hared run. There were the regulars of the NH3, but lots more walkers. It felt great at the start of the run - the cool breeze, the endless fields, the windmill on the horizon, the hash jokes lifted the spirits.
The run quickly took us off the road into the fields and woods. There were some steady uphill sections and the path in the woods ran along a creek for a while, we jumped up and over fences, cattle gates, fallen trees and floating timber. There was a Beer stop about mid way at a local inn, the Wardles Inn and we set off again after the hydration.
The Animal Farm
It wasn’t difficult to find the right trail – do not go in the direction if you hear the hounds barking or if the sign says “beware of the bull”. We passed some deer, rabbits, highland cattle and some wild hashers running all over the place. In many places the earth was soft and it was near impossible to keep the mud off the shoes. I had managed to save my shoes almost till the end, but was duped just once by some grass over a slushy patch and went in ankle deep into cold mud.
The Farewell
I was honored again at the circle, with a down down, a complimentary NH3 tee-shirt and cap. Thanks NH3 for those wonderful runs and for being such a shit-hot host. On On…
Rest of the photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/manoj.bhat/NH3CharlawRunNo859

Ps: The title of the post is inspired by someone who has made a few appearance on visorview in the past and made it to the finals of the NatGeo Misson Navy... hats off!!!

Run Kennedys

Obelix, Watsarong, Lubri, Counterfit, Billy, Marian, Lubricunt, Speedbump, Inncontenance, LHJ, HJ, Knickerless, Yohoo Banger, Totempole, Phatphatia – that was the entry that went under Run No. 858 at Kennedy’s at 8:25 on Wednesday the 25th Feb '09 (that is 1day short of 3yrs since I started running with the BH3. It's in the archive here).

For me, it was one more run made easy by the Hashers. My directions were simple – walk 700mts to the Jesmond Metro station. Be there at 6:10, look for a pretty lady in running gear (read, Speedbump) and she will guide you to the run site.

The run did start off well – with cops stopping by to check if the flour was WMD and I saw off a pint of Guinness before the start. The run was in South Shields and close to the sea, but the hares – Obelix, Watsarong and Lubri made sure we saw none of it. We ran through many red houses shouting our on ons. Many “Molly Checks” (a U-turn sign, upon reaching it everyone turns back and goes right back to the hare, circles the hare and gets back on the trail) and Triple FRB checks (same as FRB check only done with 3 FRBs) kept the pack together. And then there were “three on ons” - 3 flour dots in a row to indicate the right trail where the FRBs shout on-on-on.
The closet we got to wildlife was a toad that was living dangerously. Thankfully none of the hariettes were looking for the Prince Charming!

Customary down down were given to the hares at the circle. I got a down down for being the flasher on the run. It was Spitfire in the circle and I got back into the on-inn and tried the NewCastle Brown Ale and the Johnsmith.

Many thanks to Speedbump and to Billy and Marian for driving me back to the hotel. Marian even got out of the car into the cold night hug me a goodbye. On On…
Photos here

The Bangalore Midnight Half Marathon 09

It took me less than 2hours to run it, but 1248hours to write about it. It’s like when they ask you in interviews "what are your weaknesses?” (Well, it’s probably not like that, but wtf) As you can see the Bangalore midnight marathon did happen. Crossover didn't manage it screw it up totally, only they decided to have it one week before the Mumbai marathon (oh yeah, that’s pending too).

It was the Mumbai marathon that I had been training for and I didn't want anything to really come in the way of the best part of the training - the tapering. But with a marathon happening in Bangalore, was I going to miss it? No.
But unlike some brave hearts like Rishi and Amrita who decided to run two full marathons in 2 weeks, I decided to do the half.

Athreya picked me up (and Reena, omg!! oh!!) and we reached the school from where we were supposed to start. We had to walk a long way to the start line though.
We didn't have the fuss at the start like in the last edition of the midnight marathon and we may have started at 12 midnight too.

It was fun to run the first few kms with Leona who was 'jumpy' after she had won the 5k event and downed a few beers! I was running alone for most part of the run. It was very pleasant running in the night and the whole body cycle working aganist you didn't bother me. I was trying not to run too fast just saving up for Mumbai, I guess. We had to do 2 loops of A to B and B to A of nearly flat course.
I held the pace for the first loop and then caught up with Prateek who was also doing great on the prep for Mumbai. Infact, both of us were holding the pace down, so it would not affect our tapering :)

With about 2-3kms to go, we could hold it no more and sprinted for the finish. I finished in 1:57mins. This is my first recorded marathon under 2hours - PB!!

But the night was nowhere near over - we all waited in the cold night waiting for the RGI girls to finish their relay marathon. I ran the last few hundred meters with most of them, they finished on the podium. Meghana did the 10k, the first 10k for her young one she is still carrying.
So there! Not the greatest race to run, but it was good fun with all friends around.

Statutory warning: Be ready for some dated posts to come up here...

Hash Bash at New Lanark

It was Run No. 1187 of the Hamilton Hash, Run No. 1465 of the Edinburgh Hash, 14th trail weekend for the Bras and Pants H3 on Sunday, 22nd Feb in the cotton mill village, New Lanark in southern Scotland.
No, the brasandpantsh3 is not a “consortium of pub-going loose forward women” but is the “Brewery Runs Around Scotland & Pants because you are panting for a beer” Hash House Harriers… Read on…


I missed the train to Edinburgh on a Saturday morning by 30secs and as I cursed the fat-b!%&#-behind-the-counter for issuing my tickets late, made my way out of the Metro trying to look for a cheaper than full-fare (44£) option. Not the best way to start the weekend you would say.
But Edinburgh changed it all – the train ride itself offered some wonderful views, on either side on the window ;) From the moment I stepped out of the Waverley station into Princess street, I was surrounded by historic spires, parks, castles and museums. Even a non-event like walking to the hotel turned to a memorable experience.

I took a tour bus in the evening and visited the castle and the Scottish Parliament. The locals were friendly and were more than willing to help a ‘slumdog millionaire’ find his way around. One couple even offered that I should try a Falafel and recommended an Israeli place for me to try one. All this while, though, I was still working under the assumption that I would somehow find my way to this little village of New Lanark the following morning for the run.

In hindsight, I would have never made it, if I hadn’t seen a mail from Sheryl Valentine (!!) from the Edinburgh Hash offering to drive me to Lanark. Without leaving anything to chance, she offered to pick me right from my hotel lobby all the way to Lanark. We stopped briefly at the Gillespie home to pick up Alan. While Sheena (aka Sheryl) treated me to some coffee, Alan showed me around his vintage car collection – a 1936 Talbot, 1960s MG, and a Jaguar – all tenderly housed in his garage. It turned out that they had visited India in 2004 and run with BH3 as a part of the prelude to the Goa Interhash. She fondly remembered how the cops had stopped the traffic for some 200 hashers who had turned up then.


We drove for nearly three quarters to reach New Lanark. The hashers were from all around the place – the EHHH, TNT Hash, Hamilton Hash and the Aberdeen Hash. The brewery run had left most of them in various state of sobriety and drunkenness and one with a black eye even.
The pics tell you the story of the run – fantastic trail along the Clyde walkway taking us through the World Heritage site - cotton mills, a hydroelectric power station, the spectacular falls of Corra Linn and the Corra Castle.
It was looking very touristy till we saw flour going right down a steep, slippery path, right into the river!! A few of us did try to work our way around it, but the Hamilton hares had made sure there were no shortcuts. With my shoes worn over my neck, I stepped into the freezing cold waters of the river Clyde. My feet frozen and shoes dry, I made it to the other side. We ran some more till we came to the Bonnington dam (?) passing a few more falls before heading back. It must have been about 7-8miles in all. It was teeth chattering cold in the circle. The GM Megasaurarse and the RA cuckoo ensured that we stayed there long enough for the cold to reach our bones. I was given a down down for being foolish enough to come to a hash run from half way around the globe. I did have my share of true ales – the Burton Bitter & the Biere Speciale while the RA with his bunny cap went on with his stories.
Sheryl Valentine led the circle to sing all the songs (incl. the nipples on the tits one for the harriettes). Many of them were new to me. We went on then to the On Inn in the village, a warm place called Clydesdale Wetherspoons Inn for some Guinness and lunch.
There were so many things that should have fallen in place for me to make it to the run, many thanks to Sue, the Speedbump for all the directions and to the Gillespie couple – Sheena and Alan for escorting me to and back. I had to really stretch out Alan hospitality to take a lift right back to Waverley.

Pics of the run are at http://picasaweb.google.com/manoj.bhat/EHHH

Videos of the circle are here, here, here and here...

On On...

Tale of two marathons

I completed the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon ’09 in Jan this year and the Auroville marathon in Feb, within 5weeks of each other. The two races contrasted each other so well and the lessons so important, that even though this post is dated you may find it worth a read.

*click on the image to see a clearer view

The Stats:
SCMM 09
18th Jan 09
Time of start: 6:50AM
Time taken: 4:50:09hours

Auroville Marathon 09
15th Feb 09
Time of start: 5:01AM
Time taken: 4:01:06hours

The Training:
SCMM – Hard work
Unlike last year, when I had just 4weeks after the Ultra to train for SCMM, this year I had 2 full months to focus on recovery and put in some speed training. I started the training easy and was satisfied with the progress on the speed runs. I even managed a 30km run in 2:40mins during training. I planned the tapering very meticulously - loaded on carbs, increased my intake of salt and kept myself well hydrated. The train journey to Mumbai also ensured that I kept my feet up and rested well. I pretty much went by the book and was confident of a close to 4 hour finish. The slight fever didn’t seem like a big deal.

Auroville Marathon – No work!!
There was less than 4 weeks between SCMM and Auroville marathon. The recovery from SCMM was more mental than physical. It took me a full week to get out of depression and disappointment. On more than one occasion, thoughts of downgrading to a half marathon crossed my mind. The UK travel was hanging like the sword of Damocles threatening to prevent me from entering the race. The last thing that was on my mind was carb loading. The only training I did was to hare a Hash run the previous weekend with Shantanu and Prats, staying on my feet for nearly 8hours. I had no hopes of doing any better than 4:30hrs. But, with 3-4days to go, Athreya, my ‘running mate’ for most of this year, promised to pace me for a sub-4 finish. I agreed to stick with him for as long as I could, but it was more wishful thinking and prayer than practical.

Race day – 0-21.1km:
If you look at the graph above, you will see how close the timings were for the first 20km – 1:45hrs in SCMM and 1:47 in Auroville.

SCMM – 7am start
Having run the same course last year, I knew what to expect – both in terms of the route and the conditions. I borrowed Nitin’s Garmin once again this year and stuck to the average pace of 5:22min/km, having set the target finish time of 3:40hours.

Auroville – 5am start
I had to wake up as early as 3:30am to catch the taxi with Sriram and Ramya from French Villa in Pondi. It was a much smaller crowd than SCMM and still very dark when we assembled for the roll call. Among other things, the goodie bag contained (very thoughtfully) a torch to see our way for the first one hour during the run.
It was a winding and uneven trail, but mostly flat. Athreya and I started out at a steady pace. And with just a small two-dimensional circle of the torch light there were many moments when the ground was suddenly not where you expected it to be under your feet. It kept us slower than normal pace. And in between long pauses, Athreya told me about his marriage plans with Reena. It kept the mood upbeat. Suddenly, SCMM seemed like a thing of the past. By the time we completed one loop, 21k in 1:53hrs, Athreya was struggling to keep the pace (well, I thought he wanted to get rid of me to be able to run with Reena)

Race day – 21k to 38k
SCMM – Hitting the wall
I was running well, keeping a 5:40min/km pace. I had caught up with Prateek and was keeping company with one Roni from Finland for a few miles. It was then that Rachel overtook me, looking really strong. Rachel (who runs in Ooty) and I were on the same train from Mumabi. (Roni finished eventually in 3:49 a few minutes behind Rachel who finished in 3:40hrs). It was around the 22k mark that I began to slow down, somewhere near Shivaji Park. The virtual runner on the Garmin started to get ahead. I had taken nearly a full hour to run 9k - from 21 to 30k mark and I was struggling. I had hit the wall and was making all possible excuses to stop – to take endurolytes, at aid stations to nurse phantom, non-existent cramps & nature calls. I had finished 30k in 3hrs and was about 3k behind by then. My target was to finish atleast 33k in 3hrs and I was slowing, with little hopes of making up the lost time. And then I lost motivation to keep pace. I gave up and suddenly didn’t care about the finish time anymore. My Gramin stopped working at 33k and I failed to notice it till the 36k or so. My collar bone had started to hurt and my whole upper body felt weak, there was nothing wrong with my legs. But I had given up. I completed 38k in 4:10hrs with zero motivation to go on.

Auroville – Running through the wall
After the SCMM, my only target was try to run for as long as I could, if possible run right through the wall. (I have never really experience the wall as something prominent though, maybe that is what it is). I wanted to run for 33k atleast and then ease off the last few kms. By 22k, Athreya had dropped off and Deepak Mahasvade, who normally is ahead of me had caught up and was a few paces behind. I began to feel good enough to keep the pace going.

What happened then was magical. I started to see figures on my Garmin that I had only dreamt about - 30k in 2:45hrs, 32.5k in 3hrs, 35k in 3:16hrs. By this time, I was confident I had run through the wall, if ever there was one. I passed many half marathoners and stopped every time to tell me how this ‘other person’ was running, I still couldn’t believe that the ‘other person’ was me. Each time I looked at the Garmin, it was a personal best for me. The many volunteers starting from about the 30k mark egged me on shouting out that I was 5th, 6th overall, etc. I was so buoyant that I was asking how everyone else around me was feeling, getting surprised responses few volunteers at the last water station. It also helped that I had cut a lot of corners during the course of the run and had managed to save up a few hundred meters.

SCMM – The long last mile
As I turned into Marine drive, my Garmin had stopped working; I had no semblance of time. The sun was up and killing me, I was barely running. It was then that Sunil passed me, I tried to keep pace with him, but the distance only grew between us and I stopped yet again. But in a few mins, I passed him and we continued to do so nearly till the end. I was myself, stopping at all possible aid station and using the relaxants on those phantom cramps. But my upper body was giving up and I could feel my forearms cramp for real. Even with the finish line in sight, I was unable to motivate myself to try and shave off a few more secs, off the total. I was at such depths of my depression.

In the movie, Spirit of Marathon, one of the runners profiled Ryan says “You know it takes a certain level of training to hit that marathon and when you can’t do what you are used to doing it, it affects you mentally.”

I had reached a state of mind that was beyond numbers or targets. To me, I had run a terrible marathon and that was all that mattered.

Auroville – Magic, there is no last mile
As I ran the last few kms, I pictured the finish, a jubilant me running to my waiting friends – Raghu, Raji, Sriram, Ramya and Tima. Around the 38k, Ravi (Ravi had finished SCMM in 3:40) passed me and I managed to overtake a very tiring and severely cramping runner. I was happy that I had not started to cramp yet. I had taken lesser Endurolytes than normal which makes me wonder if taking too many salt tablets contribute to upsetting the salt-water balance. As I neared the finish, I was tempted to shoot for the sub-4 finish, but I had reached a state of mind that was beyond numbers or targets. To me I had run my best marathon and that was all that mattered.

… And the lessons
Enjoy running – there has been too much focus on time, pace and mileage, some where I have stopping looking for the joy in running
Back to drawing board – if I like to be faster I need to get back to those tempo 5-10k runs.
Lift some weights, get back some strength

Newcastle Hash House Harriers Run No. 857

So I land in Newcastle upon Tyne on Tuesday evening after a 19hr flight – bored but excited. As I settle down in my small hotel room at Jesmond, I look up at the print out of important numbers that I had been carrying on me. Right down at the bottom of the list is a table which I had taken out of the Newcastle Hash House Harriers site. I walked up to a nearby public telephone put in recently exchanged 40pence and dialed for Keith “counterfit” Hudson only to reach his voice mail.
First day’s meetings got done early enough giving me sometime to check the distance and directions from Jesmond to The Victory at South Gorsforth. 1.3miles of walking distance, not too far at all. And with the Wednesday evening run starting at 7pm I had enough time to get running.
So off I go, asking around for directions to find the pub. I am dressed in a bright red Bangalore Hash Tee, black undershirt, shorts and complete with gloves and skull cap. But its not uncommon to see runners and bikers despite the 6-8deg temperatures.
There is no noise in The Victory when I enter and I check at the bar for a counterfit and receive a blank response. I walked out and waited. “you aren’t looking for the Hash, are you?” a bright young lady had walked up to me from inside the pub.
As I sat down chatting with Sue, the speedbump the hashers began to trickle in – counterfit, left hand job, incontinence, Obelix & Whatsarong. The run started at 10 past 7 with counterfit explaining the hash signs:
Circle is a running check, circle with a cross is a run-in check, square with a dot is a FRB check (the FRB strikes a pose as he waits till the last one passes!) and a T is a false trail. In 10mins time we were running along the river is some dense, dark, cold, slippery forest area with headlamps to help us spot the chalk. There were many checks along the way to keep us interested. In the 4-5mile run, we passed through four lanes, parks, the boulevard, a golf course, more dark, slippery forests and passed innumerable quiet, red-bricked houses with thatched roofs. Totem joined us mid-way during the run.

The circle was short and with so much cold around the butts needed no more ice and the Bud’s didn’t need no chilling. As I joined the circle in singing the down downs, I felt at home and already connected to the Newcastle hashers… So far but still so close…
I was treated to some fine pale Ale – the Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and the Pedigree at the Victory. The Landlord had an unmistakable mint herbal lingering taste, so different from the lagers of Bangalore!!
On On now to the Edinburgh Hash House Harriers…

Firefoxed

What looked like an eternal search for a road bike finally ended and I bought a used Firefox Pro 2200 on 20th Nov from this guy called Ramesh from BBC.
Chikka ride to Chikka Tirupati
Chikka Tirupati happens to be a favorite with a lot of biking friends who like in the Kormanagala part of town. Some 20kms from Iblur junction, it’s the perfect get-your-bums-on-the-saddle ride.
Satish, Anil and I rode from home, started as early as 5 in the morning. The new bike responded very well and biking was easy. Anil turned back from Forum and Satish and I were joined by Satsang and Dharam at Agara lake, where we were hoping to meet a bigger (slower) crowd, but that was not to be.
We rode down Sarjapur road, stopping briefly at Sarjapur. The roads were decent – good in parts, but not so bad overall. We reached Chikka tirupati by 9 or so. Dharam cleaned up a Udupi restaurant on the way back. Satish and I decided to take an alternate route which took us to Varthur lake and then rode all the way back on Ol Airport road and back. Towards the end I had begun to cramp and we struggled through the traffic. It was not a bright idea to take this up immediately after the Ultra. The trip-o-meter read 104kms by the time we were back home by 1:30. It was not one of the memorable ones.
Bike Hash 08
14th December 2008 and Mysore farms off Sarjapur road was the lovely location for the last major run of the year at the Bangalore Hash.
Corollary to Murphy’s law:
If something has to go wrong, it will pick the last run of the year, the one that you will hare and all hell will break loose!!
I should have guessed something fishy, when the beautiful farm (some 50acres of coffee and palms) off Sarjapur road is called Mysore farm. When we have 20cycles from Firefox (the sponsor) plus 30 doodhwala bikes (Hercules, Atlas, etc) from a ‘Modern’ dukan in Shivajinagar and some 125 jobless hashers sign up!
It couldn’t have been easier to hare this though. (if you are still wondering what haring is, read this report of last year's bike hash). Jugy, Private soreass, Rekha and I were the hares and we did all of the haring still smugly in Jugy’s suv…
In the middle of nowherenagar, some 100cars pop up and park on all our chalk markings that was supposed to lead the walkers to the water hole…
The Beer van did not turn up in time for the start, lost its way and had to directed just in time before the bikers reached there.
We managed to lose a few walkers as the sun came blazing down and it was quite an effort to shepherd the pack. Our own Desi Santa came in with goodies for the horrors and lunch was breads, peas and cheese was washed down with the amber liquid…
Abnash did the shutter job, as usual. Click here for pics…

Firefox feedback and pics will be posted soon…

The Bangalore Midnight Marathon 2008

The good news is The Bangalore Midnight Marathon 2008 seems to be happening (with just 2weeks to go, I dont think the organizers can screw up much).
You can register at http://www.toimidnightmarathon.in/ or call 08041126004
The last edition of the midnight marathon was in May last year. Report's here.

Update: Site will be up only by eveing on Monday (I spoke too soon, eh)
Update(02Dec): Site is up. Cheerz!
FInd the Route Map below:

Update 05/12/08